Fw: GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 020524

[Guest guest]

: 020524

:

: GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS

:

: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:

: TABLE OF CONTENTS

: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

: {*} NEWARK BAY BLUE CLAW CRAB HEALTH RISKS

: {*} EPA REPORT LEAVES OUT MOST CHEMICALS NOW IN USE

: {*} EPA MUST REWORK PLAN TO CUT POLLUTION

: {*} EASTERN FORESTS AND WILDLIFE

: {*} WHITMAN PRESENTS FIRST 2002 BEACH GRANT TO NJ

: {*} THE 2002 PHOENIX AWARDS - DEADLINE IS APPROACHING QUICKLY

: {*} HACKENSACK RIVERKEEPER OPENS CANOE CAMP

: {*} GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST WASTE INCINERATION - JUN 17

:

: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:

: NEWARK BAY BLUE CLAW CRAB HEALTH RISKS

:

: Date: 020524

: Wrom: YOKSTTZRCLBDXRQBGJSNBOHMKH

:

: DEP COMMISSIONER WARNS URBAN ANGLERS ABOUT HEALTH RISKS OF EATING

: CONTAMINATED CRABS

:

: NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection News Release, 5/24/02

:

: Bayonne - New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)

: Commissioner Bradley M. today warned the fishing community of

: the large health risks linked to the consumption of blue claw crabs

: from the Newark Bay region.

:

: Based on data analyzed by DEP more than a year ago, the agency

: determined that eating blue claw crabs, contaminated with dioxin and

: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), poses a highly increased risk of

: developing cancer and of harm to the developing brains of unborn and

: young children.

:

: " These alarming risks demand a strengthened effort to alert the

: public not to catch, and not to eat, crabs from the Newark Bay and the

: rivers that feed it, " said , who was joined at a news

: conference by First Lady Dina Matos McGreevey. " This effort is

: overdue, and requires not just the signs and warnings that have been

: issued in the past, but direct work with local groups who will help

: DEP reach out to this multi-cultural, multi-lingual community. "

:

: A site-specific risk assessment, using consumption information

: obtained from anglers and crabbers in the region, conducted by the DEP

: determined there is up to a 5 in 1,000 chance of developing cancer if

: five or more blue claw crabs are eaten per day over a lifetime. This

: risk is 5,000 times higher than the acceptable levels for safety,

: which is one in a million.

:

: " Based on conservative assumptions that are protective of public

: health, this means that in order to reach an acceptable level of risk

: - one in a million - a person could eat only one crab about every 20

: years, " said . The magnitude of these risks was one of the

: highest encountered by the DEP in any context.

:

: " Our mandate is for everyone to have access to our waters. Our

: long-term goal is to clean up the waterways so that people's health is

: safe. This effort will require working with the responsible parties to

: clean up this natural resource, " he added.

:

: A public education campaign, targeted at specific communities, has

: been launched by the Department of Environmental Protection with local

: and county health departments, community-based organizations, city

: governments, schools, marine conservation organizations and various

: networks throughout the Newark Bay region. The Department is

: coordinating its efforts with the state Department of Health and

: Senior Services.

:

: The Department will make four $10,000 grants available to community

: groups to do public outreach, according to .

:

: An integral component to this public outreach effort includes the

: posting of signs - in English, Spanish and Portuguese - along the

: banks of the waters in the 32-municipality Newark Bay region. Previous

: studies of the region indicated that these were the populations of

: concern. Additional outreach will determine if signs and other

: communication methods are needed in additional languages.

:

: " Although further studies will be needed to examine and to verify our

: results, there is enough very alarming data about the health risk that

: warrants immediate action and public outreach, " said.

:

: DEP staff members will also conduct site-specific visits at fishing

: and crabbing locations in the region, along with representatives and

: state officials from the targeted communities, to distribute

: multilingual flyers. Future initiatives include a series of community

: meetings to provide information on the health risks.

:

: The Newark Bay region is comprised of Newark Bay; the Hackensack

: River up to the Oradell Dam; Arthur Kill; Kill Van Kull; tidal

: sections of all rivers and streams that run into these water bodies;

: and the Passaic River downstream of Dundee Dam, and streams that feed

: into this section of the river.

:

: It is a highly industrialized urban area including six counties and

: 32 municipalities in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Union and

: Passaic counties.

:

: In the 1980's, research showed elevated levels of dioxin and

: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in five species of fish and the blue

: claw crab in the Newark Bay region. One of the sources for dioxin

: contamination of the sediment of the region is Diamond Alkali Company,

: later known as Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Company. The site, where

: agent orange, a defoliant was manufactured between 1951 and 1969, and

: the adjoining six-mile stretch of the Passaic River, is a federal

: Superfund site.

:

: Dioxin accumulates in the food chain and can be found in trace

: amounts in meat and dairy products as well as fish. In fish, dioxin

: levels can accumulate to 100,000 times that of the surrounding

: environment.

:

: Advisories and a ban on the consumption of crabs were put in place to

: protect public health. These advisories were issued through the New

: Jersey Fish & Wildlife Digest, a free Department publication for

: anglers.

:

: However, studies done during the mid 1990's demonstrated that

: fishermen routinely ignored the warnings and continued to catch and to

: eat crabs.

:

: In addition, the study revealed that many crabbers took their catch

: home and shared it with their families. This is a source of concern

: since those most at risk include unborn children, infants, and

: children under the age of 15, pregnant women, nursing mothers and

: women of childbearing age.

:

: " The presence of high levels of certain carcinogens in blue claw

: crabs collected in the Newark Bay region poses a serious health risk

: to anyone who consumes them, " said Clifton R. Lacy, M.D., Commissioner

: of the Department of Health and Senior Services. " I strongly urge

: fishermen, their family members and all New Jerseyans not to eat crabs

: caught in these waters. "

:

: Catching or eating crabs caught in these waters has been banned since

: 1994. Nevertheless, crabs are still being caught and eaten during

: their three-month season.

:

: - - -

:

: