Petition against herbicides; DEC says no plans to spray

A Piermont beekeeper's petition asking state officials not to use herbicides in the Piermont Marsh has collected almost 10,000 signatures.

Marty Rosen launched the online petition on the Change.org website about two weeks ago. Her goal is to collect 100,000 signatures and avoid proposals that would kill invasive weeds known as phragmites off Piermont's shore by using herbicides.

The marsh encompasses 1,017 acres and lies at the southern edge of Piermont village, stretching for two miles of shoreline south of the Piermont Pier. The state environmental permit for the replacement Tappan Zee Bridge issued in 2013 states that about 200 acres of the marsh would be treated by herbicides or other means to reduce phragmites, also known as common reed.

The Department of Environmental Conservation said this week it hasn't made any decisions, although use of herbicides was floated by the state at a public hearing in January.

"No spraying of herbicide has occurred at Piermont Marsh and no actions have been taken to manage vegetation in the marsh," DEC spokesman Jomo Miller wrote in an email. "In addition, there are no plans to spray herbicides in the marsh."

In her petition, Rosen says the marsh provides food and forage for her bees, as well as native pollinators and animals. The petition is her way of rallying neighbors to question the use of herbicides statewide, she said.

"I think it's really important for people to take on these small battles in their backyard so you can start to work your way up in government to challenge practices that really aren't in our best interest," she said.

Rosen's petition suggests an herbicide by Monsanto called Roundup could be used in the marsh. The DEC noted Roundup is toxic to fish and amphibians and the only herbicides that can be used near New York wetlands are specific formulations of glyphosate similar to and including a weed killer called Rodeo, which is different from Roundup.

According to the National Pesticide Information Center, glyphosate is "practically non-toxic to honeybees."

Phragmites is a perennial grass that can grow up to 14 feet tall. The reeds form dense stands that diminish an area's biodiversity, and that is what's happened in Piermont Marsh as native species were crowded out.

Plants and creatures whose numbers decline when phragmites take over wetlands include marsh wrens, least bitterns and Virginia rails, as well as wild rice, cattails and marsh mallow.

State and local officials have battled phragmites for years by cutting, hand-pulling, excavating, treating them with herbicide or covering them with plastic sheets.

Efforts to control phragmites extend to other parts of the Lower Hudson Valley.

At Iona Island Marsh at the Bear Mountain State Park in Stony Point, the DEC is controlling phragmites in a 3.73-acre area with a cut-and-flood method.

In 2007, staff overseeing the Constitution Marsh in Philipstown worked to clear about five acres of the invaders by covering them with black plastic sheets that eventually kill the weeds. The DEC said Rodeo has been infrequently and carefully used at Constitution Marsh and Iona Island in the past.

Phragmites aren't just a coastal problem. Mount Kisco spent about $200,000 to restore the Branch Brook in its downtown. The work included removing the invasive reed and other non-native plants.

The Ossining-based environmental group Riverkeeper has not taken a final position on the possible application of herbicides at Piermont Marsh because the DEC hasn't released its final plan. John Lipscomb of Riverkeeper said the group supports the concept of increasing biodiversity and restoring native species, but it also prefers herbicides not be used near bodies of water that lead to the Hudson River.

"We'd like to see the concerns of the Piermont community taken seriously," Lipscomb said.

Twitter: @ErnieJourno