MONTPELIER, VT —The Vermont Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal challenging the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources’ (ANR) decision to deny a permit for chemical treatment of Lake Bomoseen.
In 2022, the Lake Bomoseen Association applied for a permit to use chemicals in the lake to address the aquatic nuisance, Eurasian watermilfoil. A group of concerned citizens opposed the application, arguing that the need for chemical intervention had not been sufficiently demonstrated. They contended that chemicals should be used only as a last resort to address significant ecological harm from invasive species.
ANR denied the permit in 2024. When a person who was not the applicant for the permit appealed this decision, the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) represented the citizens opposing chemical use in the lake.
The Supreme Court’s decision definitively ends this particular application. However, according to Jon Groveman, VNRC’s Policy and Water Program Director, broader questions remain about when chemicals should be permitted in Vermont waters.
“The attempt to use chemicals in Lake Bomoseen exposed weaknesses in Vermont’s laws governing chemical use in our waters,” Groveman stated. “While VNRC is very pleased the court upheld the permit denial, we remain concerned that without improvements to these regulations, Vermont’s waters will continue to be at risk.”
Groveman emphasized the importance of avoiding reliance on chemical solutions: “Vermont cannot set a precedent for dependence on chemical treatments which may work in aquarium settings and mimic small-scale, artificial systems but are not something we want to experiment with in our ecologically complex, natural lake systems.”
Bob Stannard, one of the citizens who opposed the chemical use and a party to the appeal, added, and a founding member of the Lake Bomoseen Environmental Alliance, stated “In August of 2021 I was fortunate to purchase a camp on Lake Bomoseen. A month later a friend informed me that the Lake Bomoseen Association was applying for a permit to spray toxic chemicals in the lake to kill milfoil. It was a horrible idea then and it’s still a horrible idea today. The people came together to oppose and eventually defeat this plan. Much like what we’re seeing today nationwide, when people get organized, stand up and speak out it makes all the difference.”
This press release was updated on February 11, 2026 to reflect the following changes:
Lindsay Waterhouse, not the Lake Bomoseen Association, filed the 2024 permit appeal. The permit application addressed Eurasian watermilfoil specifically, not multiple aquatic nuisances. The Lake Bomoseen Environmental Alliance incorporated in September 2023, after the 2022 opposition cited. Thank you to the Lake Bomoseen Association for making us aware of these issues. The corrections in our communications have been made.