Littleton Conservation Commission Approves Forge Pond Herbicide Treatment for One Year

LITTLETON -- May 27, 2025, Littleton Conservation Commission approves one-year herbicide authorization for Forge Pond and clears Blood Road utility project. At the May 27 virtual meeting, the commission voted 5-0, with Chair Sarah Seward recused as an abutter, to issue an amended order of conditions for Forge Pond (DEP 204-0872), authorizing herbicide and algaecide use and diver-assisted suction harvesting for one year on behalf of the Clean Lakes Committee, with reporting requirements attached. The commission separately gave unanimous approval to a notice of intent for Blood Road (DEP 204-1920) covering installation of underground electrical lines under a stream for Littleton Electric Light and Water Department, conditioning the order on substituting native pollinator-friendly shrubs for the originally proposed witch hazel in the replanting plan. Two major items were continued to June 10: an amended order for the Foster Street Reconstruction project (DEP 204-0991) covering herbicide use on mapped Japanese knotweed and Asiatic bittersweet, and a request to reduce leaching catch basins on the same project from five to one because of high groundwater discovered during construction. Member Kyle Maxfield said he had attended state-level herbicide seminars and found the data persuasive: "I would have stepped back right away and said we're talking chemicals, you hear these things and putting it in your water you say no right away."