Catch the fish, but don’t eat it!
March 25, 2023 - Maryland Day
By Pat Elder
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is encouraging the public to catch and consume largemouth bass while the fish are known to be harmful to health because of their high concentrations of Per fluoro octane sulfonic acid, (PFOS).
In 2021 the Maryland Department of the Environment reported finding a Largemouth Bass in the tidal waters of Piscataway Creek with a concentration of 94,200 ppt of PFOS in its filet.
PFOS is a type of PFAS. It travels long distances in water and it bioaccumulates in fish. High levels of these toxins in our rivers originate from wastewater treatment plants, some industrial sites, and almost all military bases. The fish in Piscataway Creek are poisoned by Joint Base Andrews.
The Largemouth Bass is a favorite sport fish for charter fishing boats. Many thousands of Marylanders consume this fish.
Last year, the EPA set an advisory for PFOS in drinking water at .04 parts per trillion. The levels in the fish are 4.7 million times over that limit but nobody gives a damn. PFOS is a serious carcinogrn that can do irreparable damage to the human species forever.
The fish are poisoned!
Judging from the state’s promotional piece above about bass fishing it’s apparent Governor Wes Moore is not likely to do much to tackle PFAS in the state’s environment.
That’s not a cheap shot.
A common-sense bill, HB 499 in the Maryland legislature, called for PFAS testing of sludge, effluent, and biosolids at wastewater treatment plants across the state. This is the very first step in taking this threat to public health seriously. We must know how bad things are. Apparently, the new Moore administration would have none of it and the bill was pulled.
Sure, the good Democratic sponsors of the bill said they wanted to give the new governor “the benefit of the doubt” about his intentions to test the sewer plants but it won’t happen without a fight.
Almost all of the attention given by the corporate media to PFAS centers around drinking water, although the number one pathway to human ingestion is from food, especially fish. That’s why the wastewater treatment plants are so important. The military, industry, and residential homes all send the chemicals down the drain. The treatment plants do not treat for PFAS. Instead, the chemicals become part of the sludge and liquid effluent. The PFAS-contaminated sludge is slathered on farm fields. It poisons crops, groundwater, and surface water. The effluent poisons the creeks and rivers and fish. The stuff never goes away so we’re in trouble.
State officials are promoting the consumption of carcinogens. There’s just too much money in the balance.
Although it would be prudent to shut down the watershed for the consumption of all aquatic life, financial considerations disallow it.
Bass fishing in the Potomac near the sewer effluent discharge from DC Water's Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Maryland and DC can blame each other for PFAS contamination.
Financial support from the Downs Law Group makes this work possible.
The firm is working to provide legal representation to individuals with a high likelihood of exposure to PFAS and other contaminants.
Interested in joining a multi-base class action law suit pertaining to illnesses stemming from various kinds of environmental contamination?
Join the Veterans & Civilians Clean Water Alliance Facebook group.
(2.3 K members and growing rapidly.)