Aug. 4, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: On July 23, my neighbor discovered a bunch of dead crawfish floating in Woods Creek behind Lime Kiln Park, downstream of the Lexington Golf and Country Club.
The week before this discovery, the LGCC, in a joint venture with W&L, put down the first of three applications of herbicide over most of their 130 acres to eradicate the grass that currently grows on the course. On the day of application, Lexington had almost 3/4 of an inch of rain. Over the next four days, we got over an inch and a half of rain (https://www.cocorahs.org/). Just like the “canary in the coal mine,” crayfish are ideal indicators of fresh water contamination (file:///C:/Users/gdsuk/Downloads/ Huang%20et%20al.%20 2025%20glyphosate&crayfish. pdf).
I have no proof that these events are linked, but I think it is reasonable to suspect they are. Due to my concerns, I made reports of a possible “fish kill” incident to the Virginia DEQ and to the Virginia Office of Pesticide Services. I encourage all Lexington citizens to keep a watchful eye on our sweet little creek and to contact the above authorities if you see something of concern. A report to Virginia DEQ can be made at https://portal. deq.virginia.gov/prep/search. Virginia Office of Pesticide Services can be reached by calling (804)786-3798 or by email at ops. [email protected]. GRETCHEN SUKOW Lexington
