Times Union to New York State: Lake George No Place For Risky Science Experiment

March 21, 2023

The Albany Times Union is once again standing with the Lake George Association, Lake George Waterkeeper, local municipalities and thousands of concerned citizens in opposing New York State’s proposed first-ever use of a chemical herbicide in Lake George.

“We can’t seem to say this enough: One of the nation’s most pristine lakes is not the appropriate place for a chemistry experiment that could risk its water quality and all that depends on it,” the newspaper said in a strongly worded March 21 editorial.

“There is just too much at stake to rush a potential misstep in a lake on which so many people depend for drinking water and their livelihoods,” the editorial continued, adding, pointedly, “How many things were allowed to be dumped in lakes and rivers before their toxicity was understood? How many products did regulators say were acceptable in drinking water sources in seemingly small concentrations only to determine, after years of exposure, that they were wrong?”

The LGA, Waterkeeper, the towns of Hague, Dresden and Ticonderoga, and nearly 4,600 concerned citizens have called on Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Adirondack Park Agency, and the Lake George Park Commission to pause the state’s pursuit of permit applications to use the herbicide ProcellaCOR as a new treatment for Eurasian watermilfoil until the many unanswered scientific questions about the impacts to the Lake’s water quality, native plants, and organisms can be answered.

To join us in expressing your concerns to the Governor and Park Commission, click here.

To learn more about the many unanswered questions, click here.

To read the LGA and Waterkeeper’s detailed comments as to why the latest permit applications are seriously flawed, click here.