BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

BLACK LAKE – County legislators are considering providing some type of support to a group trying to get rid of the Eurasian milfoil infestation in Black Lake.

County legislature Services Committee Chair Joe Lightfoot, R-Ogdensburg, discussed the matter with legislators during their Monday, March 15 meeting. He said the group is seeking grant funding and donations, so the county doesn’t have to decide on making any commitment now.

“My thought was that to wait and see what it is they’re able to come up with in the form of grants, then make an assessment,” Lightfoot said. “At this point in time, they don’t know what it is.”

He said the milfoil problem is exacerbated when propellers on boats going through the lake chop it up the and spread its seeds.

“That’s why that lake is the way it is – clogged right up,” Lightfoot said.

Legislators debated what methods could stop that. Lightfoot said the group wants to dig a 50-foot channel to keep the propellers away from the milfoil. Another method could be to rent a machine that mechanically harvests the milfoil.

“They take the container out of the water, dump it into a truck and they have a couple farmers who have agreed to take that vegetable material and put it on their land as fertilizer,” Lightfoot said.

Another method that’s been used in St. Lawrence County is for divers to pluck the plants from the lake bed.

Other suggestions included buying sterilized grass carp that eat the milfoil and then die off when the food source dies, or buying weevils to eat it.

“Finding someone who is currently in the business of raising the weevils and willing to produce 30,000 or 100,000 weevils is a serious problem. The Environmental Management Council was created to advise the county legislature on environmental issues that come before the county. I would think that as part of any assistance that we would give this group, we would insist that the Environmental Management Council and the Planning Office work on this,” said Legislator Jim Reagen, R-Ogdensburg.

Legislator John Burke, R-Norfolk, said he wants to see if the county could assist with milfoil infestations on other bodies of water in the county.

“I’m certainly willing to consider it. I’d be more interested in knowing the view of the entire county. I don’t think it’s unique to Black Lake. I’m pretty sure Norwood Lake has had some trefoil in it as well, not to the extent Black Lake is. How big is the problem?” Burke said. “Maybe some guidance from people who can give us that bird’s eye view might be beneficial.”