Eating fish from the James “could be unsafe”
Oregon Hill tipped us to an RTD piece on Department of Environmental Quality report on pollution in Virginia waterways:
The stretch from the Boulevard Bridge to just upriver from the Mayo Bridge — an area popular with paddlers, waders and swimmers — was listed as polluted with mercury and the long-banned pesticides DDT and chlordane.
That stretch already was known to be polluted by fecal bacteria, primarily from the waste of wildlife and upriver cattle, among other sources.
DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden said the additional pollutants don’t pose a threat to people in the river. They primarily mean that eating fish from that stretch could be unsafe.
Gerel said, “More than likely all this has been there forever, and we just haven’t caught it” until now.
The U.S. EPA has just proposed stronger regulations on toxic coal ash that is poisoning our water all over the country, increasing the risk of cancer, learning disabilities, birth defects and other illnesses. Of course, the coal industry and utilities don’t want to accept responsibility for toxic coal ash or any of the other consequences, from climate change to mountaintop removal.
Sign up today: http://action.sierraclub.org/coalash_arlington
We have an opportunity to send Big Coal and the utilities a message at the EPA hearing in Arlington next Monday, August 30th.