Those interested in reviewing the report and related documents can call Joe Moniot, (920) 465 7408, and view documents at the Service Reading Room, 1015 Challenger Court, Green Bay, Wisc. To obtain the report from the internet, see the Service website: http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/nrda/walleye.pdf
As part of the Service Natural Resource Damage Assessment of the Fox River and Green Bay, walleye were collected from Green Bay and tested for PCB levels and to determine what health impacts occured from PCBs. Green Bay walleye had hundreds of times more PCBs than walleye caught from cleaner sites outside the Lower Fox River and Green Bay system.
According to David Allen, NRDA Specialist with the Services Green Bay office, Walleye caught in the eastern part of the Bay, near Door County, were 40 percent more contaminated than those from the western Bay. This indicates that the Fox River remains a source of PCBs for Green Bay fish. Green Bay currents are generally counterclockwise and Fox River PCBs tend to move along the eastern side of the Bay.
Allen also noted that the report shows that most Green Bay walleye had tumors that are often the result of PCBs. Walleye from cleaner sites, however, had none.
The fact that Fox River PCBs continue to expose Green Bay walleye to risks and that those walleye tested have shown signs of PCB-related tumors, are important to the Services damage assessment and the cleanup planned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We will release a complete fish injury determination for the Lower Fox River, Green Bay and parts of Lake Michigan later this year, Allen said.
The Service is also preparing to release a bird injury report in May showing impacts of PCBs on birds on the Fox River and Green Bay. That report will also be available for public review and comment and will be the focus of a public meeting May 10. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Brown County Library Meeting Room, Green Bay. The meeting is open to the public and will address the impacts of Fox River PCBs to Green Bay bird populations.
The results of all of these reports are important to understanding why the government and tribes are working toward cleaning and restoring the Fox River and Green Bay, Allen said. We make it available to the public to help them understand problems caused by local PCBs spread over thousands of square miles for decades, and to encourage their help in solving this problem in the best way possible.
The Service has added, and will continue to add, documents and reports to its Regional website to help the public access current information on the Fox River and Green Bay NRDA. In addition to the walleye report and the upcoming bird injury report, the public can now obtain the following documents: the Preassessment Screen and Determination (May 1994), the Assessment Plan (August 1996), the Assessment Plan Addendum #1 (October 1997), the Initial Restoration and Compensation Determination Plan (September 1998) and the Fish Consumption Advisory Report (December 1998). To access these and future documents via the internet, go to: http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/nrda/
Additional reports coming from the Service this year include the PCB release and pathway (showing how PCBs are released and further spread into the ecosystem), fish injuries, economic damages, and restoration alternatives.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprising more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries and 78 ecological services field stations.
The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/
