News Room
For Immediate Release:
September 22, 2004
Contact:
Erika Staaf
603-229-3222
Report: Ashuelot Pond is Most Mercury-Polluted in New Hampshire, Other Worst-Off Water
Bodies Also Highlighted
Analysis of Fish Tissues Identifies New Hampshire's Top 10 Heavily Polluted Lakes;
EPA Action Could Wipe Out 90% of Mercury Pollution from Power Plants
CONCORD—Ashuelot Pond, near Washington, in the Southwestern part of New Hampshire, has
game fish with the highest levels of mercury pollution detected in the state, according to a new
report by the State Environmental Leadership Program (SELP) released today by New
Hampshire PIRG. Together, the groups released a "top 10" list of New Hampshire lakes with the
highest levels of mercury in their fish. Emitted from coal-burning power plants, mercury is a
neurotoxin that has been linked by scientists to development disabilities in children.
The new report analyzes all the available state-collected fish tissue data samples in order to
identify New Hampshire lakes with mercury present at higher than safe levels for anglers and
others who consume fish caught in the state's lakes and streams. Even though mercury is a
problem for anglers on a statewide basis, fish in some lakes in New Hampshire are considerably
more polluted than those in others. The report by New Hampshire PIRG and SELP emphasizes
the steps that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can take now to abate the bulk of
mercury pollution crisis that is ruining the lakes and streams in New Hampshire and the rest of
the nation.
"For the waterways at the top of New Hampshire's top 10 list, the data shows mercury in fish at
levels more than four times what the EPA considers safe for pregnant women," said NHPIRG's
Erika Staaf.
The 10 worst mercury-polluted lakes (in terms of fish tissue analysis) in New Hampshire are as
follows:
· Ashuelot Pond, Washington
· Comerford Reservoir, Monroe
· Pine River Pond, Wakefield
· Cass Pond, Richmond
· Beaver Pond, Deerfield
· Massasecum Lake, Bradford
· Monomonac Lake, Rindge
· Derby (fishing derby), N /A
· Halfmoon Pond, Washington
· May Pond, Washington
The SELP/NHPIRG report, including a full list of state lakes and mercury levels is available online
at www.nhpirg.org.
People in New Hampshire need to know that some lakes are worse than others when it comes to
mercury in fish. The answer is not to fish less - it is for the EPA to do more to curb mercury
pollution," NHPIRG's Erika Staaf said. "Unfortunately, the agency has proposed rules that would
allow mercury pollution to get even worse."
How do New Hampshire's lakes stack up when it comes to mercury pollution?
To answer that question, the State Environmental Leadership Program and NHPIRG requested
and received all of fish tissue testing data for mercury levels generated by the Bureau of
Environmental and Occupational Health and the Department of Environmental Services. Fish of a
variety of species have been collected from 62 lakes and rivers and tested for mercury by the
Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Department of Environmental
Services from 1992 to 2002.
SELP then analyzed the mercury level data for several popular game fish species - Eastern
Chain Pickerel, Lake Trout, Largemouth Bass, Small mouth Bass and Yellow Perch - and ranked
the New Hampshire lakes and rivers in order of average mercury concentration across these fish
species. Waters where less than 2 fish of these species were tested were dropped from the
analysis to guard against misleading results due to small sample size.
The EPA has established a reference dose - a so-called "safe" daily dose of mercury - of just 0.1
micrograms of methylmercury per kilogram of body weight per day. This dose represents the
amount of methylmercury that EPA believes can be ingested on a daily basis over the course of a
lifetime without adverse health effects, based on current scientific knowledge. In 2000, the
National Academy of Sciences affirmed that EPA's reference dose "is a scientifically justifiable
level for the protection of public health."
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a recent study that for the first
time measured mercury levels in the blood of women and children across the country and found
that about one in six - nearly 16 percent - of women of childbearing age have mercury levels
above what is considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This translates to
4.7 million women of childbearing age nationwide with potentially unsafe levels of mercury and
approximately 630,000 newborns in the nation who are at risk of neurological and developmental
health impacts each year.
The SELP/New Hampshire PIRG report notes that the EPA could nearly wipe out mercury
pollution in New Hampshire, but it is not taking steps to do so. The Agency has proposed a
regulation requiring a 70 percent reduction in mercury from coal-burning power plants by 2018
with a trading scheme that would allow utilities to buy their way out of making some or all of those
reductions. Environmental groups have pointed out that the existing Clean Air Act requires the
maximum achievable reductions of mercury - a 90 percent reduction of mercury emissions from
coal plants by 2008 - and does not allow for the trading scheme.
Anglers and others concerned about the pollution of New Hampshire's lakes would be well
advised to support efforts to curb the mercury pollution to the maximum extent possible - and as
quickly as possible.
About the Groups
New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group is a statewide advocacy group in New
Hampshire, focusing its efforts on environmental protection, consumer rights, and good
government.
Located in Madison, WI., the State Environmental Leadership Program (SELP) is an alliance of
more than 50 independent, nonprofit, public interest, multi-issue environmental advocacy
organizations that focus on state-level policy. The program's goal is to strengthen state
environmental movements by enhancing the organizational capacity and policy work of SELP's
member organizations through network collaboration.
Contact: Erika Staaf, New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group, (603) 229-3222 or
estaaf@nhpirg.org; and Stephanie Kendall, (703) 276-3254 or
skendall@hastingsgroup.com.
Editor's Note: The SELP report is available online at www.nhpirg.org on September 22, 2004. A
streaming audio replay of a related news event will be available by 5 p.m. on the same day at
mms://www.hastingsgroupmedia.com/media/mercury/top10lakes092204.wma.
The Excel file of Mercury levels in New Hampshire bodies of water is available here. Also
available as a PDF file here.