Concord committee to draft letter to Fish and Wildlife over chemical use; agrees to explore water testing

At a meeting of a Town of Concord conservation/pollinator committee, members agreed to draft a letter to Fish and Wildlife expressing concern about chemical use at a nearby golf course and to gather more information about local water quality.

Isabelle raised the issue after members noticed reports of chemical applications near the river and said the committee should seek answers. "I wrote to Delia and said there was a concern about a lot of chemical use," Isabelle said, and she proposed sending a letter to Fish and Wildlife to register the committee’s concern.

S2 volunteered to draft that letter and to check wording with other committee members. "I'll try to write up something, but I'll check with Leah and you and Mark and Steve in the group," S2 said. Members agreed the draft should ask whether agency sampling has measured relevant contaminants and whether monitoring results could be shared with the committee.

The group discussed what kinds of tests would be useful: nitrates, sulfates, pH and other standard indicators used in community sampling programs. S3 reported that routine testing of streams used for irrigation had found unexpected E. coli in some surface waters, while the committee’s irrigation wells remained clean. "We test all of the streams and water sources we use…and primarily we're testing for E. coli," S3 said, noting surprise at results from streams previously thought pristine.

Members discussed citizen-sampling programs as a way to supplement agency data and noted organizations that facilitate community water monitoring. The committee agreed to draft the letter, coordinate on any citizen sampling plan and to request available sampling records from relevant agencies before taking further steps.

The decision to draft the letter will be followed by a circulated draft and committee review; no formal enforcement action or regulatory change was taken at the meeting.