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Fisheries, Public Health at Risk from PCB Poisoning Tens of thousands of people who regularly consume fish from the Lower Fox River and Green Bay in Wisconsin are subjecting themselves to a cancer risk comparable to the risk from smoking two to three packs of cigarettes a day. The widespread effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on fish and wildlife in the region include walleyes with PCB-induced tumors, frogs with deformed spines and the decline of bald eagles and fish.(1) Between 1954 and 1971, more than half a dozen large paper mills dumped toxic PCBs from the production and recycling of carbonless paper into the Lower Fox River,(2) which empties into Green Bay. As a result, the fishing industry in the area was ruined, and toxins continue to harm human health and wildlife. The Lower Fox River, a 39-mile stretch between Little Lake Butte des Morts and Green Bay,(3) has the greatest concentration of paper mills in the world.(4) PCBs fit the bill for the production of carbonless paper since they resist wear and chemical breakdown. But those same qualities make them especially harmful to the environment.(5) PCBs accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals and settle on the top layer of river and bay sediments, where they can be spread further if there is a flood or other catastrophe.(6) The U.S. EPA estimates that paper companies dumped at least 250,000 pounds of PCBs into the Lower Fox River between 1957 and 1971, and more than half of those ended up in Green Bay.(7) Unfortunately, removing PCBs from the bay is far more difficult than removing them from the river,(8) and each year a significant amount of PCBs continues to move into the bay. PCBs harm humans in many ways. They are thought to cause cancer and a variety of health problems, including developmental problems in children born to mothers with PCB exposure. Other ailments include skin conditions and liver, stomach, thyroid, reproductive, and immune system problems.(9) Because PCBs accumulate in fish, the states of Wisconsin and Michigan began issuing advisories in the 1970s against eating PCB-contaminated fish from the region. About 10 years later, Wisconsin added a more unusual advisory against the consumption of fish-eating waterfowl.(10) PCBs have cost the sports fishing industry hundreds of millions of dollars,(11) and local hunters have lost income as well. Even though tourism is a major industry in Wisconsin, PCB pollution has prevented people in the Green Bay area from taking full advantage of natural resources that would otherwise draw in more tourists. Pollution has also led to the devaluation of bayside and riverside property that might have been prime real estate. In northern Wisconsin, fishing is more than a sport; it is often a means of subsistence. Health officials fear that people are not sufficiently well-informed about the risk of eating PCB-contaminated fish. In the late 1990s, surveys showed that a large percentage of anglers were unaware of the state fish consumption advisory, and many of those who knew about it continued to eat contaminated fish to subsist.(12) More than half of the people who continue to put themselves at a high level of cancer risk-as much as 1,000 times what state and federal agencies usually find acceptable-are recreational fishers, but the rest are people from underrepresented groups who depend on fishing to get by, including some Hmong anglers and members of the Oneida Indian tribe. A recent state health study estimates that the total number of people at such risk is about 26,000, but, as Dr. Jeffrey Foran points out, anglers often share their catch with family members.(13) Further, low-income families who live off of the land and waterways cannot easily afford water filters and alternative food sources, and they are more likely to be constantly exposed to PCB contamination.(14) Indian tribes in the region have lost many traditional fishing and hunting areas to PCB contamination. Since the discovery of PCB contamination in the 1970s, a generation has been deprived of an important part of its heritage. Under the Superfund law, the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, the Onieda Tribe of Indians from the Lower Fox River and Green Bay area,(15) and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odowa Indians from the upper Green Bay area(16) serve along with federal and state agencies as natural resource trustees. Trustees assist in the restoration of natural resources in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay area and are involved in a process that will lead to compensation for such environmental damage. The Lower Fox River and Green Bay area provides an example of the need for a strong Superfund program to ensure that states live up to their responsibility to protect public health and the environment. In 1998 the EPA issued a formal proposal to list the area for priority cleanup. This triggered a number of studies, demonstration projects, and planning activities,(17) and it provided an incentive for the state to make better progress. If the state and polluters cannot come up with a workable cleanup plan, however, a greater degree of federal participation will be warranted. Without a well-funded Superfund, though, the EPA's ability to jumpstart stalled state cleanup activities and to induce polluters to cooperate would be severely weakened. In October 2001 the U.S. EPA and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a jointly proposed plan for the cleanup of the Lower Fox River and Green Bay site. The plan applies a set of criteria required by Superfund regulations, and provides for the dredging of polluted sediments from parts of the Lower Fox River. Under the plan, the polluting paper mills would pay the cost of dredging key portions of the river, about $308 million.(18) Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
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