Quality of Western Pennsylvania's Rivers on the Rise
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
6 January 2011
By Bob Frye
The quality of water in Pittsburgh's rivers apparently is improving.
Officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
think so, at least, judging by their recommendations about eating fish
from those waters.
The agency — together with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
and Department of Health — annually puts out a fish consumption
advisory for waters in the state. A news release announcing this year's
recommendations went out about two weeks ago.
A DEP official said that was a mistake — it was to go under further
review before being made public — but the information already has been
published in a couple of outlets.
A revised version has not been released, but the original notice eased
the advisory against eating carp from the Monongahela and Ohio rivers
at the Point in Pittsburgh, putting a one meal per month limit in its
place. Likewise, state officials said it's OK to eat one meal of
channel catfish per month from the Ohio River at the Point. The
advisory against eating freshwater drum from the Allegheny, Monongahela
and Ohio at the Point was lifted altogether.
All of the advisories are based on samples of PCBs, an industrial
pollutant, in fish in the rivers.
The new advisories, should they stick, are good news, said Rick Lorson,
the Fish and Boat Commission's area fisheries manager based in Somerset.
PCBs build up in the fatty tissues of fish, especially those at the
bottom of the food chain, such as catfish and carp, and to a lesser
extent drum, which are more selective feeders. Their production has
been banned, but they've persisted in the environment for decades.
"Those contaminants are long-lived, but they do have what's called a
half-life, and they do slowly disappear over time," Lorson said. "And
maybe we're getting to that time."
In a separate news release, the DEP announced there are no restrictions
on eating fish caught in Pymatuning and Tamarack lakes.
"The fish in Pymatuning Reservoir are safe to eat when consumed
according to the recommended statewide advisory of one meal per week,"
the advisory said.
Last spring, a large number of fish in both lakes — everything from
crappies and carp to walleyes and muskies — died. The state suggested
anglers stop eating fish from both waters until a cause was found.
Eventually, it was determined that a naturally occurring bacteria
spawned by rapidly rising water temperatures was to blame.
The do-not-eat advisory was lifted in June and is not expected to
return.
Bob Frye can be reached at bfrye@tribweb.com or 724-838-5148.