OAKLAND — The company that owns the dam on Messalonskee Lake is working with the state’s pesticide control board to determine whether the recent application of a weedkiller was in compliance with the law.

Ray Connors of the Maine Board of Pesticides Control said that the investigation started Tuesday, and could include testing of the site.

Dick Norman, of Messalonskee Stream Hydro, which owns the dam, said on Tuesday, “At this point, if there is an issue that comes up like this, you indicate what’s happened and let them take a look.”

On Friday, resident Ed Pearl saw a man spraying weedkiller on plants growing in boards used to impound water on the north end of the lake. He filed a complaint with the Maine Board of Pesticides Control on Monday, triggering the investigation.

Norman, who also said he contacted the board Monday after an employee told him about the spraying, wouldn’t discuss the details while the investigation was ongoing. He added that the company follows state and federal laws regarding pesticide use.

“We are a very heavily regulated industry, and we abide by the laws,” Norman said.

Messalonskee Stream Hydro, an affiliate of Essex Hydro Associates, of Boston, owns three projects in the Kennebec River system, and the Benton Falls dam on the Sebasticook River.

Norman said that the company has been a leader in promoting environmental practices, and pointed to innovative designs that allow fish to migrate over the dams as an example.


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