Easton Conservation Commission Continues New Pond Herbicide Hearing Amid PFAS Concerns

EASTON -- May 11, 2026, Easton Conservation Commission endorses stormwater utility fee and continues New Pond herbicide hearing after PFAS dispute. The commission voted unanimously to endorse a proposed $25-per-quarter stormwater enterprise fee, presented by David Field of the Stormwater Utility Steering Committee, which would generate $1.3 million annually toward $35 million in identified infrastructure needs including $16.9 million in critical culvert repairs and $15.6 million in failing corrugated metal pipe replacement. A separate notice of intent hearing for aquatic plant management at the 18-acre New Pond was continued to June 8 after Kyla Bennett, a PhD ecologist and attorney with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility who identified herself as a PFAS researcher, told the commission that proposed herbicides fluoridone and Procellor qualify as PFAS under Massachusetts definitions and should not be introduced into an Area of Critical Environmental Concern that supplies water to five towns, particularly given the town's existing $11.2 million filtration investment. The commission, which sits as permitting authority over the town-filed project, asked both the applicant and Bennett to submit supporting scientific documentation before the next meeting. Commissioner Michael Goodman, who missed the stormwater vote due to a Zoom device failure, closed the meeting by placing on record his personal opposition to the enterprise fund, calling elements of it duplicative.