State may test fish rather than waters

TWIN FALLS, Idaho – The state is working on a new kind of testing for mercury at fisheries.

Measuring mercury levels in Idaho’s waters is expensive, so the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is proposing to instead test for the amount of mercury in the fish themselves.

“It’s the first of its kind, and it’s innovative,” said Don Essig, water quality standards manager for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

Mercury testing is important at popular fisheries such as Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir, south of Twin Falls, and C.J. Strike Reservoir, south of Mountain Home.

Both areas are on a state consumption advisory list for mercury levels in fish. Pregnant women and children under age 6 are warned to be the most cautious because of the potential for mercury to harm the developing brain in fetuses and children.

Mercury pollution most often comes from coal power plants when emissions drift over bodies of water.

In Idaho, contaminations also come from industries and municipalities that discharge directly into Idaho’s streams, rivers and lakes. The state’s proposal, now open for public comment, includes creation of a testing cooperative funded by facilities with discharge permits.

The state’s proposal is based on a 2001 recommendation by the Environmental Protection Agency. Idaho is proposing the EPA’s suggested limit of .3 milligrams of mercury per 1 kilogram of fish.

At the same time, the DEQ is proposing changes in water quality standards for seven other metals, Essig said, including arsenic and nickel.

The mercury testing issue came up last year when the Idaho Mining Association requested the state update its regulations.

“We weren’t looking for a reduction in the standard – what we were looking for was a different way to measure that was easier to comply with and less expensive,” said Jack Lyman, the association’s executive vice president.

Justin Hayes of the environmental group Idaho Conservation League joined an advisory panel that helped the state draft its proposal.

Hayes likes the idea of expanded testing for other metals, and he hopes the fact that fish tissue monitoring is more affordable will encourage more testing statewide.

“We support that because a lot of the other toxic metals that the EPA had updated over the last decade Idaho hadn’t embraced,” he said.