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Locals oppose plans to poison
Animas Creek for DGF fish kill
By Bill Johnson
of the Desert Journal
Sierra County residents say they
don’t want their waterways poisoned or their fish killed to make way for
the Department of Game and Fish proposal to rid Animas Creek of non-native
species as a prelude to its restoration of native Rio Grande Cutthroat
Trout.
Experts testified Wednesday at a
hearing in Truth or Consequences the toxic chemicals or Fintrol piscicide
the state wants to use are dangerous to human health and wildlife.
Ann McCampbell, MD, an environmental
health specialist who chairs the Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Task
Force of New Mexico, provided technical testimony at the DGF hearing held
all day in the City Commission Chambers at the T or C Civic Center
complex.
McCampbell said she’s testifying
against the DGF’s petition because the proposed application of Fintrol
to Animas Creek poses “undue risk” to health and the environment.
“There is no assurance that the
chemicals in this product will not harm humans and wildlife or contaminate
downstream waterways,” she testified by phone.
“To the contrary, indications are the
deployment of Fintrol will adversely impact the environment and many
non-target species,” McCampbell said, adding that she has found
extensive data gaps regarding the toxicity and environmental fate of the
active ingredient, antimycin A.
At least six chemicals are proposed for
use in the project, she said. Fintrol concentrate, she says, contains
antimycin A, acetone and soy lipids. Fintrol dilutent, with which Fintrol
concentrate is mixed, contains diethyl phthalate, monoxyl-9 and acetone.
Potassium permanganate also will be deployed in the project.
Antimycin A is a highly toxic pesticide
(piscicide for fish kill) and poison. It is not an antibiotic or a
pharmaceutical agent. Although derived from bacteria, antimycin A has more
in common with cyanide than penicillin. Like cyanide, antimycin A blocks
electron transport in mitochondria, causing cellular anoxia, McCampbell
said.
“Fintrol concentrate carries the
highest acute toxicity rating given by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). Warnings on the label say, ‘Fatal if swallowed’ and ‘May be
fatal if absorbed through the skin’,” she said.
Her report also said the draft
environmental assessment (EA) contains errors such as its conclusion that
there will be no collateral damage to non-target species as a result of
antimycin exposure.
McCampbell said the Chiracahua Leopard
Frog, an endangered species, will be impacted.
Jim Paxon, Ranger of the Black Range
District of the Gila National Forest, said there is no such frog in Animas
Creek or on Gila National Forest lands.
The petition of the DGF to the Water
Quality Control Commission seeks to deploy the piscicide on the entire
29.5-mile stretch of the Animas Creek watershed in addition to a tributary
known as Cave Creek.
Animas Creek winds 13.5 miles through
the Gila National Forest and Aldo Leopold Wilderness before it continues
another 16 miles through the massive Ladder Ranch, which Caballo resident
Annie McMannus testified now belongs to the Nature Conservancy and is no
longer owned by media mogul Ted Turner who had bought the ranch several
years ago to produce bison. McMannus said a recent search at the county
courthouse proved the change of ownership.
It is no secret that the DGF wants to
restore the indigenous Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout throughout New Mexico.
The fish were reduced to 5-10 percent of their original habitat.
To restore the RGCT, it’s necessary
to remove non-native species, according to officials’ testimony.
Peter Wilkinson, a fisheries biologist
and the assistant chief of DGF’s fisheries, said the DGF wants to
eventually maintain a small population of the Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout
with 500 breeding adults and a total population of 5,000 RGCT in Animas
Creek. The desired objective is to create a pool of donors for future
projects on public land, he said.
Such a population would have less than
a 10% chance of going extinct in 100 years, according to Dr. David Cowley,
a biologist at New Mexico State University.
Wilkinson said it’s important to
restore RGCT because the species is a valuable aquatic resource and is
part of the state’s heritage, besides being a beautiful and endemic
fish.
But without the removal of non-native
fish, the RGCT would cross breed with other species. “Fish are cross
fertile,” Wilkinson said.
He said antimycin when applied to water
at 10 parts per billion (ppb) has an eight-hour life. “It’s toxic only
a short period of time,” he said.
Other methods of getting rid of
non-native fish, such as dewatering, won’t work in Animas Creek,
Wilkinson said, adding that the application of Fintrol appears to be the
only method that will work since it affects all gill-breathing animals by
inhibiting cellular respiration.
Wilkinson said Fintrol recently was
applied to Costilla Creek for a two-week period, using five-gallon bottles
filled with water and the active ingredients which are then allowed to
flow at a consistent rate into the stream. The bottles are spaced at
intervals covering multiple miles. Wilkinson said he anticipates there
will be from 40 to 60 bottles along the creek.
