Study: PCBs in Yadkin are a watershed issue

The NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources held a meeting at Morrow Mountain State Park on Monday to discuss the results of a study of PCBs in the Yadkin River.

We appreciate the state’s efforts to further study PCBs along the Yadkin River. Here’s a quick recap of the study’s findings:

•       The fish in the Yadkin River are like the fish everywhere.

The fact that the state found PCBs in fish is not surprising — the EPA has found the same thing in nearly every river, lake and stream it has studied.

•       The sediment is safe.
State health officials collected and analyzed 31 sediment samples along the Yadkin River over a two-year period. Low levels of PCBs were detected in two sediment samples, but the levels do not pose any risk to human health or the environment or warrant any action. 

•       Eating fish has proven health benefits, but limit consumption of catfish.
State health officials analyzed 104 fish caught in three reservoirs (High Rock, Falls and Lake Tillery) along the Yadkin River. The study found slightly elevated levels of PCBs in nine samples, each of which were catfish that were 18” or larger. (Older and larger fish tend to have higher levels of PCBs, in general.) 

•       No new fish advisory.
There is a statewide advisory already in place for mercury that recommends limiting consumption of catfish from all North Carolina lakes. Following that advisory is fully protective according to the state.  

The Yadkin study found PCBs in fish located well upstream and downstream of Alcoa’s former smelting plant in Badin. That further demonstrates that this is not an “Alcoa issue,” but an issue that impacts the entire Yadkin watershed.

Click here to view a presentation from the Division of Public Health: 
http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/oee/hace/docs/YadkinPeeDeeFishPCBs.pdf