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Nevada Irrigation District continues community and congressional outreach on mercury remediation project

Posted by: Maven on February 7, 2010 at 7:34 am

From YubaNet.com:

“During Nevada Irrigation District’s board meeting last on Jan. 27, Assistant Manager Tim Crough shared a DVD he and others developed in the course of working on NID’s mercury removal program at Lake Combie.

According to the video, 26 million pounds of mercury were brought to Sierra Nevada water sources during the era of hydraulic mining. Ten to 30 percent of this mercury ended up in the environment and continues to move through Sierra rivers with every storm event.

NID’s canals and reservoirs lie downstream from many historic gold mining sites where mercury was used. Mercury-laden gravels have accumulated behind many dams in the Sierra, including the one impounding NID’s Combie Reservoir.

When mercury is methylated by bacteria and subsequently ingested by phytoplankton at the bottom of the food chain, it eventually makes its way up the chain to large predator fish like striped bass. These fish typically register high levels of mercury — and consumption of bass and other fish with similar levels of mercury can be hazardous to human health. … “

Read more from YubaNet.com by clicking here.

February 7, 2010 · Filed Under Lake Tahoe, the Sierras & foothills

Comments

One Response to “Nevada Irrigation District continues community and congressional outreach on mercury remediation project”

  1. got mercury on February 8th, 2010 2:14 pm

    An easy way to estimate your mercury exposure from eating fish is to check out the free online mercury calculator at http://www.gotmercury.org. Based on the current U.S. EPA and FDA guidelines, the mercury calculator is an excellent way to know your potential mercury exposure risk. You can also use the free mobile mercury calculator for cell phone browsers at http://www.gotmercury.mobi

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