eval STRING does not spawn a new interpreter. It makes a call to the compiler to parse and compile the string. Then it executes it and throws away the newly compiled code.

Here-docs are a cause of a class of error you can only avoid by avoiding here-docs. Lest that sound dumb to you, try adding a space to the end of your here-doc tag in the <<TAG start or in the TAG end. Both are usually invisible and both will cause your script's parsing to be completely awry. They're just a great way to shoot yourself in the foot.