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Senator Faber’s
Weekly Newsletter
February 14, 2011
Grand Lake St. Marys Fish
Tissue Study Shows No Microcystin In Samples
Grand Lake St. Marys is very dear to all of us. Its restoration
is a very high priority of mine. I provided you all with Governor
Kasich’s initial action plan last week, and I just wanted to follow up
with some more good news about the lake. The EPA released the
below information last week:
The
“do not eat” fish consumption advisory for Grand Lake St. Marys has
been removed after an analysis showed no microcystin in fish from
samples collected in the lake last fall.
The
current results are for fish collected by Ohio Department of Natural
Resources (ODNR) personnel in October 2010. Twenty-three tissue samples
from four species, largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie and channel
catfish, were collected and sent to a lab for analysis.
Plans are to collect and analyze more fish from Grand Lake St. Marys or
other state owned lakes with blue-green algae blooms to give state
officials a complete picture of toxin levels in fish tissue as
microcystin levels fluctuate during the year. The “do not eat” advisory
was a precaution until actual fish-tissue data was available.
Ohio
EPA partners with the Ohio Department of Health and ODNR to develop
consumption advisories for fish caught in Ohio. Ohio EPA, ODNR and the
Ohio Department of Agriculture continue to work together to implement
components of the state action plan to restore the lake.
Chronic Wasting Disease
Not Found in Ohio Deer
For the ninth straight year, testing of Ohio’s deer herd has found no
evidence of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a degenerative brain disease
that affects elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer.
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division
of Wildlife, state and federal agriculture and wildlife officials
collected 588 samples last year from hunter-harvested deer from 44
counties, primarily during the deer-gun season that ran November 29 -
December 5.
All
CWD testing is performed at the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory of
the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA). Additional CWD samples are
being taken from road-killed deer, but those test results are not yet
available. Sampling continues through April.
In
addition to CWD, all 588 samples of the hunter-harvested deer samples
were also tested for bovine tuberculosis. Results found no evidence of
this disease in Ohio deer.
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