Tennessee Valley Authority
Kingston Ash Slide
TVA’s On-going Fish Assessments
For decades, TVA and other federal and state agencies have cooperated in studies to assess the health of fish and the accumulation of metals, pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish tissue. Earlier studies of fish from the Clinch River and the Watts Bar Reservoir focused on mercury from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation resulting from Manhattan Project activities.
Following the Kingston ash spill, these cooperative studies continued with additional emphasis on the presence of ash-related metals including arsenic, selenium, and mercury. Only limited arsenic and selenium data are available from earlier studies. Therefore, TVA and the federal and state agencies are collaborating to collect the data to serve as a baseline for comparison with future results in order to detect and evaluate any potential trends, long-term bioaccumulation, and impacts on the fish population. The results from these initial studies are considered to represent pre-existing and current conditions.
TDEC has not changed fish consumption advisories in effect for the Watts Bar Reservoir that were in place before the spill. Their website updated on May 28, 2009, states: “The public is urged to follow the existing fishing advisory on the lower Clinch River. There is no justification, at present, to modify this information. The state will continue to monitor the levels of contaminants in fish tissue and will inform the public if current conditions change.” View TDEC Information.
Testing Results presented here are for fish collected from the rivers surrounding the Kingston Fossil Plant (River Testing) and also from the ash stilling pond on the site (Ash Pond/Stilling Pond).
This update reports the results from additional fish tissue analyses for total metals received from the Pace Analytical Laboratory in Green Bay, WI (a TVA contract laboratory). As with the data reported to date, the results are considered to represent pre-existing and current conditions to serve as baseline for comparison with future results. These fish tissue samples have also been split with the state of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Data from these laboratories will be posted when they are received.
River Testing
Fish Health and Bioaccumulation of Metals
From January until April 2009, collaborative efforts among TVA, TDEC, TWRA and ORNL have resulted in collection of over 170 fish from various locations on the Clinch and Emory Rivers for metals analysis and fish health evaluation. A variety of different measurements are being used to assess the health of these fish. These include biochemical indicators (like blood chemistry), physical condition, and reproductive health, along with analyzing tissues and organs for metals content. Fish sampled include largemouth bass, channel catfish, blue catfish, redear sunfish, crappie, and bluegill.
Each fish collected was visually inspected for general health, including inspecting for deformities, sores or abrasions; the condition of internal organs; and whether the fish appeared emaciated. The overall conclusion from those observations was that the fish appeared to be in good condition.
The chemical analyses conducted to date have been performed on two types of samples: fish filets and whole fish. The fish filet data provide information related to human consumption of fish. Humans typically consume only fish filets, excluding the internal organs, scales, heads, and bones. The whole fish data provide information to evaluate the potential for ecological impacts to the river food chain. Whole fish typically are consumed in the food chain, for example, by osprey or herons.
Baseline sampling of fish on Emory and Clinch locations was carried out in January and February 2009 and supplemented by an Emory River Mile 8 sampling in April. Fifty-three bass and catfish from these sampling events were filleted and prepared for analysis at the TDEC laboratory in Nashville. To ensure independent measurement of metals, the samples were split four ways by TDEC and sent to four different laboratories: the TDEC laboratory in Nashville, the Pace Analytical Laboratory in Green Bay, WI (a TVA contract laboratory), the TVA central laboratory, and a laboratory under contract to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). To date, results have been reported by the TDEC laboratory and the TVA contract laboratory. The results from the TVA central laboratory and ORNL contract laboratory are not yet available.
The TDEC and Pace laboratory results are comparable. TDEC has summarized their results and reported them on the state of Tennessee web site. View Results.
A table of the results from Pace Analytical for arsenic, selenium, and mercury, three metals of primary interest, is presented below, along with graphs that include tabular summaries of the data
These fish tissue data will be updated as results from the remaining two laboratories are received.
