Wayland panel moves toward first herbicide treatment of Heard Pond water chestnut

WAYLAND -- May 8, 2024, Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee plans first herbicide use at Heard Pond after 30,000-plant surge. Chair Thomas Klem and project manager Thomas J. Largy told the May 8 meeting they will pursue a Notice of Intent to apply ClearCast on a multi-acre hotspot at the south end of Heard Pond, where hand-pulling crews were overwhelmed last summer despite a 2022 count of just 696 plants. "We could barely dent it. We flat gave up," Largy said. A separate $9,900 hand-pulling contract with Solitude Lake Management is pending, and an overdue $1,500 payment for last year's survey was finally processed. New member Steve Garone, replacing Norm Edinberg as the Dudley Pond representative, was welcomed; the committee also shifted its meeting night to Tuesdays, with the next session set for June 11.