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

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.

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.

  

Fish advisory should not impact water quality certificate

A lot of folks are wondering if the recent fish advisory issued for Badin Lake will impact APGI's application with the State of North Carolina to receive a Section 401 water quality certificate for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project.

It shouldn’t.

The 401 water quality certificate focuses on the quality of water being discharged from our dams.  We are confident that the Yadkin Project will meet all relevant water quality standards.

A recent water test conducted as part of the 401 process has confirmed that no PCBs were detected in the Badin Lake water being discharged from the Badin dam — nor were any other contaminants found. This confirms prior results that have regularly shown that the water quality in Badin Lake is good and in compliance with applicable North Carolina water quality standards.

The N.C. Division of Water Quality has said it will study the source of PCB contamination in Badin Lake, and it should.  But that should not impact the Yadkin Project’s unrelated water quality certificate. 

Low-level fish advisory doesn’t change recommended fish consumption at Badin Lake

The N.C. Division of Public Health has issued a low-level fish advisory for Badin Lake that reiterates its recommendation that residents should limit their consumption of largemouth bass and catfish to no more than once a week.  Pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 15 should not eat these fish at all.

This advisory does not change the current recommendations for eating fish in Badin Lake in any way.  Under an existing statewide advisory for mercury, the N.C. Division of Public Health has already recommended limiting consumption of largemouth bass or other fish high in mercury to no more than once a week.

This advisory is the result of a fish tissue study that was recommended and partially funded by Stanly County.  The study — the most sophisticated study of fish tissue ever conducted in North Carolina — found slightly elevated levels of PCBs in one largemouth bass and three catfish out of 30 fish that were tested.

Given the prevalence of PCBs in every waterway in America, it is not surprising that a highly sensitive study would find a few fish with slightly elevated levels.  If the State used the same procedures to test fish in other lakes and rivers in North Carolina, it would likely find similar levels of PCBs in fish from those waters.

The presence of PCBs in fish is not an isolated issue affecting Badin Lake.  In fact, test results posted on the N.C. Division of Water Quality website indicate that fish in many other lakes and rivers across the state — including the Yadkin River near Mocksville, upstream of Badin Lake — have been found to have elevated levels of PCBs. 

At a public meeting on Wednesday, Department of Health officials said that although this study wasn’t designed to identify potential sources of contamination, it makes sense to look upstream for sources of the contamination since a majority of fish with elevated PCB levels were caught in the northwest part of the lake.