“The chemical detoxifies quickly upon
contact with the water,” he said. After the fish die, crews will remove
their carcasses from the water and dispose of them, he added.
Paula King, 64, of Truth or
Consequences, testified she suffers from multiple chemical sensitivity.
She said she’s concerned about safety measures, such as the fact there
are no barriers to contain leaks that could seep into the ground in the
event the bottles containing Fintrol break. “If spilled on a worker’s
clothing, the worker will take it home to get his wife sick,” she said.
“We know today there’s no excuse to
use a piscicide that is little tested and its long-term effects are not
known. There needs to be better safety precautions,” Jones said.
Ranger Paxon testified that although
the RGCT is not considered an endangered or threatened species, it is a
sensitive species that the U.S. Forest Service is trying to restore as a
cooperator in the DGF’s petition.
Paxon said the EA will be sent to the
County Commission before Sept. 1 after which it will then be available for
public comment.
“We want a viable trout fishery.
Management continues to strive to recover the RGCT. Animas Creek is the
only fishery below Santa Fe that has RGCT,” Paxon said, adding, “We
want to have a viable population for wilderness fishermen.”
McCampbell asked whether the project
would violate the Wilderness Act. The hearing officer objected, saying
that consideration of the Wilderness Act was off limits for testimony at
the hearing.
“We do not intend to lock up the
wilderness to humans – it’s for human enjoyment. We support this
project because it will restore native fish and therefore enhance the
wilderness,” Paxon said.
McCampbell said the restoration of
species in a wilderness area takes precedence over human use.
Paxon said the Wilderness Act prohibits
motorized use so traveling is either by foot or horseback. “You can use
mechanical contrivances only in the event of wildfire,” he said.
“The project is consistent with the
Gila National Forest Resource Management Plan of 1986. It protects aquatic
life which is consistent with the plans’ guidelines,” Paxon said. He
said the EA also is consistent with the guidelines of the plan. “The
1986 plan says we should restore habitat for native species.”
Paxon said a decision on the petition
is expected in early fall or by mid October. The decision is ultimately up
to the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), he said.
Richard Hanson of Animas Creek said
he’s primarily concerned about the lack of access to the creek and that
handicapped people won’t be able to enjoy any recreation along the
creek.
“People on the creek are against it
(project),” he said. “Very few people benefit.”
Furthermore, Hanson said the flow of
the creek has been impeded the last 18 months with the alleged damming of
the waterway on the Ladder Ranch. “And the ranch prohibits us to see the
dam; it cut our irrigation water,” Hanson alleged.
Without motorized access to the creek
from the wilderness side of it, Hanson said he wonders how the handicapped
will be able to go fish the headwaters of the creek. “People have no
access,” he said.
Paxon confirmed Hanson’s concern,
saying that motorized use on the Aldo Leopold Wilderness has been banned
since the 1950s.
"Poisoning a creek and then
detoxifying it with yet another poison seems insane - akin to swatting a
mosquito on your forehead with a sledgehammer,” Wally Hesse of T or C
testified.
And Joe Hodovan, also of T or C, said,
"They've opened Pandora's box. They're the ones who introduced the
rainbow trout in 1950s or ’60s and caused the “hybridation” (cross
breeding) they're now trying to eradicate. The figures of success rates
and so forth they came up with sound wildly speculative.”
Meredith Rolley of T or C said,
"It's the lowest form of playing God - there's nobody monitoring
these activities, and they don't seem accountable for their outcomes - at
least not to any of us taxpayers."
An angler of Silver City questioned the
eradication of fish that have been around for thousands of years and
adapted to Animas Creek.
“The cutthroat trout survived storms,
etc., in Animas Creek and are still here. Why choke out cutthroat trout
that know their way around the creek, and replace them with hatchery
fish?” he asked.
The fisherman said a barrier should be
built so the ancient fish can survive and eventually spread its population
to the lower creek.
The hearing officer said a 1951 fire in
the drainage area killed all of the fish. “The existing fish were
introduced after the 1951 fire,” he said.
The angler said he has no personal
knowledge of the fish or their age or background. He said, however, “The
trout in there now are more viable than what they can put in there. We
anglers aren’t wedged to the 99% standard – 90% is okay with me.”
The last person to testify during the
DGF’s morning session of the day-long hearing was Bill Bussmann, also of
Animas Creek. Bussmann testified he has been drinking Animas Creek water
below the grazing area since 1976. He said his water source is through a
32-foot tube in the creek’s gravel bed.
He said the creek goes dry starting on
the Ladder Ranch but returns to the surface where he lives.
Considering the facts and the truth of
the matter, people in Animas Creek and surrounding areas may actually find
they prefer the Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout over non-native species –
they just don’t like the method in which DGF proposes to restore the
trout.
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