Environmental officials in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia are developing a plan to improve the Potomac River’s water quality.
Due to high levels of an industrial chemical called polychlorinated biphenyls, all three jurisdictions have put out advisories on which fish residents can eat from the river, and how often.
The chemical, primarily used in electrical equipment, was banned in 1977. It has been found to cause cancer in animals and is thought to be a carcinogen for humans. It does not break down naturally and most often is found in sediment at the bottom of the river, making various types of catfish, carp and the American eel harmful to humans.
“The whole goal of this process is to figure out how much we have to remove to make the fish safe to eat,” said Scott Macomber, with the Maryland Department of the Environment.
As the chemical leaches into the water, it clings to sediment. Worms and bugs eat the sediment and are then eaten by fish, which are consumed by people.
“The accumulation level from the bug to the worm to the fish, there is a concentration effect,” Macomber said. “When we are at the top of the food chain, eating these — that is a problem.”
The group is working to establish what the sources of the PCBs are and how to clean up the contamination.
“Trying to find the source is not easy because it is generally something that happened a long time ago,” said Bill Hayden, a DEQ spokesman.
The study includes every tributary to the Potomac from north of Chain Bridge to the Chesapeake Bay, said Monir Chowdhury, of the D.C. Department of Health’s Water Quality Division. The study also will conform each jurisdiction’s water quality standards, methods and approaches so that implementation will be uniform, he said.
“From previous experience for other [contaminants] … we have to reduce loads 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent. Those are very ambitious goals and it takes time, money and resources,” Chowdhury said.
No levels of PCBs in the water should be acceptable, said Ed Merrifield, a Potomac River conservationist with connections to the International Waterkeeper Alliance.
“This is a cancer-causing chemical. We should not be setting ourselves up to allow this in the water,” he said.
Meetings planned
Maryland, Virginia and D.C. are holding public information meetings to explain the Potomac study to residents.
» June 22 at 7 p.m. Occoquan Town Hall, Occoquan, Va.
» June 29 at 7 p.m. Charles County Public Library, La Plata, Md.
For information, visit deq.virginia.gov or potomacriver.org.
