http://www.connpost.com/local2.html

Fair Use: For Education and Research Purpose Only]

LOBSTER POISONING SUSPECTED

Tuesday, February 22, 2000

By THANE GRAUEL

A conservation group suspects a catastrophic lobster die-off in Long Island Sound is caused by pesticide-laden dredged sediment dumped between Norwalk and Eaton's Neck, N.Y.

In an effort to verify its theory, Fish Unlimited of Shelter Island, N.Y., said Monday it would initiate its own sampling program with the help of the Long Island Sound Lobstermen's Association and have lobsters independently tested.

Bill Smith, executive director of Fish Unlimited, said a private effort is necessary even though state and federal agencies already are working on the issue.

"Ultimately, they're the ones that signed off on permits to dump the contamination in the first place," Smith said. "They'll be reluctant to point fingers at themselves."

If his suspicion is proven, he said, "We're going to put together the most incredible class-action suit you've seen in your life and put an end to dumping in Long Island Sound and other estuaries forever."

The die-off began in the western Sound in 1998, after a record year for lobstering. It has since spread eastward, costing tens of millions of dollars in losses, and forced lobster fishers to find other work.

Recently, politicians from New York and Connecticut appealed to the federal government for disaster relief money.

University of Connecticut scientists in November said a microscopic parasite was killing the lobsters. But they said work would continue to determine if they were being weakened by other factors such as toxins, making them more susceptible to the parasite.

"A lobster is an incredibly hardy animal," Smith said. "It can take a lot of environmental abuse, but one thing it can't take is pesticides."

Smith said that shortly before the die-off began, hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of dredge spoils from Mamaroneck Harbor were dumped into the Sound between Norwalk and Eaton's Neck.

"When we saw the information from the Army Corps [of Engineers containing] this incredible list of pesticides in the [dredged materials], we became concerned," Smith said.

Smith said the pesticides could be from a combination of insect and lawn spraying, and from boatyards that use compounds to keep algae and barnacles from growing on hulls.

About 1 million tons of dredged harbor and river muck is deposited at several dumping grounds in the Sound every year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun a study of its effects on the environment.

Lobster tissue will be examined by David Brubaker of Johns Hopkins University's School of Public Health in Baltimore.

"It's a serious situation with lots of possibilities," he said of the Sound's plight. "We think there could be some national implications."

Fish Unlimited said any toxins found in lobster tissue will be compared with toxins found in sediment samples from the Sound.

Lobstermen are taking a wait-and-see approach to the Fish Unlimited study.

"We don't like to jump the gun," said John German, president of the Long Island Sound Lobstermen's Association, which is working with Fish Unlimited. "I don't like the dumping, but I'd like to have some other proof."

He did agree that independent study and lab work is necessary. "We like to keep the state spin off it," he said.

"The parasite is the effect, not the cause," said Mike Horvath of Norwalk, president of the Western Long Island Sound Lobstermen's Association.

"It could be a number of things," he said, "I don't think they know what it is right now."

Connecticut environmental officials could not be reached for comment Monday, a state holiday.

Thane Grauel, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6226.

) 2000 Connecticut Post.

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 22, 2000

Answers

Here is what the Connecticut DEP has posted on its site...

http://dep.state.ct.us/whatshap/press/2000/mf0210.htm

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), February 23, 2000.

Brooks,

Thank you for the additional link!

http://dep.state.ct.us/whatshap/press/2000/mf0210.htm

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 23, 2000.