Q&A: Can you still swim and fish in Badin Lake?

Since the N.C. Division of Public Health issued a fish advisory for Badin Lake earlier this month, we have received several questions that we would like to answer here.

Q:  Can you still swim and fish in Badin Lake?

Absolutely.  The recreational opportunities in Badin Lake -- swimming, fishing and boating – remain available to everyone. The fish advisory simply recommends that people limit the frequency and amount of catfish and largemouth bass they consume from Badin Lake.  In fact, the advisory does not place any additional restrictions on fish consumption from the lake — the State had previously issued a statewide fish advisory recommending people limit their consumption of catfish, largemouth bass and other fish high in mercury to no more than one fish meal per week (and no consumption for those who are pregnant or under 15 years old). The new advisory relating to PCBs has the same recommendations regarding fish consumption.

Q:  Alcoa has said contamination likely came from upstream sources since three of the four fish with elevated levels of PCBs were caught in the northwest arm of the lake. But don't fish migrate? Couldn't they have come from anywhere in the lake?

Catfish and largemouth bass are not migratory species.  In fact, during spawning season, these fish are highly “territorial" and stay in certain areas or regions of a lake.  There are exceptions, of course, which is why studies like this typically make recommendations based on average levels.  When you use the average approach to analyze the findings, there were notable differences between fish found in the northwest, southwest and northeast regions of the lake. 

Northeast Section: This is the section of the lake that is least impacted by the main flow of the Yadkin River, and all the fish found here had PCB levels that were below the state standard of 50 micrograms/ kilograms (ug/Kg) or parts per billion.

Northwest Section: This section of the lake is on the main stem of the river, located miles upstream of the Badin Works plant.  This is where three of the four fish with elevated levels of PCBs were found.  The average level of PCBs  in catfish was 56 ug/Kg,  above the state standard of 50 ug/Kg. The average level of PCBs in largemouth bass was below the state standard.

Southwest Section: This is the section of the lake that is closest to the Badin Works plant.  One fish found here had slightly elevated levels of PCBs — a catfish that measured 53 ug/Kg.  Still, the average contamination levels of catfish, largemouth bass and sunfish found here were all significantly below the state standard. 

Q:  How tainted are the fish in Badin Lake?

Twenty six of the 30 fish sampled by the N.C. Division of Public Health were below the state standard.  Of the four fish with elevated levels of PCBs, three of those fish were at or only slightly above the standard.

The state standard is 50 micrograms/ kilograms or parts per billion.  Here is a breakdown of the four fish with elevated levels and where they were found:

1. Catfish: 50 ug/Kg, Northwest

2. Catfish: 53 ug/Kg, Southwest

3. Largemouth Bass: 53 ug/Kg, Northwest

4. Catfish: 117 ug/Kg, Northwest 

The Department of Health stated that it took a very conservative approach when issuing this fish advisory.  Rather than evaluate the results based on average levels of contamination as it typically does, in the case of the largemouth bass, the Department opted to issue a lake-wide fish advisory based on a single fish with slightly elevated levels even though the average levels in every region were below the state standard.