EPA warns Windham residents against eating fish from Presumpscot River near mill site
The US Environmental Protection Agency warned Windham residents not to eat fish caught in the Presumpscot River downstream of the Keddy Mill site, after testing found elevated levels of toxic PCBs. The advisory matters because the river is a popular place for recreation and fishing, and the chemicals can accumulate in fish tissue and pose health risks.
The abandoned, nearly seven-acre mill made steel products in the 1960s and was designated a federal Superfund site in 2014. Investigators have found fuel oil in a stormwater tunnel, petroleum in the soil and PCB-containing fluid spilled from old electrical equipment; Maine health guidance advises eating no more than four fish meals a year from parts of the river farther downstream.
In short
- EPA warned residents not to eat fish from part of the Presumpscot River.
- Testing found elevated PCBs downstream of the abandoned Keddy Mill.
- The site has been a Superfund cleanup priority since 2014.
Explained simply
The Keddy Mill was an industrial site beside the Presumpscot River in Windham, Maine. It made steel products in the 1960s, and the abandoned site was added to the US Superfund programme in 2014 for investigation and clean-up.
Investigators have found pollution at the site, including fluids containing PCBs, chemicals that can persist in the environment and build up in fish. The river is used for fishing and other recreation, so contamination can affect people who eat fish caught there.
Maine health guidance already limits how often people should eat fish from some parts of the river farther downstream. The issue involves the EPA, which oversees the federal site, and state health authorities, which provide advice on eating locally caught fish.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Maine residents warned not to fish in local river over fears it is being contaminated by old mill that’s being cleaned up”.