[env-trinity] Trinity Lake Mercury Levels

[Josh Allen]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/
northern_california/11348297.htm

 

MERCURY NEWS

 

Posted on Fri, Apr. 08, 2005 



 

Trinity Lake mercury, security restrictions announced

 
DON THOMPSON
 
Associated Press


SACRAMENTO - State and federal regulators announced new mercury and
security restrictions Friday for Trinity Lake, a popular destination in
the Klamath Mountains northwest of Redding.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation is closing, as of Sunday, its property
around Trinity Dam for security reasons, though limited fishing access
will still be provided.

The closure includes 700 feet downstream and on either side of the dam,
and from the dam crest to the upstream waterline, which varies depending
on the surface level of the reservoir also known as Clair Engle Lake.

"Generally people couldn't get there anyway" on the upstream side, said
bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken. Fishermen on foot and bicycles still
will be allowed to enter the area on the west side downstream, "which is
where they go anyway now. The average person won't notice the
difference, frankly."

Also Friday, the California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment warned of mercury in fish in
Trinity Lake and the Trinity River watershed from decades-old gold and
mercury mining activities there dating to the Gold Rush. An interim
county advisory has been in effect since July 2002.

In addition to the lake and the river, the warning includes Lewiston
Lake, Coffee Creek, Canyon Creek, Eastman Creek, Eastman Dredge Ponds,
Carrville Pond, Crow Creek, Tamarack Creek, the New River and the East
Fork Trinity River and its tributaries.

The public can still eat fish, but especially children and women of
childbearing age should restrict how much fish they eat, the state
advised, with the frequency depending on the species.

The office is seeking public comments on a draft mercury warning and its
evaluation of the health threat. A hearing is set for 11:30 a.m. May 3
at the Victorian Inn Conference Room in Weaverville.

ON THE NET

Find Bureau of Reclamation project information: 
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/ncao/projects.html

Read a mercury fact sheet and draft report: www.oehha.ca.gov.

 

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