PCBs taint fish caught in Badin Lake

State health officials say the source is unclear. Riverkeeper links it to Alcoa plant.

By Bruce Henderson

State health authorities will warn people not to eat some fish from Badin Lake, where catfish and largemouth bass are contaminated by a banned chemical that might cause cancer.

The state launched a study of fish in the lake last year because of concern by Stanly County over contamination from an Alcoa aluminum smelter, now closed, in the lakeside town of Badin. Health officials will hold a meeting tonight in Albemarle to discuss the findings.

Alcoa acknowledges it is responsible for lake sediment near the plant that is tainted by polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, the same chemicals found in unsafe levels in fish. A second group of chemicals found in the sediment, called polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, were not found in fish.

State officials say their study was not designed to trace the source of the PCBs found in fish. An Alcoa official said the presence of tainted fish in the upper lake – the smelter is on its southern tip – suggests the chemical came from an upstream source.

"In this case, it could be anywhere in the Yadkin River basin," said state epidemiologist Jeffrey Engel.

But Yadkin Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks said “it's inconceivable that Alcoa would deny any responsibility for this contamination.”

Naujoks, who previously investigated PCB contamination near Raleigh, said the chemicals recirculate in water in a way that can't absolve Alcoa, the only industry on Badin Lake.

Naujoks said the state water-quality division, which knows about sediment contamination in the lake, should consider the fish findings in reviewing Alcoa's impact on Yadkin water quality. The state is expected to issue, within months, a water permit that Alcoa needs to renew its hydroelectric license for the Yadkin.

"Now that they know all this, how can they possibly sign off on that?" Naujoks said. "It's beyond me that the state doesn't acknowledge their responsibility to protect public waters and public health."

N.C. Division of Water Quality officials couldn't be reached late Tuesday.

Alcoa has been at odds with Stanly County leaders over its hydroelectric license, which covers Badin Lake and three other reservoirs. The two sides have fought over water rights and contamination.

For the fish study, state scientists analyzed the tissue of 30 fish from Badin Lake. Two fish caught in the lake's northwestern arm showed PCBs in potentially unsafe levels. So did one fish from the southwestern region, closest to the Alcoa plant.

Alcoa's Gene Ellis called the study “a very conservative analysis and conservative interpretation of the data” but said the company supports the fish advisory.

An earlier study, in 2004, was inconclusive about PCB risks, Engel said. That study sampled fewer fish and used less sensitive analytic methods, he said.

PCBs, banned in the 1970s, were used as coolants and lubricants in transformers and other electrical equipment. The chemicals don't easily decompose and can travel long distances by air, so they can land in water far from where they were released. In water, PCBs work their way up the food chain and can accumulate in high concentrations in predatory fish such as bass.

People who ingest small amounts can suffer anemia; problems with the liver, stomach and thyroid; and changes in the immune system, behavior and reproduction. Children exposed through their mothers may suffer low birth weight, problems with motor skills, and impaired memory and immunity. The federal government says PCBs might cause cancer.

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