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Re: NFC: report on public meeting: Indiana big fish kill
Chuck all your efforts should be kept as a big long text file for us to
put on the website so others can get historical persspective on fish
kills what happened in your case will probably happen again and again...!
Let me know
Robert Rice
Join the NFC and help save our fishes. http://www.nativefish.org/
The truth no matter how little of it there is is always in oversupply !
On Tue, 11 Jan 2000 18:09:40 EST CEFCHURCH at aol_com writes:
> <A
>
HREF="http://www.starnews.com/news/citystate/2000/jan/0111st_fish.html">S
t
> arNews.com : CEO deflects blame for fish kill</A>
>
> Above is link to today's The Indianapolis Star newspaper article on
> the big
> fish kill. Last night I attended the first of four public meetings
> on the
> subject. There were several hundred people and standing room only.
> The
> facility was not big enough for the crowd that attended. Frankly,
> much of
> the crowd was very hostile and unbelieving of many of the responses.
> The
> media was well represented. (According to two women in my office,
> they saw
> me asking my main question on Channel 59 late news.)
>
> Present were representatives of Indiana Department of Enviornmental
> Management, Anderson Water Treatment Plant, Health Department, and
> the
> Indianapolis Water Co. If anyone from Guide Corp. was there, they
> (and
> their bodyguards :> ) did not identify themselves.
>
> There were some hand outs (I have no way posting them; I can have a
> neighbor
> scan them and have them posted by the webmaster if there is
> interest.)
> Questions were submitted in written form and the individuals had the
> option
> of going to the podium and asking the question in front of the
> audience or
> have the monitor ask the question for them. IDEM personnel tried to
> sort the
> questions to eliminate duplicates as there were several large
> stacks. The
> meeting started at 7:00 PM and did not break up until almost 11:00
> PM.
>
> <A
>
HREF="http://concierge.com/cgi-bin/maps.cgi?screen=find&link=map&height=3
00&wi
>
dth=400&state=IN&country=us&orig_lat=397820&orig_lng=-861380&orig_name=IN
&lat=
>
397820&lng=-861380&orig_icon_on=1&orig_search=1&orig_iconid=2&level=5&eve
nt=zo
> om">CONCIERGE.COM | WORLD MAPS</A>
>
> You may want to click on above for a map of Indiana. They area of
> concern is
> Anderson (above and to the right of Indianapolis) through Fishers
> and
> downstream to Martinsville (below and to the left of Indianapolis).
>
> Information obtained at the meeting:
>
> - ALL fish in the White River from below the Anderson treatment
> facility to
> Fishers are dead.
>
> - from Fishers to downtown Indianapolis, collected live fish are
> unhealthy
> and probably will not survive the winter. So far the winter has
> been
> unusally mild.
>
> - DNR continues to monitor many points. Below Indianapolis to
> Martinsville
> has yet to show any unusual fish kills.
>
> - there were early reports of dead raccoons and it was suggested
> that it came
> from eating dead fish. DNR reported finding 10 dead raccoons just
> below the
> Anderson water treatment facility; necropsies showed all 10
> afflicted with
> distemper. No other reported findings.
>
> - over 60 tons of dead fish have been removed and there is still
> lots out
> there.
>
> - Guide Corporation continues to deny they are the source of the
> contaminant.
> They are now being monitored daily.
>
> - Anderson Waste Water reported that the only user known to use the
> suspected
> chemical cause of the kill is Guide Corp. Other industrial users of
> Anderson
> Waste Water facility are cooperating in not using the facility until
> things
> get sorted out. Apparently several are suffering because of their
> cooperation in not bringing more pressure to bear on the compromised
>
> facility's ability to process waste water.
>
> - DNR did several spot checks of the river below Anderson for signs
> of
> aquatic insect life and had nothing but good news to report. The
> viable
> insect base is critical when restocking is appropriate. They
> focused on
> riffle areas and suggested that some larvae burrowed deeper in to
> the
> substrate if they were disturbed by the chemical.
>
> - My question was "are any forms of aquatic life listed as
> threatened,
> endangered or of special concern effected by the fish kill?" DNR
> responded
> that the answer was no for both State and Federal listed species.
> HELP
> NEEDED: can any experts help me confirm or question that?
> Here is a site that may help: <A
> HREF="http://www.state.in.us/dnr/naturepr/species/hamilton.pdf">List
> of
> ENDANGERED, THREATENED AND RARE SPECIES by county</A> The counties
> affected
> so far are Madison, Hamilton and Marion. Morgan and Owen will be
> next if the
> kill continues.
>
> My follow up question was does that include paddlefish and the
> response was
> no. I'm pretty sure there are paddlefish in the White River below
> Indianapolis but not sure if they are present above. The last I
> heard,
> paddle fish cannot be taken in any Indiana waters except the Ohio
> River and
> there is a limit there.
>
> - Indianapolis takes a large percentage of their water from the
> White River.
> There has been serious concern if the water is safe to drink.
> Representatives from the Water Co. assured everyone that after their
>
> treatment, the water was safe to drink. The claim their tests
> detect
> anything harmful to humans even if they are not sure what the
> substance is.
>
> - Someone moved up next to me in the front row. When I quietly
> introduced
> myself, I discovered he is President of the Indianapolis Water Co.
> He stated
> he lives nearby and he and his family drink city water.
>
> - someone asked what the penalties to the offender might be. IDEM
> stated
> that the law said maximum fines are $25,000 per day, per incident.
> The
> audience got pretty hostile at this point.
>
> - a Boy Scout leader asked if it would be safe to canoe the river
> next
> summer. The best answer DNR could come up with was that there is
> _always_
> risk in coming in contact with the water from the White River.
>
> - I imagine the officials will be better organized and prepared for
> the rest
> of the meetings after going through last night's learning curve.
>
> FLASH: This just in. I just turned on the evening news and
> tonight's public
> meeting in Anderson has been canceled. Maybe I will go to another
> one and
> see what they have to say after more preparation.
>
> Chuck Church
> Indianapolis, Indiana USA
Robert Rice
Join the NFC and help save our fishes. http://www.nativefish.org/
The truth no matter how little of it there is is always in oversupply !