Wednesday, August 20, 2008

State advises anglers to limit bass consumption

Mercury contamination in Idaho sport fish leads to unprecedented step, officials say


By JASON KAUFFMAN
Express Staff Writer

Dennis Udlinek of Eagle with Snake River smallmouth bass. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is advising women to limit their consumption of bass caught in state waters. Photo courtesy Idahofishnhunt.com

Idaho health officials have taken the unprecedented step of advising women of childbearing age, women who are pregnant or nursing and children 15 years of age and younger to limit their consumption of bass caught in state waters.

The recommendation is being issued because analysis of fish from Idaho lakes, rivers and reservoirs found that both smallmouth and largemouth bass may contain elevated levels of mercury, a news release from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare states. The move follows another mercury advisory the state issued last year that advises women of childbearing age, women who are pregnant or nursing and young children to limit their consumption of fish from Silver Creek in south Blaine County.

Officials have previously said that the source of high levels of mercury in Silver Creek trout may be coming from northern Nevada gold mines, which use a process of superheating gold-bearing ore to recover precious metals. The process, largely unique to the region, also releases naturally occurring mercury into the air. Because winds generally travel in a northeasterly direction from Nevada to Idaho, state officials and conservationists have alleged that those mercury emissions are blanketing southern Idaho with the dangerous levels of the toxic element.

According to the Department of Health and Welfare, mercury could be dangerous to developing fetuses and children if food containing mercury is eaten too often. Because this can affect the nervous system, the agency is advising women who are pregnant or could be pregnant as well as children to eat no more than two meals of bass per month and to not eat any other fish if they consume this amount. For the general population, the recommendation is to limit bass meals to one per week.

Idaho is not alone in facing the threat of mercury contamination, the Department of Health and Welfare pointed out.

"Mercury in fish is a national concern, with all 50 states issuing fish advisories," the agency news release states.

Still, some conservationists claim Idaho has been hardest hit. Justin Hayes, program director for the Boise-based Idaho Conservation League, said southern Idaho has been the recipient of some of the highest levels of mercury contamination ever recorded.

He said testing by the Nevada Bureau of Air Pollution indicates that in 2007, gold mining operations in the northern part of the state spewed 4,868 pounds of mercury into the air. Hayes said that while that's significantly less than the 20,000 pounds of mercury they were previously emitting, it's still up from 2006, when their reported emissions were 4,468 pounds.

In March, Hayes and other Idaho conservationists hailed the shutdown of the Jerritt Canyon Mine—a major gold mine in northeastern Nevada—as the first step toward cleaning up contaminated waterways as far away as southern Idaho, including the renowned waters of Silver Creek. The Jerritt Canyon Mine is just one of about 25 large gold mines operating in northern Nevada that environmentalists say are responsible for mercury contamination in southern Idaho and portions of Utah.

A yearlong investigation by Nevada officials convinced them to order the shutdown of the gold mine's processing plant.

Leo Drozdoff, head of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, said in March that his order requires Queenstake Resources' Jerritt Canyon Mine to install new, more effective emission-control equipment.

The ore "roasters," which were ordered shut down, were required to be upgraded by the end of the year. If the company wanted to restart the roasters earlier using existing pollution-control gear, they would have had to install new instruments to ensure the gear operated properly.

Hayes said recent reports in northern Nevada newspapers indicate that the owners of the Jerritt Canyon Mine have decided to close the mine for good.

"I think it's primarily because they couldn't control their mercury emissions," he said.

The Jerritt Canyon Mine has been operating just south of the Idaho border for nearly 20 years, a news release from the ICL states. During that time known mercury emissions were in excess of 10,000 pounds per year, the group claimed in March. By comparison, the average-size coal-fired power plant emits only 125 pounds of mercury per year.

According to Fred Partridge, interim Magic Valley Regional Supervisor for Fish and Game, bass are particularly susceptible to contamination from elements like mercury because of a phenomenon called bio-accumulation. He said that because bass are predatory fish and long-lived, mercury tends to accumulate in their flesh throughout their lives as they eat smaller fish containing the toxic element.

"They're at the top of the food chain," he said.

Idaho has issued water-body specific fish advisories since 2001, but this is the first statewide fish advisory ever released in the state. Hayes said the statewide bass consumption advisory is just another indication of how widespread mercury contamination is in Idaho and how pressing is the need to fix the problem.

The state of Washington released a similar advisory for bass in 2003.

A list of specific water-body fish advisories can be found by logging on to the Department of Health and Welfare's Web site at www.healthy.idaho.gov and clicking on "Fish Advisories." For more information, contact the Department of Health and Welfare's Environmental Health Education and Assessment Hotline at (866) 240-3553.

Local water bodies containing bass

Officials with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare have released an advisory cautioning women of childbearing age, women who are pregnant or nursing and children 15 years of age to limit the amount of bass they consume. According to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the following bodies of water north of the Snake River contain bass:

· Carey Lake, Carey Lake Wildlife Management Area—largemouth bass

· Magic Reservoir—smallmouth bass

· Milner Reservoir on the Snake River—smallmouth bass

· The Snake River below American Falls Dam—smallmouth and largemouth bass

· Ponds at the Hagerman Wildlife Management Area—largemouth bass

· Dog Creek Reservoir, north of Gooding—largemouth bass

· Anderson Ranch Reservoir—smallmouth bass




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