Algaecide Plan for North Carolina Bird Sanctuary Tossed by Court

North Carolina’s restoration plan for Lake Mattamuskeet’s aquatic vegetation was sent back to the drawing board Wednesday because the use of toxic algaecide would directly impair the water body’s role as a wildlife refuge.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service failed to conduct a compatibility test with the refuge’s migratory bird protection purposes, so its environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact were insufficient, according to an order from the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Judge Terrence W. Boyle agreed with Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club that the experimental algae treatment “is ...