Largemouth bass advisory still in place

FRANKLIN COUNTY - Franklin County

The top toxicologist for the Alabama Department of Public Health is not urging Alabamians to stop eating fish but is asking them to restrict their consumption of largemouth bass caught from Bear Creek Reservoir.

The 670-acre lake in southern Franklin County remains on a list of Alabama lakes where fish that are contaminated with mercury have been detected. A limited consumption advisory for Bear Creek Reservoir recommends that children and certain women do not eat bass from the lake and that some teenagers and other adults limit their consumption of the fish.

"We encourage people to eat fish," said state toxicologist Neil Sass. "They just need to eat fish judicially and don't eat big fish. The big fish are the oldest and have accumulated the most contaminants."

Bear Creek Reservoir was first placed on the limited consumption advisory list in 2006 after a largemouth bass contaminated with slightly elevated levels of mercury was caught near the lake's dam in the fall of 2005. A largemouth bass with slightly elevated levels of mercury was also caught in 2006. No other species of fish caught from the lake had elevated levels of mercury.

State regulators are unsure if any bass contaminated with mercury remain in the lake. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management, which collects fish around the state and tests them for up to 25 contaminants including mercury, DDT and arsenic, was unable to survey Bear Creek Lake for the latest round of tests because of low water levels. The dam at the lake is undergoing repairs and water levels are low.

The advisory will remain until no contaminated fish are collected in two successive testing cycles, Sass said.

The mercury levels in the bass caught at Bear Creek Lake were low - .5 milligrams per kilogram of fish - but exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommendations for human consumption, Sass said.

The EPA reports that mercury poisoning in humans can cause brain and nervous system damage. Developing fetuses and children are most at risk.

Sass is unsure where the mercury in Bear Creek Reservoir came from, but he does not suspect industrial waste as the source.

"Mercury is everywhere in the environment, and it always has been," he said. "Mercury can occur naturally in the soil where it is taken up by trees. When those trees fall into the water and decay, the mercury is released."

Shannon McKinney, superintendent of Bear Creek Development Authority, which oversees the lake, said the limited consumption advisory has not hindered fishing on Bear Creek Reservoir.

"Most people who fish for bass release the fish they catch," McKinney said. "There's not many people who eat largemouth bass any more."

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.