Our Petition Drive has ended. Thank you to all who supported our petition.
The Agency of Natural Resources has denied our request for a Lake in Crisis designation.
Secretary Moore agreed that our petition met the first two criteria of the legislation:
1) “Impaired” and “Highly Disturbed” water quality according to the State Lake scorecard, and
2) “Potential risk to public health” and “risk to the natural resources and environment” based on evidence of cancerous Brown Bullhead found in two sections of the lake.
We did not satisfy
3) Declining property values in a municipality in which the lake or a portion of the lake is located.
Until the law is changed to eliminate the clause relating to property values, the reality is that property values will take precedence over risk to public health and risk to the environment and natural resources. Is this really what Vermonters want from their State government and Agency of Natural Resources?
DUMP will continue to work collaboratively with our supporters in Vermont and Quebec, with Secretary Moore and other ANR staff to achieve the goal of restoring and protecting the water quality of Lake Memphremagog and its watershed.
To all our petition supporters, stay tuned and stay involved! Lake Memphremagog is depending on us!
Please join us in the fight to restore and protect Lake Memphremagog!
(Header photo by Jeff Gerade, 2018)