PCB News

Origin of PCBs in Pennsylvania fish hatcheries remains uncertain
State maintains consumption advisory of one meal per week

INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL (LANCASTER, PA.)
April 10, 2003
P.J. Reilly

The case of the mysterious PCBs continues to grow murkier for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC).

It was back in 2000 that the agency first issued a consumption advisory for trout reared in its Big Spring and Huntsdale hatcheries after testing there revealed trout carried trace levels of potentially cancer-causing PCBs.

At the time, both hatcheries supplied trout to Lancaster County's waters. Big Spring has since closed, however, so all the county's trout now come from Huntsdale.

The advisories recommended anglers fishing in waters stocked with Huntsdale trout should limit their trout consumption to one meal per month.

Anglers fishing in waters stocked with Big Spring trout were urged to limit their consumption to one meal per week.

A meal is considered to be a half-pound of fish for a 150-pound person. Essentially, that's the fillets from two stocked trout.

PCBs are a group of carcinogenic chemicals used prior to the 1970s in a variety of industrial and electrical products such as capacitors, transformers, turbines, hydraulic fluids and lubricants.

PCBs are very persistent, and even though their manufacture was discontinued more than 20 years ago, trace levels of PCBs remain in the environment.

In fish, PCBs and other chemical contaminants build up in fat deposits and in the area just underneath the skin.

In 2001, the PFBC issued a blanket advisory of one meal per week for all fish caught in Pennsylvania waters.

The more stringent one-meal-per-month advisory remained in place for counties, including Lancaster, stocked with trout reared at Huntsdale.

The same two advisories were issued prior to the start of the 2002 trout season.

All the while the PFBC was issuing consumption advisories for the hatchery trout, the agency was trying to find out where the PCBs were coming from.

PFBC spokesman Dan Tredinnick said the agency tested the water in the hatchery, the water around the hatchery, the soil in and around the hatchery, the fish food, the caulk in the bottoms of the raceways -- anything and everything they could get their hands on.

They were never able to pinpoint for certain the source of the contaminating PCBs.

In the latest round of trout testing at all the PFBC hatcheries over the past year, the PCBs didn't show up -- not even at Huntsdale.

"Quite frankly, we can't explain that," Tredinnick said.

So this year, only the blanket statewide advisory of one meal per week for all fish caught in Pennsylvania waters is in place.

Though trace levels of PCBs have shown up in several PFBC hatcheries over the years, Tredinnick said, Huntsdale has had the most consistent presence of PCB

Slowly but surely, Tredinnick said, the PFBC is eliminating potential sources of the PCBs at that hatchery.

Currently, he said, the agency is focusing on two specific raceways, which were not used to rear fish this year, but which were found to have some PCBs.

"We didn't find any PCBs at the head of the raceway where the water comes in, but we did detect PCBs at the tail end of the raceways," Tredinnick said. "The working theory is that there's a water source running under the hatchery and the PCBs are percolating up through the ground and into the raceways."

Tredinnick stressed that theory is far from proven, but the PFBC is conducting tests to find out for sure.

"If that is the case, it doesn't explain why we've raised trout in those two raceways before and didn't have any problems, nor does it explain why we found PCBs at some of our other hatcheries," he said. "Quite frankly, no matter what we find out about those raceways, we still have a lot of questions that are unanswered."

So what's an angler who wants to eat a few trout this season to do?

Well, Tredinnick said the PFBC's trout have always been safe to eat. The consumption advisories are simply precautionary recommendations primarily aimed at pregnant women.

If anyone is worried about accumulating PCBs in their system from trout or other wild fish, Tredinnick said following the current consumption advisory of one meal per week will ensure your safety.

Or, if you're still worried, practice catch and release. There's absolutely no harm in simply handling these fish before turning them loose.

Remember, the standing consumption advisory covers PFBC-reared trout and it covers wild fish caught in waters that are not governed by more stringent advisories.

Check the regulations manual that was issued with your fishing license to learn the various consumption advisories issued for certain species caught in certain waters across the state.

Copyright 2003 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.