CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — The Chautauqua Institution recently filed legal action against the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the town of Ellery concerning Chautauqua Lake over concerns about the lake’s ecology and its influence on human safety.

The institution says a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement the DEC used to approve an herbicide permit last spring to treat the lake was incomplete.

"We want to protect our residents and anyone that goes in the lake or on the lake,” said John Shedd, the Chautauqua Institution’s vice president of campus planning and operations.

Leaders also say the town of Ellery is too small a municipality to take the lead on such a big project, after leaders approved it in May.

The institution says it gets its water from the lake and is demanding no new permits be issued until a more comprehensive stormwater management plan is created like the one in place at Chautauqua.

"We have rain gardens, wetlands, shoreline protection,” Shedd said. “There's probably going to be a need for additional applications of herbicides sometime in the future if it's done as part of a comprehensive plan. We're not against herbicides."

As for the lawsuit, Ellery town leaders say they're “reviewing it and will respond accordingly,” while the DEC said in a statement, it “does not comment on pending litigation.”

If an agreement cannot be reached, all sides are expected to appear in Erie County State Supreme Court on October 4.