Edgartown selectmen backed off an idea to send a letter of concern to Eversource after the conservation agent shared information about plans to use herbicides under power lines.
Herbicide spraying on West Chop and near the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road could begin as early as Friday, after the state pesticide board voted last week not to consider a one-year moratorium on spraying in the region.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission, state representatives, town officials and others are all calling on the utility giant to find alternatives to herbicide spraying under power lines this year.
For the first time in four years, Eversource Energy plans to apply herbicides under some of its power lines on the Vineyard. A public comment period ends March 27.
A two-year effort by a group of Chilmark landowners to use herbicides to combat phragmites in Squibnocket Pond came to an end this week. The Hon. Gordon H. Piper on Monday vacated his own ruling from last January that had found a Chilmark bylaw banning herbicides on the pond was not valid.
Beyond the monarchs and the milkweed a broad discussion has been unfolding on the Vineyard in recent months and weeks about the use of herbicides.