APGI appeals Badin Lake fish advisory

Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (APGI) filed an appeal Thursday of a Fish Consumption Advisory issued in February by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Badin Lake.  The advisory recommended limits on the amount of largemouth bass and catfish the public should eat from the Lake.

While APGI respects the Department of Health’s duty and desire to protect public health and inform the public of risks, it has appealed the advisory because the State changed its stated evaluation criteria after the study was complete and held Badin Lake to a different standard than other lakes and rivers in North Carolina. 

Specifically, the State has never before issued a fish advisory based on the findings in a single fish with slightly elevated levels, but that’s exactly what it did with largemouth bass in Badin Lake. And, the State has monitored similar levels of chemicals or contamination in fish tissue caught in other waterways in North Carolina, but has not issued a fish advisory in those instances.

The failure to use consistent evaluation criteria calls into question the confidence the public will place in fish advisories issued by the State.