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"Nine out of 10 fish tissue samples taken last spring in Herrington Lake exceeded Kentucky’s fish tissue selenium criteria. LG&E and KU were cited for the violation last month and quickly reached an agreement with the state to pay $25,000 in civil penalties and take corrective measures."
https://wfpl.org/as-state-loosens-ov...ucky-waterway/
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Danville intake pipes for water is just around the corner, think I will start buying bottle water. Let's worrie about the fish but not the people who drink it or bath in it.Originally Posted by jcb
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If you have Google Earth zoom in at the dam then come back down the left bank to the mouth of the cove, there is 2 intake pipes there then if you go up in the same cove there is two run offs from the plant. Not good.
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The amount of selenium in the water is taken up into the microorganisms and they in turn accumulate the selenium to a higher level. Then a small minnow eats the microorganisms and they bio accumulate more selenium in their bodies. Then a crappie or blue gill eat the minnows and again the amount of selenium is increased in the bluegills body. Then a largemouth bass or a cat fish eats the bluegills (notice the S as in Plural) and they increase the selenium another ten fold. But the time we eat ten bass or ten catfish the amount of selenium in the human body is 1,000,000 time higher than it is in the water. So the more fish you eat the more selenium you get in your body.
To get that much selenium into your body by just drinking the water would take a lot of water. Which is why they test the fish tissue to make sure that people know and understand the dangers. It's your choice whether to eat the fish or not. But at least you have been warned and you are more educated in the potential dangers.
The problem is that it take time and the more fish you eat the more likely you will have selenium building up in your body. So the danger is not immediate. It's delayed and that's the danger. You get a false sense of security as you don't die immediately after eating some fish. But the more fish you eat the more in danger you get from the selenium in your body.
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The zoo plankton consumes the selenium out of the water and then gets eaten by small fish and or minnow which in turn get eaten by larger fish. By the time we humans eat the fish there is a lot more selenium in the fish tissue and it gets into our bodies in larger quantities than if you just drink the water containing the small amounts of the selenium. That's why the fish consumption warning are important to read about.
We have a lake here IN Southern IN that has the same problem. It's a cooling pond lake for Gibson Power plant and it was closed to fishing a while back due to the built up of selenium in the water and fish life. The larger and older the fish the more selenium it may have in it's body.
I studied Biochemistry at Purdue University one semester and we had to collect different field mice and then dissect the different organs out of the mice and test the organs for DDT or PCBs. The PhD Professor ran the study and reported the results and we students did the grunt work for him and for our class grade. I think he found that different organs contained different amounts of the DDT. The liver was one organ that probably contained the most DDT of all the organs. The brains and hearts the least amount of DDT. But there was some DDT found though out the body.
A fish will probably accumulate the selenium in their livers and other organs and fatty tissues. But they may not deposit as much in the muscle tissue where the fillets come from. It all depends on the fish species and what they eat. But if they say not to eat the fish then I would move to another lake to fish. Why take on extra body toxins if you can avoid it. You younger kids may think you are invincible but when you get older you may regret not listening and avoiding all the toxin you can. The government won't try to scare you and in fact they are very reluctant to notify people about problems that can be blamed on the politicians. And businesses are even worst about notifying the public about the amount of pollution they put in the air an water. That's a highly kept secret if they can help it. The Government requires them to make reports but they don't double check the data and depend on the business to police it self. That's not always a good idea unless the Government makes unannounced spot inspections and does smoke stack test to confirm the data. Some companies hire 3rd party labs to test the air and water for them and the private labs report the data back to the company directly. Only then does the company turn that data over to the government. And you can bet if you give the company too many reports that can get them into trouble they may not hire your 3rd party company ever again and get someone else to do that job. I've been there and done that. I worked for an environmental lab and did testing on various companies for them. I worked with the USEPA hazardous Pollutants such as lead, mercury and asbestos which are all NESHAPS type pollutant that companies are required to control. I remember our Atomic Absorption Analyzer operator, Jeff Cleek, (Chemist from USI) worked with water samples from various companies. Mostly the coal companies in the area that had open pit mines and had to drill test wells and have the well water sampled and tested on a quarterly or semi annual basis. We did that work for the coal companies and selenium was one of the parameter Jeff tested for in those water sample. Jeff is a fisherman too. So he probably knows where the most contaminates are located as he did that job for a while before he moved on to a better and bigger job for his rich uncle. Black Beauty Coal Company Owner, Steven Chancellor. Core Laboratories did work for Peabody coal too. Tim Steiner was our salesman and he passed away from colon cancer last year. Tim was a good guy and so was Jeff. Both were scientist. Tim was a geologist and as I said Jeff had his degree in Chemistry from USI. Jeff had a near photographic memory and Tim was very smart too.
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The solution to pollution is dilution.
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I really hate that such a hefty fine, was placed on the two companies for polluting the water supply, 25,000.00 man the state sure was trying to get their attention, surely they didn't mean to ignore the clean water regulations, it's just so hard for the companies to get the job done, with all the
clean air and drinking water rules and regulations Obama has placed in their way, but it looks like Trump will fix it..
http://www.vox.com/energy-and-enviro...pa-regulations
Senior Member
Im not sure where the numbers are now, but at one time herrington ranked right at the top for pounds of fish per surface acre, thats been a while back so who knows now.
But i can tell you there is no way i would EVER eat a fish out of that lake, if anybody does choose to eat them that is their decision so go for it. But even in the 80s we would catch LM and hybrids that were covered in sores and different types of fungus, nasty looking.
But again you just cant argue with the overwhelming fish/forage populations in Herrington.
Ive got one glaring question about the fines imposed on the electric companies....where does that money go and how is it used, and more importantly who is responsible for the oversight of using this money to correct the condition of the fish/water. i have very little faith in the right thing being done when big business is fined for anything, the money just disappears
Senior Member
too much of this stuff can cause hair loss, nail loss and nerve damage......google it
Senior Member
I call that lake the dead sea because i dont do worth a **** there anyways lol. Hope something is actually done and not just forgotten about.
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