On the eve of a Sept. 6 hearing on Blue Ridge Paper’s discharges, the state has lifted a 1988 advisory on eating fish caught in the Pigeon River.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Leah Devlin announced Aug. 28 that that bottom-feeders, including carp, caught in the Pigeon River are safe to eat. A partial advisory for Walters Lake near the Tennessee state line remains in effect. According to the state, pregnant women and children should not eat carp from the lake, and men should eat no more than one meal of carp per month. Sport fish from the lake and river can be eaten.

“There is no advisory for fish in the river. We are very happy,” said Bob Williams, who is in charge of environmental health and safety affairs for Blue Ridge Paper.

Dioxins related to the paper making process had shown up in fish tissue samples and resulted in a 1988 advisory against eating any fish caught downstream of the paper mill. Dioxin is classified by the Inter-national Agency for Research on Cancer as a class I carcinogen.

The sport fish consumption advisory  for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, bream and trout  had been lifted from the river in 1994.

Bob Williams said the last time dioxin was detected in the mill's discharges was in 1988.

Dr. Luanne Williams, a toxicologist with the state Department of Health, said that dioxin levels in carp from the Pigeon River have shown levels of dioxin below the state action level for four years.

“Usually we wait for two years in a row before lifting an advisory,” she said. She did not explain why the state waited four years in the case of the Pigeon River.

The fish consumption advisory is not the only good news for the river in the last few years. Since CP&L began announcing regular releases from its dam at Walters Lake, the whitewater industry has soared.

In 1995, 21,154 people paid to take rafting trips from Hartford, Tenn. Last summer that number had risen to 73,536, according to Janice Butler, the Cocke County Clerk of Court.

“This year we are going to surpass that number,” said Butler. The county collects a $2 fee from every paid rafter who takes a trip on the Pigeon River.

“It helps all around  room tax, sales taxes  everything. It’s a win-win situation,” Butler said.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News