Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials announced today that stocking fish raised in the state trout hatchery in Lewistown will continue to be delayed after low levels of PCBs were confirmed in some of the fish raised at the 82-year old facility.
Officials stressed their caution is based on concern for public safety. "While the PCBs detected in the fish at the Big Springs Trout Hatchery are low, until we get more answers we’re going to take a cautious approach and err on the side of public health and safety," said FWP Director Jeff Hagener.
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services officials said the PCBs levels of 0.10 parts per million detected in the Big Springs hatchery fish sample pose "an extremely minimal risk to human health."
Last summer, the state Department of Environmental Quality discovered much higher levels of PCBs in Big Spring Creek sediments immediately downstream of the Big Springs Trout Hatchery. Subsequent FWP investigations suggest that paint used more than 25 years ago on some hatchery raceways is a major source of PCBs in Big Springs Creek and in the stream’s wild trout.
About 25 percent of the hatchery’s fish are destined for stocking in Canyon Ferry, Holter and Hauser reservoirs near Helena. In all, about 100 different waters are planted with fish raised at the Big Springs hatchery. Today’s action is a precaution to reduce the risk of stocking contaminated fish.
"We are committed to cleaning up the stream and the hatchery," said Chris Hunter, FWP’s chief of fisheries in Helena. "These fish are important to the State of Montana. While this is low-level PCB detection in the fish, we’ve very concerned. We need to confirm the accuracy of the tests before we make any decision related to stocking,"
The test of a 10-fish sample gathered from two of the hatchery’s 32 raceways in April detected 0.10 parts per million of polychlorinated biphenyls—PCBs—in the fish. At that level, Montana fish consumption guidelines suggest anglers and others could safely consume about one meal per week. A similar fish sample gathered last year from a different portion of the hatchery detected no PCBs.
FWP recently gathered fish samples from other hatchery raceways for follow up testing. Some results are expected early next week. All tests are being conducted by Energy Labs in Billings.
With the fish sample, FWP also spot-tested effluent that settles at the bottom of hatchery raceways. Those samples tested at 1.5 ppm in the short raceways known to have a high concentration of the PCB-laden paint, and 0.048 in long raceways, whose paint contained a lower PCB concentration. Trace PCB levels were also detected in hatchery water but the accuracy of the test is in question. A follow up sample has been submitted for testing.
Hunter said the disparate PCB levels in the hatchery suggest that the paint is the likely source but fish food may be a contributing factor. Some fishmeal, whose production is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, is known to carry low levels of PCBs.
Because the Big Springs hatchery stocks still-growing young-of-the-year fingerlings and 8-inch-long yearling fish, as opposed to fully-grown adult fish, the hatchery-raised fish continue to grow after being stocked, so it is certain the low PCB concentrations in their tissue will be reduced as the fish grow and live in the waters into which they are stocked. FWP, however, will hold fish in the hatchery until officials confirm the results of additional fish samples. The results from the follow-up samples will be used in part to determine if the fish can be stocked. If officials determine that the fish ought not be stocked, the fish will be destroyed.
Meanwhile, Hunter said hatchery managers are attempting to slow the growth of fish scheduled for stocking by reducing their feed. "The fish are growing and they’ll run out of room if we hold them much longer," he said. "As raceways become more crowed, the risk of disease increases."
Hunter said Big Spring hatchery stocking regimen is now about two weeks behind schedule.
Although the low-level PCB finding is the first of its kind in a Montana state hatchery, Hunter said FWP recently embarked on a systematic testing of the state’s eight other hatcheries. Initial results are expected later this month.
PCBs are chemicals widely used through most of the 1970s as ingredients in a number of industrial materials, such as electric coolants; sealing and caulking compounds; and ink and paint additives. By 1977, concern about the impact of PCBs on human health and the environment led to a North American ban on manufacturing and importing PCBs.
