Maine plans to use herbicide against invasive water plants

MAINE PUBLIC • May 28, 2026

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection plans to use herbicides to kill invasive variable leaf milfoil infestations on three Maine lakes this summer. The agency is seeking new permits to apply chemicals in Messalonskee, Little Sebago and Androscoggin lakes, according to a department notice. John McPhedran, an aquatic invasives specialist at the department said it used the herbicide ProcellaCOR against milfoil infestations several times since the product was authorized by federal regulators in 2017. "We are discharging a pollutant to the state water, which none of us really like to do," McPhedran said. "But these are instances which we think that it is warranted."