Poison in fish from West Lakes expected to be at low levels
Fishers were not taking any chances at West Lakes on Tuesday as the latest warning of toxins spread through the community.
SA News
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Mike Nichols was not taking any chances with the fish he caught at West Lakes on Tuesday, even if it did not have “three eyes” as he had expected.
Mr Nichols and Sandy Blythman, both of Tanunda, had heard about the Environment Protection Authority’s Monday warning of toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the area.
“We got a few bites and, highly unusually for me, I caught one, a trout, which didn’t have three eyes but I threw it back anyway,” Mr Nichols said.
“To look at the water, it looked crystal clear but they say there is some toxic stuff in there.
“Luckily, we are better at sitting there fishing than we are at actually catching anything.”
The pair were among many adjusting their behaviour after the EPA advised 700 homes and community organisations in the West Lakes area of likely PFAS concentrations in soil, groundwater and sewage sludge samples collected near the former Port Adelaide wastewater treatment plant.
During the development of West Lakes in the early 1970s, sewage sludge from the wastewater treatment plant was distributed over parts of the suburb.
SA Health advised that fish in the lakes were still edible but traces of PFAS had been found in fish livers and even in some fillets.
An EPA spokesman said West Lakes was tidally flushed, so results of testing of PFAS concentrations within the lake were expected to be very low, and fish could still be eaten. “PFAS accumulates in the body over a long period of time,” the spokesman said.
“It does not cause acute health impacts and there is no reason for people to stop eating fish before test results are available.”
The spokesman said for the 201 homes affected by cadmium contamination in the area, it was important to maintain safety measures that started in 2001.
People could still eat vegetables they grew in the ground, provided they were not living in one of the cadmium-affected homes.
Rowing SA chief executive Andrew Swift said the EPA had advised there was “no concern for anyone using the lake for rowing and other recreational activities”.
An EPA vessel will be in the lake taking samples this week.
A spokeswoman for Shine Lawyers said the West Lakes contamination was not part of a number of class actions over other PFAS contaminations, including at Edinburgh and Torrensville.