Post by Woody Williams on Mar 28, 2007 20:20:35 GMT -5
Tainted lake off limits to anglers
By JOHN LUCAS
Courier & Press Sunday editor 464-7433 or lucasj@courierpress.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
PRINCETON, Ind. - Fishing will be prohibited this spring in the 3,000-acre Gibson Lake at Duke Energy Indiana's Gibson Generating Station west of Princeton.
The company has placed the lake, which provides cooling water for the coal-fired electric generating plant - the largest in Indiana and the third largest in the world - off limits after high levels of selenium were detected in fish earlier this year.
Selenium is a naturally occurring mineral distributed widely in most rocks and soils. It has many industrial uses and is also used as a nutritional supplement.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, selenium dust can enter the air from burning coal and oil and eventually will settle over land and water. It also enters water from rocks and soil and from agricultural and industrial waste.
The agency notes it can accumulate in the food chain.
While low doses of selenium are needed to maintain good health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns exposure to high levels can cause adverse health effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Long-term exposure can produce a condition known as selenosis, with symptoms of hair loss, nail brittleness and numbness in the body's extremities. Exposure to airborne selenium can cause respiratory tract irritation, bronchitis and stomach pains.
The lake, built in 1972, will remain closed to fishing pending a study of its fish and water quality, said Duke Energy Indiana spokeswoman Dawn Horth. Other ponds and sloughs on power plant property will remain open for fishing, she said.
The study, Horth said, will look at a variety of aspects of the lake's ecology. Duke Energy is working with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and others, she said, adding the company felt the selenium was waterborne rather than airborne. She said the miles of lake shoreline are edged with limestone rip-rap, a possible source of the element.
"We don't know exactly the source of the selenium," she said, noting it has been detected in fish tissue but not in the lake water. "Selenium is biocumulative; that is, it's within the food chain for the fish."
The element was detected in the fish tissue in March, Horth said. She said the company does occasional analysis of the fish in the lake. Species include shad, carp, sunfish and others.
About 9,000 visits by fishermen were recorded to the Gibson Station property last year, she said, but most of those were by people fishing in the property's other ponds and lakes. she said.
Horth said preliminary data indicate selenium levels in Gibson Lake fish are below the EPA's recommended guidelines for recreational fishing, but higher than levels recommended for people who rely on fish for subsistence or as a primary part of a regular diet.
She said some fishermen might have frozen fish they caught earlier at Gibson Lake. She recommended they follow consumption guidelines set by the Indiana Department of Health.
The Health Department recommends limiting fish caught at Gibson Lake to one meal per week for adults and one meal per month for women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, women who plan to have children and children under the age of 15.
One meal is considered to be 3 ounces of cooked fish.
By JOHN LUCAS
Courier & Press Sunday editor 464-7433 or lucasj@courierpress.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
PRINCETON, Ind. - Fishing will be prohibited this spring in the 3,000-acre Gibson Lake at Duke Energy Indiana's Gibson Generating Station west of Princeton.
The company has placed the lake, which provides cooling water for the coal-fired electric generating plant - the largest in Indiana and the third largest in the world - off limits after high levels of selenium were detected in fish earlier this year.
Selenium is a naturally occurring mineral distributed widely in most rocks and soils. It has many industrial uses and is also used as a nutritional supplement.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, selenium dust can enter the air from burning coal and oil and eventually will settle over land and water. It also enters water from rocks and soil and from agricultural and industrial waste.
The agency notes it can accumulate in the food chain.
While low doses of selenium are needed to maintain good health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns exposure to high levels can cause adverse health effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Long-term exposure can produce a condition known as selenosis, with symptoms of hair loss, nail brittleness and numbness in the body's extremities. Exposure to airborne selenium can cause respiratory tract irritation, bronchitis and stomach pains.
The lake, built in 1972, will remain closed to fishing pending a study of its fish and water quality, said Duke Energy Indiana spokeswoman Dawn Horth. Other ponds and sloughs on power plant property will remain open for fishing, she said.
The study, Horth said, will look at a variety of aspects of the lake's ecology. Duke Energy is working with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and others, she said, adding the company felt the selenium was waterborne rather than airborne. She said the miles of lake shoreline are edged with limestone rip-rap, a possible source of the element.
"We don't know exactly the source of the selenium," she said, noting it has been detected in fish tissue but not in the lake water. "Selenium is biocumulative; that is, it's within the food chain for the fish."
The element was detected in the fish tissue in March, Horth said. She said the company does occasional analysis of the fish in the lake. Species include shad, carp, sunfish and others.
About 9,000 visits by fishermen were recorded to the Gibson Station property last year, she said, but most of those were by people fishing in the property's other ponds and lakes. she said.
Horth said preliminary data indicate selenium levels in Gibson Lake fish are below the EPA's recommended guidelines for recreational fishing, but higher than levels recommended for people who rely on fish for subsistence or as a primary part of a regular diet.
She said some fishermen might have frozen fish they caught earlier at Gibson Lake. She recommended they follow consumption guidelines set by the Indiana Department of Health.
The Health Department recommends limiting fish caught at Gibson Lake to one meal per week for adults and one meal per month for women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, women who plan to have children and children under the age of 15.
One meal is considered to be 3 ounces of cooked fish.