Small amounts of PCBs are found in the environment all over the world. Traces of PCBs are found in our food as well as in our bodies. The body fat of animals and fish for example, can contain PCBs. PCBs do not occur naturally in the environment, yet are among the main chemical contaminants found in sport fish in several areas of the country, including the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Excessive exposure to PCBs may cause a wide variety of adverse health effects, including cancer.
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services officials said the low level PCBs detected in the Big Springs Hatchery fish, unlike the elevated levels in wild trout immediately below the hatchery, would pose minimal human health risks.
"PCBs are a pervasive environmental contaminant that tend to accumulate in the fatty tissues of fish and other animals," said Howard Reid, manager of the state’s Food, Drug and Cosmetics Program. "We know there are trace levels of PCBs in much of the food we eat every day. The levels found in this sample of hatchery fish fall into the one-meal per week advisory category. The current science indicates that consumption at these levels and frequencies may cause one additional case of cancer per 10,000 individuals over a span of 70 years of consumption. An extremely minimal risk to human health."
Sport fish from other areas of the state that fall within that one-meal per week advisory include:
* Flathead Lake--lake trout 18-27 inches long, with larger lake trout at the one-meal per month advisory level.
* Holter Lake--walleye larger than 20 inches.
* Seeley Lake--rainbow trout larger than 18 inches.
* Whitefish Lake--lake trout larger than 24 inches.
The complete Fish Consumption Advisory can be accessed via the Internet at http://www.dphhs.state.mt.us/hpsd/pubheal/healsafe/pdf/fish.pdf.
Late last year, after learning that elevated levels of PCBs were found in wild trout below the hatchery, Montana health officials issued a "do-not-eat" advisory for wild fish caught on the upper portion of Big Springs Creek. Fish tested below the hatchery showed PCB levels as high as 21.9 ppm, about 46 times higher than the state’s do-not-eat level.
As a precaution, state fish and wildlife officials imposed a catch-and-release only regulation on about 10 additional stream miles. The Big Spring Creek do-not-eat advisory and the catch-and-release regulation extend from the hatchery to the U.S. Highway 191 Bridge adjacent to the Lazy KB Fishing Access Site.
To meet Environmental Protection Agency regulations, FWP hired an independent consulting firm to determine where PCB-contaminated paints remain in the Big Springs hatchery and to develop a plan for their removal. Under the plan, the hatchery was evaluated for PCB concentrations in raceway paints as well as for paints that may have penetrated raceway concrete.
Hunter said the removal of surface paint from the hatchery raceways will eliminate more than 90 percent of the PCBs. Alternatives being considered include: (1) full replacement and reconstruction of the existing raceways, and (2) removal of surface paint and coat existing raceway surfaces with a safe and stabilizing sealant. FWP hopes to begin clean up as soon as the EPA approves a plan. The clean up of the hatchery is estimated at $300,000 to more than $2 million. FWP is pursuing a legal settlement with the PCB manufacturer that could be used to help fund the clean up.
Hunter said paint chips that entered Big Spring Creek over the years did so either as clinging algae was washed and scraped from raceway walls or when paint was removed to prepare raceways for repainting. He said paint has not been removed from raceways surfaces for repainting for at least 10 years. The practice of allowing scraped and power-washed algae and associated paint chips to flow into the stream ended last summer as soon as FWP suspected that raceways contained PCB-laden paint.
Clean up of Big Springs Creek is being regulated by Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality. Under state law, FWP must complete a risk assessment and a feasibility study prior to clean up. The risk assessment will evaluate potential affects of PCB-contaminated paints on humans as well as the environment. The study will evaluate alternatives for cleaning up Big Spring Creek.
Big Springs Trout Hatchery annually stocks about 1.25 million rainbow trout, 40,000 grayling and a total of 600,000 cutthroat trout, brown trout and kokanee salmon. It is responsible for about half of the total weight of the state’s coldwater fish-stocking regimen, with the state’s other eight hatcheries responsible for the remaining half.
Should any of the Big Springs hatchery’s fish be determined to be unavailable for stocking, officials said they would reevaluate the year’s fish stocking plans to best meet the needs of Montana anglers.
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