Tabular Results - First Quarter 2009
Graphical Results - First Quarter 2009
TVA collected additional fish in April and May to assess the effects of exposure to fly ash on fish health and reproduction. The fish are being analyzed for several indicators of reproductive health, including condition of reproductive organs, clutch size and quality of eggs, and hormone levels. Tissue samples from these fishes also will be analyzed for metals. During this collection effort, 20 black crappie were set aside for total metals analysis. Five whole fish from each of four locations on the Clinch and Emory Rivers (including locations immediately adjacent to and downstream from the ash spill) were homogenized at the Tennessee state laboratory and split among TVA, TDEC, and ORNL. The results for arsenic, selenium, and mercury from the TVA contract laboratory are summarized below in graphical and tabular form. The data are generally comparable to the results reported above for the 53 fillet samples collected from the Emory and Clinch Rivers in January and February 2009.
Regarding arsenic detected in these samples, EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) have established that arsenic in fish is mostly in an organic form which is considered to be relatively nontoxic and not a threat to human health. Regarding selenium concentrations, none of the samples analyzed to date exceed the EPA current guidance value of 7.91 parts per million (ppm) as a whole body result measured as a dry weight concentration. Nor do the selenium levels pose a threat to human health based on EPA screening guidelines. Filet or muscle samples are considered to have about the same selenium concentration as a whole body sample, since much of a fish is muscle tissue. Regarding mercury, the state of Tennessee has issued consumption advisories due to levels of mercury in the Emory and Clinch Rivers that pre-date the ash spill.
TWRA and TDEC analyzed whole fish as composite samples of four redear sunfish and four largemouth bass collected on March 11, 2009. Results are available at the two links below:
Redear Sunfish Information
Largemouth Bass Information
EPA, TDEC, TWRA, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and TVA will continue the monitoring and assessment of fish, both for potential human health and ecological impacts, as the cleanup is ongoing and after it is completed. As more data are received from the ongoing studies, they will be made available to the public.
Evaluation of Fish from the Kingston
Ash Pond/Stilling Pond
In late March, representatives of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) requested that TVA, in conjunction with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) collect fish samples from the stilling pond that is a part of the ash processing system at Kingston Fossil Plant. Bottom ash and fly ash are sluiced from the plant into the ash pond where the majority settles out. Leftover free-standing water is then channeled towards the stilling pond. The man-made stilling pond is a still body of water that allows any remaining particulates a final opportunity to settle to the bottom before the water is released back into the plant intake channel for reuse.
The stilling pond is not a natural habitat and it is not conducive to sustaining fish and aquatic life due to exposure to metals and lack of food. EPA, TDEC, FWS, and TWRA acknowledge that these fish are not representative of fish from the Emory River, but instead, represent an extreme scenario for exposure of fish to contaminants present in coal ash.
A preliminary evaluation of fish populations in the stilling pond was performed on April 7, followed by collection of carp, bluegill, and green sunfish on April 9, 2009. The fish collected were visually evaluated for abnormalities and overall condition. A few fish were sent to the University of Tennessee Veterinary School for computerized tomography (CT) scans to better evaluate any skeletal deformities.
Samples of blood were drawn from some fish to be analyzed for enzyme levels that go up when fish are exposed to metals. Others were dissected so internal organs could be removed, weighed, and examined. Samples of organs were sent to laboratories for metals analysis; the remaining portions of organs were prepared for microscopic examination for abnormalities. Five bluegill and five carp were filleted so muscle tissue could be analyzed for metals, while four bluegill and four carp were analyzed as whole fish. Thirty small bluegills were divided into three sets of ten fish each that were analyzed as composite samples rather than individual fish.
In nearly every case, portions of each sample were sent to at least two and as many as four different laboratories. For example, the fillets of bluegill and carp were sent to the TVA Central Lab; Pace Analytical Laboratory in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a contract laboratory providing analytical chemistry services to TVA; and ORNL’s contract lab. Other samples were split among two of these three labs, or with the Tennessee Department of Health laboratory in Nashville.
Results from different parts of this investigation are now beginning to be received from the various laboratories and investigators. As results are received, they will be posted to the TVA website. The first data to be reported are the results of the individual fish filets analyzed by Pace Analytical. As we receive results of the portions of these samples that are being analyzed by ORNL and TVA’s Central Laboratory Services, we will post them along with the data from Pace.
Page Updated August 3, 2009 8:03 AM