Alabama health officials say "Don't eat the fish"
(The following is excerpted from the July 1998 issue of "Common Sense," the newsletter of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, published by the Kentucky Environmental Foundation.)
Recreational fishing is a popular sport in northeastern Alabama, but in June 1998, Alabama health officials issued fish consumption advisories for over 15 area rivers and lakes. The advisories were issued following the Alabama Department of Environmental Management annual sampling of fish tissues. ADEM found that the fish tissues contained levels of PCBs, heavy metals and other toxic compounds that exceeded federal health standards. Incineration and chemical production and manufacturing processes are some primary sources of these dangerous chemicals.
Toxic chemicals like PCBs are persistent in the environment, meaning that once they enter the air, water and soil they stay there for decades. These chemicals enter the food chain, eventually poisoning the humans that eat -- in this case -- contaminated fish. ADEM's fish advisory recommended limited consumption of some types of fish, and to simply avoid others.
In a June press release from the Alabama Department of Health, fisheries expert Bob Reinert of the University of Georgia said "The levels of mercury in certain areas appear to be going up, probably from an increase in incineration and the things that humans do." ADEM spokesman Clark Bruner said that a former Monsanto plant in Anniston could be blamed for some of the PCB contamination. Mike Thompson of the Alabama Coastal Fishermen's Association said "We really need more clean industry in our area."
With persistent chemicals already affecting Alabama's fish food chain, to add another polluting facility like the proposed Anniston chemical weapons incinerator would only make a bad problem worse. Chemical weapons incinerators are known to release PCBs, heavy metals and dioxins into the environment. Yet ADEM released a permit in 1997 to begin construction of a chemical weapons incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot.
Brenda Lindell of Families Concerned About Nerve Gas Incineration, said "Here we have ADEM on the one hand telling people the fish in lakes and rivers around Anniston are contaminated, and on the other hand, ADEM allows a permit for another incinerator which will further pollute our air, water and food. It just doesn't make sense."
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