By Micah Schweitzer
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-895303.mp3
Ohio River – A recent survey of recreation on the Ohio River shows fishing is a popular activity. But the latest tests show more mercury in fish than before, which can affect human health. This comes at the same time some power plants are saying they're having trouble meeting water contamination standards. Micah Schweizer reports for the Ohio River Radio Consortium.
Fishing in the Ohio River is a popular activity. But the latest tests show more mercury in fish than before, which can affect human health. This comes at the same time some power plants are saying they're having trouble meeting water contamination standards. But the news doesn't seem to bother this man.
"My name's Jim Smith, and a lot of my customers call me Smitty."
Smitty has owned a bait and tackle shop in Evansville, Indiana, for almost 24 years. He says he grew up fishing in the nearby Ohio River.
"You know, I had a pole as far back as I can remember."
And for as long as he can remember, Smitty's been eating the fish he caught.
"I eat fish a couple times a week. And I'm as healthy as a horse, so I don't think there's a bit of a problem with eatin' the fish. Fish is good for you," Smitty says.
A recent recreation survey of more than 5000 people living along the Ohio shows Smitty's not alone in enjoying his catch from the river. 13 million pounds of Ohio River fish is eaten annually. At the same time, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission ORSANCO is finding higher mercury levels in Ohio River fish. For decades, ORSANCO has tested fish tissue for mercury and other contaminants. Peter Tennant is the deputy executive director.
"Actually, we hadn't seen much of a problem with mercury up until recently, and it had to do more with the fish we looked at," says Tennant.
ORSANCO used to test small fish, but last year they began testing bigger fish, higher up the food chain. Tennant says the new tests show more mercury than before because the chemical accumulates when big fish eat contaminated little fish. Jason Flickner is with the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, a non-profit advocacy group.
"But I think you also have to look at the practices, particularly surrounding coal combustion, and say that there is more mercury that is ending up in the river," Flickner says.
At the same time mercury in fish is becoming a concern, ORSANCO is considering relaxing some mercury discharge standards for coal-fired power plants. Peter Tennant:
"Obviously, the timing could be better."
Under the federal Clean Air Act, coal-fired power plants are installing scrubbers to limit air pollution. With scrubbers, much of the pollution, including mercury, winds up safely stored in landfills. But when the scrubbers are cleaned, Tennant says some mercury ends up in the wash water, which winds up in the river.
"The demonstrations we've seen from the power industry say on a real good day, when everything's working perfectly, they can get down to the in-stream concentration But on a seven day a week 24-hour basis, they probably can't," says Tennant.
the in-stream concentration being the allowable level of mercury. Jason Flickner, from the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, questions that
"It's done in other industries, and I'm not real sure why all of a sudden the coal power industry is unable to treat mercury discharges the way other industries treat them all the time."
Some power companies say the technology for removing mercury from wash water isn't available or is cost prohibitive, so they've asked ORSANCO for some leeway, before stricter discharge limits go into effect in 2013. Peter Tennant says so far, nothing's been decided.
"What we're thinking about doing now is just saying we can consider a variance to this section of the standards not hey, you've all got em and then we can consider it and do it on a case-by-case basis," Tennant says.
Tennant says they'll have a formal proposal in June, and after a chance for public comment, ORSANCO will take action in the fall. Jason Flickner doesn't like that option even being on the table.
"I just don't see how ORSANCO can consider this regulatory change in the face of the data and the potential long-term effects on human health and the environment," says Flickner.
Flickner says he worries if ORSANCO allows a variance for some power plants, other industries could follow.