Been here most of my life, never a good thing to see reports like this.
Wow. Not surprising really but an eye opener for sure. Thanks for sharing.
No mention of mercury. This is kinda spooky stuff, but I wonder how much trace evidence of these chemicals in other species and foods in our grocery stores?
Now that all these chemicals have been banned, makes you wonder how much we all took in while they were legal to use.
It would be nice to see a map of where the highest concentration of contaminates were located.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
2007 Grady White 222 Fisherman / 250 Yamaha
Simrad NSS evo2 and G4
1- 23 boy that won’t move out)
1 - 19 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
ECFC
Stored in fat cells…I’m in big trouble.
John
Here’s the link to the original article describing the study. It’s very extensive and covers in great detail the methods, results and discussion about the problem of contaminants in the waterways and how it enters the food chain (including humans!). THere’s also a map showing where the fish were netted.
Definitely a reason for concern. Especially in light of our president continuing to roll back regulations protecting our waterways in favor of corporate profits.
Back in the late 70’s early 80’s everyone knew not to eat fish by the old phosphate plant on the Ashley by Cosgrove.
You could throw a cast net in the dark and the whole water would light up like a lightning storm from all the phosphate and other chemicals they dumped into the river. Navy base the same way. The only other time I have seen a ban or caution of fish was immediately after Hugo. Unfortunately it seems it is the new norm for the Charleston area.
A calm sea never made a skilled sailor
There are advisory signs at many boat ramps. Does no one read them? They warn pregnant women should not eat fish taken from that body of water along with other statements.
This is no new thing. Stories of shrimp glowing in the Ashley is a popular one from when the chemical plant was running.
Also there are places so contaminated the Govt stepped in to fund the clean up.
There are 26 National Priority Lists (NPL) superfund sites in South Carolina 2 of which are on the Charleston/North Charleston peninsula.
This does not include all the other cleanup sites which are not big enough to qualify for the NPL.
I personally have never seen warning signs at Limehouse, Rimleys or Wappoo but I have seen them at freshwater rivers and lakes. DHEC provides a running list of how much one can consume on a monthly bases from these freshwater bodies. This is a new circumstance for our area and to me, it is a sad situation. What’s of interest to me is the areas where they pulled the fish from are high volume tidal areas. I would image the lower volume tidal areas would have more pollutants being the water is not exchanged out as much
A calm sea never made a skilled sailor
I am a member and help raise money for these guys. They are out regularly checking water all around the area regularly posting results on Instagram.
http://charlestonwaterkeeper.org/
Karma is 360 degrees
“If fishing were easy it would be called your mom”
Yall cant blame trump for this. Lol. But seriously its common since that any industrial area or high traffic area is going to be a high risk contamination area. Every marina has fecal traces in the water and worse bacteria. This is why i only eat from by the inlets and mainly eat offshore fish. Eating fish out of parts of the cooper or ashley is like eating out of a drainage bond. The micro life absorbs the pollutants and is consumed by the next stage of the food chain and passes along the pollutants to them. The older fish that have consumed these smaller life forms really concentrate the pollutants. So when you catch and eat that big old trophy fish your consuming pollutants at a higher level. Eating 1 large old fish can be worse than consuming thousands of small fish because in its lifetime its consumed and concentrated the pollutants from thousands of fish.
The fact that a lot of people think that tides take care of the problem is ridiculous. Water just dilutes and relocates/spreads most chemicals and pollutants, it doesnt neutralize them.
What many don’t know are all the houses that were “grandfathered” in way back that legally dump grey water and straight up turds into our marshes and feeder creeks. I know a few High end homes that dump directly into the creeks, and I would imagine that some of those same people love to get all up in the pollution issues screaming how we need to stop it… 
Do as I say, not as I do.
All these homes with “leach” fields at the edge of a marsh and no sewage back ups or yard wet spots… Yea right, that Sh@t (literaly) is getting dumped nice and quietly and as population grows along our coasts it will only get worse. In the septic perk system, many times it is who you know, and how “connected” you are.
Having recently built our new home along the marsh, I can tell you that knowing someone has nothing to do with the regulations regarding septic tanks/leach fields. They have strict requirements regarding location and construction of them. Don’t know what it was like in the good ole days, but today they do all they can to prevent seepage into wetlands. At least for now…who knows what damage the new relaxed regulations enacted by our current administration causes to our environment.
Looks like the highest concentration in the Cooper is understandable. Probably likely as high along the Shipyard up to the paper mill.
Near I-526 near the Pierpoint Creek is a bit of a surprise, I guess it’s roadway run off.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
2007 Grady White 222 Fisherman / 250 Yamaha
Simrad NSS evo2 and G4
1- 23 boy that won’t move out)
1 - 19 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
ECFC
The real bombshell is the toxic waste dump that some idiot politicians thought was a great idea starting in the 80’s…the outskirts of it are about 100 yards or so from Lake Marion.
Of course when the landfill came to it’s end of life phase, the company paid some money into a fund to monitor the groundwater and went out of business.
Leaks from the waste are slowly working towards the lake. We get drinking water from there, and it flows eventually into the Cooper River and Charleston Harbor.
quote:
Originally posted by sea tonicHaving recently built our new home along the marsh, I can tell you that knowing someone has nothing to do with the regulations regarding septic tanks/leach fields. They have strict requirements regarding location and construction of them. Don’t know what it was like in the good ole days, but today they do all they can to prevent seepage into wetlands. At least for now…who knows what damage the new relaxed regulations enacted by our current administration causes to our environment.
I’ll have to disagree to an extent. Permits can be a pain for most everyone, but… some still get away with a lot by connections. It’s still a “who ya know” World.
As to this administrations “relaxed” regulations? Nothing has really relaxed that didn’t need to relax. Our EPA?! The ability for Alaskans to now shoot a few problem Grizzlies and Wolves, progressive Pipelines… most things are not being changed but just reviewed, no harm in that. Come on! 
Just think how less our land would be abused from pollution if we deported the estimated 12.5 MILLION illegal aliens here!
One more reason to practice catch and release.
After being released, a lot of fish die, but a lot of them live also.
Or find a place where the fish are edible.
First, its not who ya know, its how you know them. Just cause we know the same people doesnt mean we know them the same.
The voice of reason speaking:
This is just FakeNews! Dr. Dogooder is just trying to get his/her name in the paper and some grant money to play with. Ive seen it a hunerd times. Plus, we all know the harbor is like 1 child’s lugi from turning toxic. Let it turn and put a match to it.
Everyone wants on the MAGA train these days. SMH