By Marcia Barnes
Staff Writer
Although the Tennessee Valley Authority identified invasive non-native parrot feather earlier on the south side of Lake Chatuge, the agency didn’t have the necessary environmental clearance to immediately begin treating public areas.
At an open house held Tuesday, Feb. 27 in Towns County, TVA Natural Resource Management Manager David Brewster said, “We have to do our due diligence. We have to make sure we’re not going to impact the environment in any way, aquatic, terrestrial, all that covered before we can make any treatment.”
The TVA report for treatment of nuisance aquatic plants at public access sites has been completed and approval was required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
NEPA requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions. Agencies must evaluate the environmental and related social and economic effects of their proposed actions. Those agencies also provide opportunities for public review and comment on the evaluations.
According to TVA’s Senior Media Specialist Adam May, “Once our aquatic plant biologist surveys the public areas, identifies the species and area of treatment, TVA will coordinate the treatments with our applicator to conduct the work. TVA will only treat public access points that are in need of treatment. We are targeting early June for our initial treatment to begin.”
On the practical side of the problem, May said that washing boats, trailers and engines after pulling out of the lake would help prevent introducing parrot feather into another body of water.
The TVA will use only EPA-approved aquatic use herbicides and treatment is localized, specific to the Chatuge reservoir. That’s because each reservoir holds different wildlife, different fisheries and different species.
Brewster said, “We have a call-in center at TVA, called the “Public Land Information Center” and there are three people who man this information center five days a week. If they can’t answer your question, they will get it to the correct specialist. We try to have a 72-hour turn around time.”
Public access areas in both North Carolina and Georgia will be treated. A printed schedule will list the sites that are going to be treated and treatments typically begin about a week after the schedule runs in the local newspapers.