http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/02/07/2042670/still-no-warning-signs-for-toxic.html By Bruce Henderson bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com State has not yet posted recent PCB advisories at Mountain Island Lake's fishing access areas. State officials plan to expand the studies of contaminated fish that led to a public health advisory for Mountain Island Lake last month, but there's no plan yet for warning the lake's fishermen. No signs about the Jan. 6 consumption advisory for channel catfish contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been posted at popular fishing access areas on the lake. State and local officials hadn't discussed signs until the Observer asked questions this week. The N.C. Division of Public Health, which issued the advisory for PCB-laden channel catfish, says it relies on news reports and its website to alert the public. Because signs are expensive, the division says, they go up only when communities request them and help with the cost. But a Mecklenburg County official says some fishermen likely missed last month's news accounts or don't go online. While most sport fishermen release their catch, others regularly eat fish from the lake. Signs would be another way to reach them, Rusty Rozzelle said, and should be the state's responsibility. "Absolutely a better job needs to be done to get the word out," said Rozzelle, the county's longtime water programs chief. "It galls me that they're putting this off on the counties." Rozzelle says state health authorities, not the biologists on his staff, know how to correctly word the signs. Nor could the nine N.C. counties bordering the Catawba River easily coordinate their signs if advisories are issued for other lakes, he says. Rozzelle said Mecklenburg will ask the state for signs to post at county-owned fishing spots on the lake. The county will also urge that signs be posted at access areas owned by Duke Energy and managed by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, including Neck Road in Mecklenburg County and Riverbend in Gaston County. Across the lake, Gaston County environmental health administrator Curtis Hopper said he's heard nothing from the state about posting warnings. Stanley and Montgomery counties spent $2,100 to install metal signs around Badin Lake, where the state issued a similar advisory in 2009, said state public health spokeswoman Julie Henry. A follow-up study found them effective, depending on where they were placed. Language barriers are among factors that can limit their helpfulness. State public health staff are working with other agencies to develop a standard procedure for warnings, Henry said. Meanwhile, she said, state staff will talk with Mecklenburg and Gaston counties, which share Mountain Island Lake, about signs there. North Carolina has 12 site-specific fish advisories and a statewide advisory on largemouth bass and other species likely to hold high concentrations of mercury. Expansion of fish testing State water-quality officials, meanwhile, say they plan to expand testing of fish, likely including in the Catawba, for the PCBs that led to last month's advisory. N.C. authorities warned people in January not to eat channel catfish caught in Mountain Island Lake, the main water supply for Charlotte and Gastonia. They restated an earlier advisory for largemouth bass, which are contaminated statewide by mercury, for pregnant or nursing women and children under 15. Following those warnings, the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation filed a request that more fish species and more Catawba lakes be tested for PCBs. The industrial chemicals accumulate in fish tissue and may cause cancer and neurological and reproductive problems in people who eat the fish. "We're prioritizing where we want to look elsewhere in the state, and we're considering some unassessed lakes in the Catawba River chain," said Jeff DeBerardinis, who coordinates fish sampling for the N.C. Division of Water Quality. "We want to be sure we know why we're looking in a particular place." The Catawba and the Yadkin rivers, east of Charlotte, are likely test locations because PCBs have been found in both river basins. The state issued a fish-consumption advisory in 2009 for catfish and largemouth bass caught in Badin Lake on the Yadkin. Factors likely to guide sampling locations include the intensity of fishing, previous test data and the availability of lab time, DeBerardinis said. Analysis of fish tissue for PCBs is labor-intensive and expensive compared to many pollutants, costing about $1,000 per sample. Mecklenburg County is talking to the state about sharing the costs of collecting and analyzing the fish, local officials say. It might be late summer or fall before fish are tested, DeBerardinis said. That's when they're fattest and would hold the highest concentrations of PCBs. "We shouldn't be dragging this out longer than necessary," said Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman, who last week urged foundation members to contact the state. "We need to get this information out before people subject themselves to this for another fishing season." While top predators such as largemouth bass and bottom-feeders like catfish most readily accumulate PCBs, the state will also obtain fish that haunt mid-depths, such as sunfish and crappie. South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control, which first detected low levels of PCBs in fish in the 1980s, continues to sample fish from the Catawba. The department hopes the Environmental Protection Agency will help collect fish or do lab analyses. ================================================ Fishing reduces stress and gives you a break from our modern world where everything is going a million miles per hour 73 Check & Clear 6 LOC: 38-54-14.60N / 097-14-09.07W |
__._,_.___
.
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment