DNR Investigating Stonewall Jackson Lake Fish Kill
Charleston Gazette
26 May 2010
By The Associated Press
ROANOKE, W.Va. -- Natural resource officials are awaiting the results
of lab tests they hope will determine what killed about 1,000 fish at
Stonewall Jackson Lake this week.
About 99 percent of the dead fish were crappie, said district fisheries
biologist Kevin Yokum of the Division of Natural Resources. All were
found within a 2 1/2- to 3-mile section of the lake where there is no
obvious source of pollution and no industry.
Other species of fish are thriving in the same area, so a virus that
hit the crappie population is one theory investigators are considering,
Yokum said.
"We don't want to rule anything out,'' he said. "We're certainly
awaiting the experts' word.''
Yokum and a team of investigators drove three hours to deliver the fish
to the U.S. Geological Survey's Leetown Science Center and to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service's Northeast Fish Health Center. It may be
days before they have results.
The state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers are helping with the investigation and have taken
water samples, Yokum said.
"At this point, there is nothing that would indicate any kind of public
health risk,'' he said. "There's nothing that would be alarming.''
However, families will have to decide for themselves whether they feel
comfortable swimming and fishing the 82 miles of shoreline this
Memorial Day weekend.
Yokum believes this is the first major fish kill on the lake, completed
by the corps in 1990. A fisherman discovered the kill Monday morning.
Anglers and boaters are encouraged to report any additional fish kills
or pollution spills to the DNR at 800-642-3074.