Knotweed not a problem for Saugus

SAUGUS — After residents raised concerns regarding the wetlands and Japanese knotweed present in the area surrounding Berthold Street, where American Residential Construction is planning to build homes, an order of conditions was issued by the Conservation Commission to allow for continued work.

Marc Chapdelaine came before the commission representing John Tucci of American Residential Construction, seeking to reopen the public hearing related to the Berthold Street subdivision extension and, ultimately, get an order of conditions issued .

“This has been a long time running… It’s at a point now where the light at the end of the tunnel is here,” Chapdelaine said to the commission.

The commission reopened the public hearing and resident Mary Borrello approached the lectern.

“I border the wetlands… When it comes to the wetlands, and the fact that the knotweed has gotten in there, who is responsible for stopping it?” Borrello asked.

“The state says we have no responsibility,” Conservation Officer Frank McKinnon answered. “It is not the Conservation Commission.”

McKinnon called the Japanese knotweed an “infinity” due to its never-ending pervasiveness as an invasive species.

“We got an email on (the Japanese knotweed), and the state said that we haven’t got the right to tell people they’ve got to take it up,” McKinnon said.

McKinnon said that Japanese knotweed has been entering the country for the last 200 years, and compared its presence to the phragmites that “you find everywhere.”

Borrello asked if the Department of Environmental Protection or commission had any ways of handling the situation.

Commission member Paul Petkewich said that the knotweed will persist through removal efforts and be there “forever.”

“No matter how much you pull it up, it just keeps coming back,” Petkewich said.

Borrello clarified that she was talking about her concern that the knotweed could spread. McKinnon responded that it is in its nature to spread, as the plant is invasive.

“That’s what it does,” he said.

Borrello was advised to consult the Department of Environmental Protection at its office in Woburn regarding further action or advice relating to the knotweed present in the wetlands.

The commission unanimously approved an order of conditions to allow for work to continue on the houses on the street.

Chapdelaine estimated that the project’s completion is expected to take six to 12 months.

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