New Warnings Issued on Eating Local Fish ; Mercury, PCBs Found in More Waterways

The state has issued additional warnings about eating fish caught in North Jersey after a study found carcinogens and nerve-damaging chemicals in more waterways.

The data show elevated mercury levels in six waterways where state regulators previously did not have consumption advisories in place. Three of those waterways also had high PCB levels, as did three additional streams. All of the waterways drain into the Passaic or Hackensack rivers.

Mercury is a toxic metal most commonly spread via power plant emissions. It is known to damage the nervous system, particularly in unborn and young children. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are banned chemicals formerly used in electrical insulators. They are known to cause cancer.

“Fish is an important part of a healthy, well-balanced diet,” Dr. Fred Jacobs, commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services, said in a statement. “But it’s important to choose your fish wisely.”

The warnings issued this week prompted admonitions from environmentalists, who say the state could be doing more to protect fish – along with the humans and threatened wildlife that consume them – from contaminants.

Fish advisories are ubiquitous, with some type of consumption warning in place for every freshwater body in the state.

This latest study of contaminant levels, conducted by the Academy of Natural Sciences, examined fish-tissue samples collected from 28 freshwater lakes, reservoirs and rivers in Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Essex and Sussex counties.

The results prompted the departments of health and environmental protection to add the nine waterways to the list of those contaminated with either mercury or PCBs. The agencies also expanded warnings to cover additional fish species at water bodies that already had advisories in place.

The specifics of the warnings vary from fish to fish, from waterway to waterway and from person to person. For example, four meals of largemouth bass a year from Boonton Reservoir in Morris County are the equivalent of one largemouth bass meal a week from Passaic County’s Pompton Lake. In both cases, the cancer risk is 1 in 10,000.

High-risk populations – such as pregnant women and young children – are generally advised to consume smaller amounts of fish or none at all.

DEP officials say the mercury warnings point to the need for New Jersey to continue its battles against out-of-state power plants, which spew mercury into the atmosphere that precipitates into New Jersey’s waters.

Although airborne sources of mercury contribute most of the contamination, environmentalists say the state also should be tightening controls on the amounts of mercury, PCBs and other contaminants that are discharged directly into waters by waste treatment and industrial plants.

Bill Wolfe, director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, criticized the DEP for backing away two years ago from stricter discharge limits for mercury and PCBs that were designed to protect endangered wildlife, such as bald eagles and peregrine falcons.

Wolfe called on the DEP to tighten restrictions on those contaminants and others when it proposes revisions in surface water quality standards next month that could then lead to tighter plant- by-plant controls. “We’ve done a lot on the air side; now we have to work on the water side,” he said.

DEP spokeswoman Karen Hershey said she could not comment on whether those standards would include stricter mercury and PCB limits because the proposal is still being drafted.

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E-mail: diskin@northjersey.com

(SIDEBAR, page A20)

Fast facts

Mercury warnings now extend to:

* Boonton Reservoir

* Branch Brook Park Lake

* Ramapo Lake

* Shepherds Lake

* Splitrock Reservoir

* Weequahic Lake

PCB warnings are in place for:

* Boonton Reservoir

* Branch Brook Park Lake

* Overpeck Creek

* Pompton Lake

* Ramapo River

* Weequahic Lake