By SUE RYAN
News staff writer

Preliminary findings from tests on smallmouth bass near Bradford Island in the Columbia River next to Bonneville Dam have shown a high concentration of contamination.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality meet Wednesday, March 26, to discuss whether or not to put fishery restrictions in effect or any other measures in response to these test results.

Army Corps spokesman Scott Clemans said while only 20 percent of the results are in so far, the Corps wanted to be proactive on letting the public know.

“Two of the 19 PCB levels are above federal Food and Drug Administration standards,” Clemans said.

However Clemans said that one very probable result will be a revised fishery warning and possible restrictions. Salmon and other fish species that migrate upriver from the sea should not be at risk to PCB contamination.

The lab analysis showed that the bass samples had high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl in the fishes’ tissues. The average concentration was 3,000 parts per billion, which is well above what the DEQ considers to be a safe level at one part per billion.

The Corps collected the fish before using diver-operated suction hoses to remove the highest levels of PCBs from the river bottom near Bradford Island in October 2007.

The DEQ, the Corps and several other natural resource agencies and tribal representatives have been working collaboratively for the past decade on the investigation and cleanup of contamination on the island and in the river nearby.

“These are all from the four bays close to Bradford Island but one thing we cannot know at this time is to what extent these fish came from there,” Clemans said.

The risk is based on significant consumption of the fish over many years. Until any fish advisories are issued, the Oregon Office of Environmental Public Health recommends that bass fishers and consumers refer to the fish advisory at http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/envtox/
fishcompution/shtml#Portland.

Various waste materials associated with dam operations were disposed of on the island between the 1940s and 1980s. In 2000, the Corps reported to DEQ that they discovered electrical components had been dumped along the north bank of the island and some had entered the river. Some of these items contained PCBs.