SUN JOURNAL • October 19, 2025
Lucille Laliberte has been cleaning the pond she grew up on. But the well-intended work could be harmful, state officials and lake stewards say. So far, Laliberte estimates she has dug up, plucked and carried off a half-ton of debris from the exposed shoreline. And “invasive” plants, she says, which weren’t nearly as thick and unsightly when she lived on the pond. The 77-year-old’s cleanup efforts began in earnest in spring after an 8-foot drawdown of the pond to allow for the reconstruction of two remaining dams exposed several hundred feet of sand, debris and vegetation. Despite her best intentions to restore the area to the memories of her time on the pond, DEP confirmed she was indeed violating the Natural Resources Protection Act. The vegetation Laliberte has been removing isn’t invasive. It’s native to the pond.