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<p>HARVEYS LAKE &#8212; The days are numbered for the hydrillas taking root in Harveys Lake.</p><p>Borough council, its Environmental Advisory Council and Princeton Hydro, an ecological and engineering consulting service, started an eradication program to remove the evasive aquatic plant Thursday morning.</p><p>At 8 a.m., Fred Lubnow watched his team set out in a pontoon boat carrying 2,180 pounds of a clay-based herbicide from the public boat launch off Lakeside Drive.</p><p>&#8220;A systemic herbicide called SonarOne will be used to reduce hydrilla biomass,&#8221; Lubnow said in an email before Thursday&#8217;s treatment. &#8220;This particular aquatic herbicide was selected since at the designated, lower dosage rate it can eradicate invasive species like hydrilla but have a negligible impact on native vegetation.&#8221;</p><p>The clay pellets will sink to the lake bottom and dissolve at the base of the plant for easy absorption, Lubnow said.</p><p>Jon Gosselin, of SePRO, which provided SonarOne, said the herbicide blocks the plant&#8217;s ability to produce chloroplast, which conducts the photosynthesis process where chlorophyll is made from sunlight.</p><p>The low-concentration chemical will not harm fish, ducks, or people using the lake, Lubnow said, but residents should not use lake water for irrigation purposes.</p><p>&#8220;It will make plants (crops, flowers and grass) turn white and die,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Hydrilla is an underwater vegetation found in 50 acres of the 600-acre lake in July 2014, Lubnow said.</p><p>&#8220;In three years, the plant spread to over 250 acres,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Hydrilla can grow at rates as fast as more than an inch a day.&#8221;</p><p>Hydrilla, if left untreated, will grow to the water&#8217;s surface and create a thick green mat, which prevents sunlight from reaching native plants, fish and other organisms. The lack of sunlight chokes out all aquatic life.</p><p>&#8220;Harveys Lake is one of the cleanest lakes in Pennsylvania,&#8221; borough council President Bill Hilburt said. &#8220;It is our responsibility to keep it that way.&#8221;</p><p>Hilburt said some residents questioned the need for the plant&#8217;s eradication, which was funded by several grants through the state Department of Environmental Protection&#8217;s Clean Water Program.</p><p>&#8220;People asked why hydrilla cannot be weeded out of the lake,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The plant&#8217;s ability to reproduce is like blowing on a dandelion seed-head &#8212; seeds float away and take root somewhere else, Hilburt said. Similarly, hydrilla fragments that get broken off float away and take root in the lake bed.</p><p>Lubnow believes hydrilla was introduced to the lake as a piece of vegetation on a boat or trailer.</p><p>There are signs on the state Fish and Boat Commission&#8217;s public boat launch asking people to remove all aquatic plants before and after they use the lake to prevent such an occurrence.</p><p>&#8220;Hydrilla is a semi-tropical plant that migrated up the coast from Florida,&#8221; Lubnow said.</p><p>Thursday, one day after receiving a DEP permit, Lubnow&#8217;s crew dropped SonarOne into the water in three targeted sections of a 105-acre area.</p><p>In the fall, Lubnow plans to conduct a scuba diving inspection of the treated area to determine the herbicide&#8217;s effectiveness. The remaining affected areas will be dealt with at a later date, he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Jon Gosselin, a technical specialist for SePRO, which is the manufacturer of a herbicide called SonarOne, heads out into Harveys Lake on Thursday with Princeton Hydro&#8217;s Aquatic Operations Manager Tyler Overton and co-worker James Etienne to begin a hydrilla eradication program. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_TDP082017Hydrilla5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Jon Gosselin, a technical specialist for SePRO, which is the manufacturer of a herbicide called SonarOne, heads out into Harveys Lake on Thursday with Princeton Hydro&#8217;s Aquatic Operations Manager Tyler Overton and co-worker James Etienne to begin a hydrilla eradication program. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Harveys Lake begins hydrilla eradication program