Question for Sandpoint residents (Boise, Priest River: environment, work, health)

[mom2JJz]

I want to know more about The fact that they are dumping chemicals in your lake. Is there any current efforts to stop this, or has irreversible damage already been done?

Four million dollars in grant money was made available to the state of Idaho for milfoil eradication. Rep. Eric Anderson secured $1.6 million for Lake Pend Oreille. The plan to poison the lake with 400,000 gallons of the 2-4-D/fluridone herbicide "Sonar" was announced in a not-very-well-publicized meeting in Priest River June 2, 2006. The meeting, attended by Sagle resident Jackie Lindenbach and inventor Dwight Finney, was intended to meet a statutory obligation to seek public input even though the decision to chemically poison the lake had already been administratively decided without considering public comment with regard to health concerns, environmental concerns or other options.

Finney, who has invented a machine to harvest the milfoil so the nitrogen-rich "crop" can be harvested for composting, creating ethanol or feeding to cattle, was dismissed by the meeting chair as an opportunist; Lindenbach, concerned about the adverse effects of human and animal exposure to a chemical of known toxicity (the 2-4-D component being half of Agent Orange) was dismissed as paranoid because they believe the chemical company’s claims that Sonar is "safe."
Realizing that no amount of common sense or concern (or that fact that the stuff does not "eradicate" the milfoil, but rather makes the problem worse over a two-to-four-year cycle) would derail the plan to poison the lake, Lindenbach rallied to generate public awareness that, as soon as June 15, the lake was going to be poisoned without adequate public notice or considering less toxic options.
Idaho Observer: Citizens mount 11th hour effort to prevent surprise lake poisoning

[jufrbo]

I'm not from Sandpoint, but there is a paradox with dumping chemicals into the lake. Obviously chemicals are not ideal, but the weed that these chemicals are put into the lake are not native. When this weed is allowed to grow then it can choke out native plants and kill fish. I do see where you are coming from though. I wouldn't want a poisonous lake either. This is an issue really with no easy answers like most enviromental issues. I guess if that harvester works then it should be used.

[mom2JJz]

Originally Posted by JustinFromBoise

I'm not from Sandpoint, but there is a paradox with dumping chemicals into the lake. Obviously chemicals are not ideal, but the weed that these chemicals are put into the lake are not native. When this weed is allowed to grow then it can choke out native plants and kill fish. I do see where you are coming from though. I wouldn't want a poisonous lake either. This is an issue really with no easy answers like most enviromental issues. I guess if that harvester works then it should be used.

I think the harvester would have worked, but they chose to go the route of chemical dumping instead?? Seems kind of out of whack that there would be chemical free alternatives that could at least be tried, and there would be opposition to even exploring alternatives...weird.

[Sanddawgg]

I will say I don't like the chemicals going in the lake... certainly ruins swimming for the kids since I won't let them in the water... that being said, the Eurasian milfoil is a huge problem, and needs to be dealt with in some manner. I don't know what the ultimate answer is. I've read that harvesting is not effective since it is impossible to get it all, plus the milfoil needs to be disposed of somewhere.. I've heard that the weevils don't work well either. I don't know what the ultimate answer is, but it does need to be removed if we wish to have the lake for recreational use in the future.

[mom2JJz]

Originally Posted by Sanddawgg

I will say I don't like the chemicals going in the lake... certainly ruins swimming for the kids since I won't let them in the water... that being said, the Eurasian milfoil is a huge problem, and needs to be dealt with in some manner. I don't know what the ultimate answer is. I've read that harvesting is not effective since it is impossible to get it all, plus the milfoil needs to be disposed of somewhere.. I've heard that the weevils don't work well either. I don't know what the ultimate answer is, but it does need to be removed if we wish to have the lake for recreational use in the future.

Wouldn't the thought of swimming in a lake of cancer causing and neuro toxic chemicals kind of cancel out whole recreational use of it? I would think all that it would be good for would be boating...no swimming, no fishing...I mean I don't know if I would even go boating for fear of getting any of the water on my skin. Do you know if this was just a one time dump, or is it a continual thing?

[brokencrayola]

Eurasian Milfoil is transported by boats and motors and boots. It is not native to this area. It is extremely invasive and is also anaerobic, which means it consumes the oxygen in the water. Fish cannot live in areas where there is a large amount of Eurasian Milfoil as it kills them. The only way to take care of the problem was/are the use of chemicals, despite the fact no one wants to use chemicals. The chemicals were used on one area at a time, not some huge dump of it. It dissapates in like 24-48 hrs. Introducing anything that is not native to an area often causes more problems than it solves and that has been seen over and over, so introducing a weevil that is not native makes no sense. Also the fact that the Milfoil was so out of control it wouldn't work that way anyway.

[OnOurWay2MO]

Sad, the naivness of human beings. Chemicals should never be an option, there are always natural alternatives. It always boils down to money in someones pocket.

[brokencrayola]

Originally Posted by OnOurWay2MO

Sad, the naivness of human beings. Chemicals should never be an option, there are always natural alternatives. It always boils down to money in someones pocket.

Tell us what that natural alternative would be to this situation?

[mom2JJz]

Originally Posted by brokencrayola

Introducing anything that is not native to an area often causes more problems than it solves

Chemical agents are definitely not native, so I guess what I still don't understand is why alternative methods were not tried first...

[mom2JJz]

Originally Posted by OnOurWay2MO

It always boils down to money in someones pocket.

That is exactly what I gathered from all of this.