LIVERMORE — The Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection expects something be done this summer about the Japanese knotweed growing at the transfer station, Selectperson Brett Deyling said at the Jan. 20 board meeting.
“The state doesn’t want us to have to spend a ton of money,” Deyling said. “I told them knotweed doesn’t go away, you can’t get rid of it. Nobody’s figured out a good way to do that.
“We have to figure out what we can do to meet the needs of the state.”
Deyling said the deep-rooted plant is invasive and grows through the protective covering causing water and leachates to get into the soil.
Japanese knotweed is sometimes referred to as bamboo locally because the stalks resemble that plant. Most bamboo varieties do not grow in the Northeast and those that do are non-spreading.
“There’s no way to kill it, other than mowing it down consistently for two or three years straight,” he said. “We will have to be a little proactive with this.”
Admininistrative Assistant Amy Byron said the plant comes up through mill felt, a thick, canvas-like material available from paper mills.
The use of pesticides was suggested, but Deyling said that could lead to erosion problems if all vegetation was killed. He suggested putting roofing over that section.
When Selectperson Wayne Timberlake asked how long it would need to be left there, Deyling said three years would probably kill it off.
Selectperson Chairman Mark Chretien said there’s a line there where the plant was cut down previously.
“If we have to, next summer we can go up there and just keep cutting it down,” he said.
Deyling said the state will be looking for the town to do something.
Monday, Jan. 27 Byron said the state routinely visits the transfer station to monitor the old landfill with the quality of vegetation growing there being part of it. They found knotweed in their last visit and asked that the town manage it differently.
“There was no fine. They’re just asking us to take care of it,” Byron said.
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