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Between 1998 and 2005, the US Geological Survey conducted tests on fish from 291 rivers and streams across the United States for mercury. Not one fish had escaped mercury contamination. One-quarter of the fish tested contained levels of mercury higher than those deemed safe for humans, and over two-thirds of the fish tested had mercury levels that exceeding those that safe for fish-eating mammals according the Environmental Protection Agency.
The majority of mercury entering US streams and rivers stems from emissions from coal mining. The emissions enter the air and then are precipitated back into water systems. Therefore water systems don’t need to be adjacent to coal mines to be affected. Researchers found that high-levels of mercury were found even in fish swimming in undeveloped forested areas, including backwaters of Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, and North and South Carolina.
“This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in a press release accompanying the study’s findings. “This science sends a clear message that our country must continue to confront pollution, restore our nation’s waterways, and protect the public from potential health dangers.”
At the same time, earlier this month the EPA approved a major mountaintop removal site for coal mining at Peg Fork Surface Mine near Chattaroy in North Carolina, despite concerns about water contamination. The approval came without a public announcement.
Citation: Scudder, B.C., Chasar, L.C., Wentz, D.A., Bauch, N.J., Brigham, M.E., Moran, P.W., and Krabbenhoft, D.P., 2009, Mercury in fish, bed sediment, and water from streams across the United States, 1998–2005: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2009–5109, 74 p.
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