AR-News: Committee recommends more fish be destroyed

[jim robertson]

Committee recommends more fish be destroyed

By Karen Ogden
Tribune Regional Editor

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LEWISTOWN -- A citizens' advisory committee recommended Monday that roughly 
165,000 PCB-contaminated fish at the state's Lewistown fish hatchery be 
destroyed.

"It would be hard for me in good conscience, whether or not it's safe, to 
recommend releasing the fish to other water bodies across the state," 
committee member Richard Opper said at a meeting of the committee at the 
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks office in Lewistown.

FWP established the committee to advise the agency on the PCB problem at the 
Big Springs Trout Hatchery.

The group's decision is merely a recommendation and is not legally binding. 
However FWP officials said it will factor strongly into their decision on 
the fate of the fish.

FWP dumped almost half a million of the Lewistown hatchery's trout in the 
Great Falls landfill last month, after discovering that many of them 
contained levels of PCBs above the state's "do not eat" limit.

The trout were tainted by PCB-laden paint used in the hatchery in the 1960s 
and '70s. The chipped paint still is visible on the concrete walls of the 
hatchery's lower raceways.

Earlier this month, FWP stocked some 80,000 Lewistown trout at Canyon Ferry 
Reservoir near Helena. PCB's in most of those fish tested below .10 parts 
per million, the level at which the state says it's safe to consume one fish 
meal a week.

PCB's in the fish now in question are higher, at concentrations at which the 
state says it's safe to eat only one fish per month. They're still well 
below the state's "do not eat" level of .47 ppm.

The fish were raised in six raceways that contain a less toxic type of paint 
than the raceways where the destroyed fish were reared.

However the committee was unanimous in its recommendation that the fish be 
destroyed.

Releasing the fish could harm public confidence in the state's fisheries, 
even if the fish are well below conservative safety levels, Opper said.

"It's not good advertising to say, 'Well, these are the new-and-improved, 
lower-PCB-value fish we're releasing,'" he said. "... I wouldn't want to 
have to write the press release if you do release them."

Pete Schade, a committee member representing the Montana Department of 
Environmental Quality, said he felt uncomfortable making a safety decision 
for anglers across the state, many of whom may not be aware of the PCB 
problem when they catch and eat one of the tainted fish.

"I don't feel any of us are qualified to deal with the public health aspect 
of it," he added.

Fish from three of the raceways tested much lower, below the 
"one-fish-per-month level."

But committee member Lyle Gorman, who represents landowner interests, noted 
that the test results consist of mean values of fish sampled.

Seventy-five fish were tested from each of the six raceways in question.

Although most fall within the safe limit of one fish a week, levels in some 
individual fish are well above it.

"Somebody's going to catch those fish and eat them," he said. "... If we 
have real concern for public health we shouldn't be releasing any of these."

Don Skaar, pollution control biologist with FWP in Helena, noted that the 
health advisories are based on a lifetime risk, not a one-time exposure.

But he said the agency wants to err on the side of caution.

FWP officials did not say when they will issue a decision on the fate of the 
fish.

Results are not back yet on tens of thousands of additional fish from the 
hatchery's six remaining raceways.

The raceways are being drained as each batch of fish is removed.

FWP still is awaiting EPA approval of a plan to encapsulate the contaminated 
raceways with a sealant that would lock in PCBs remaining in the concrete, 
said Gary Bertellotti, FWP hatchery bureau chief.

The project is estimated to cost from $250,000 to $500,000.

If it's approved and contractors' bids are acceptable, the hatchery could be 
back in operation before next year, he said.

Also Monday, committee members were given an introduction to a human health 
and environmental risk assessment for the contamination from CDM Inc., a 
Massachusetts-based environmental consulting firm with an office in 
Missoula.

Ted Hawn, with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Lewistown, said 
he would like a better way of measuring the risk from eating contaminated 
fish than the current method, which is based on a lifetime risk.

"If I moved to Lewistown and I'm 40 years old and I start eating one fish a 
week for 20 years what's my risk and how do you evaluate that?" he asked.

Ogden can be reached by e-mail at kogden at greatfal.gannett.com, or by phone 
at (406) 791-6536 or (800) 438-6600.


Originally published Tuesday, June 22, 2004

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040622/localnews/694709.html


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