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HALIFAX COUNTY, N.C. — Taxpayers in Halifax County won't be shelling out to keep hydrilla under control.
County commissioners scrubbed plans for a special tax to control the fast growing weed on Lake Gaston. They need to get it under control because hydrilla can tangle swimmers legs and stall boat engines. Commissioners say they plan to find the money from existing funds.
Hydrilla grows faster than chemicals can kill it. It can grown 8 inches a day and its stems can grow up to 25 feet in length.
The plant is a big concern in 20 states, including all of the southeast as far north as Connecticut and as far west as California The plant was brought to the U.S. for the first time in Florida in the 1950s.
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