Still No Clean Bill of Health for Montana's Big Spring Creek

Despite a $1 million cleanup effort to rid the state fish hatchery on Big Spring Creek in Lewiston, officials were shocked to find PCBs in the excrement of trout raised there. Tests on the trout themselves have shown no sign of contamination. “In a development apart from the excrement analysis, costly lining material installed in late 2005 to seal PCB-contaminated concrete in the hatchery’s raceways is bubbling, and pinholes have appeared. A report to the EPA last month said exposing hatchery water to the contaminated concrete could be a risk.” Article by the Associated Press.
We first reported the PCB contamination back in April of 2004, when it was determined that paint from the hatchery raceways was responsible for the problem.