By JACK McLAUGHLIN
This letter is in response to the article, Eyes on the Keys, that was in your November edition. The letter was originally sent to the Tahoe Water Suppliers Association for the endorsement of the Inventive Resources Inc. (IRI) non-chemical method — using a high frequency light wave — to rid Lake Tahoe of Eurasian watermilfoil. Lakeside Park Association, Inc. (LPA), as the parent company of the Lakeside Mutual Water Company, has been briefed by IRI about its non-chemical method to kill Eurasian watermilfoil in Lake Tahoe. LPA opposes, in the strongest terms, the use of herbicide in the waters of Lake Tahoe for any reason. LPA board of directors unanimously endorses the testing and eventual use of the IRI Associates product, using a non-chemical technology, for the eradication of Eurasian watermilfoil in Lake Tahoe, while not poisoning our drinking water source. LPA is the closest water company to the Tahoe Keys area and draws its water directly from Lake Tahoe. If herbicides are released into the Tahoe Keys area of Lake Tahoe, LPA has no water treatment facilities to filter this contaminate from its water supply and there is no certainty the herbicide will dissipate, as this has never been proven in Lake Tahoe. Any and all organizations who are considering the use of any chemical to control or eliminate these weeds must exhaust all other sources before ever putting chemicals into the lake. The use of herbicides will put all Tahoe water purveyors’ customers at risk of ingesting water, which is hazardous to their health by poisoning our drinking water source. LPA is convinced that the IRI method has great merit and must be investigated as the primary solution to rid Lake Tahoe of Eurasian watermilfoil. We hope our endorsement of the IRI approach will result in the testing and elimination of herbicides as an option.
~ Jack McLaughlin, president of Lakeside Park Association, Inc.
