LGA wants Hochul to block pesticide treatment

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Lake George Association and Lake George Waterkeeper are asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to help stop a planned pesticide treatment on the lake. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture identified the treatment in question—ProcellaCOR—as containing PFAS, considered a harmful forever chemical.

The Lake George Commission wants permission from the Adirondack Park Agency and the Department of Environmental Services (DEC) to use the pesticide to treat an invasive plant in the lake. They want to take out the Eurasian water milfoil as soon as June.

But as the active ingredient in ProcellaCOR degrades, the chemicals from the treatment retain the active chemical bonds, according to the Minnesota agency. And according to LGA Chair Peter Menzies, “New York State has been a national leader in banning PFAS from consumer products and keeping it out of water supplies. The prospect that the state could introduce a pesticide that may contain PFAS into Lake George, a primary drinking water supply serving thousands of people, is unthinkable.”

This isn't the first time Lake George has questioned the use of ProcellaCOR. In March 2023, Warren County Judge Robert Muller ruled in favor of the Lake George Association not to use ProcellaCOR in two Lake George bays.

ProcellaCOR's manufacturer said the treatment is best suited for slow-moving water with no outflow; the LGA said the lake is too active and could require additional pesticide treatments down the road. What's more, the LGA argues that low concentrations of ProcellaCOR, caused by water movement and exchange, can create types of milfoil that is resistant to ProcellaCOR.

The potentially dangerous PFAS stands for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. They have been used in industrial and commercial applications for both waterproofing and fireproofing. According to the New York Public Reserach Interest group, “PFAS chemicals have polluted the drinking water supplies in numerous communities in New York, including Long Island, Hoosick Falls, Petersburgh, and Newburgh.”