The Cupertino Courier

News

Reservoir lacks multilingual signs on toxic fish

By HUGH BIGGAR

There is a catch to fishing at Stevens Creek Reservoir--one that so far has only been posted in English.

The reservoir, popular with a diverse group of anglers from throughout Santa Clara Valley, is home to highly toxic fish. The reservoir's water supply is tested regularly and is considered safe to drink.

As a result of the health hazards posed by the toxicity, the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department said last year the department would post warnings in English, Spanish and Vietnamese by the start of the 2005 fishing season.

A year later, the reservoir has signs only in English. A laminated notice warns people about the dangers of consuming large amounts of fish from the reservoir. (There are also other weathered signs posted in English alerting people to tick hazards and pesticide spraying.)

The laminated sign became necessary after the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board released a study in 2004 showing Stevens Creek Reservoir had the highest levels of mercury in its fish of 10 reservoirs surveyed.

According to the board, largemouth bass in Stevens Creek Reservoir had levels of mercury five times the state's health standard. Reservoir fish also had among the highest levels of other contaminants found in such fish as carp and bottom-feeding catfish. Those fish were found to have high levels of polychorinated biphenols--an industrial pollutant banned in 1977.

In addition to PCBs, the mercury is believed to come from the nearby watershed, distant power plants and possibly the Hanson Permanente Cement plant in the Cupertino hills. The contaminants accumulate in fish over decades of exposure, experts say.

For those not practicing catch and release, health risks can occur for people who regularly consume large amounts of fish from the reservoir. Women of childbearing age and children under the age of 16 are considered especially vulnerable.

"The mercury can cause cancer," said Tamara Clark-Shear, a spokeswoman for the parks and recreation department.

Clark-Shear said the multi-lingual signs are on their way, something she also told the Courier in March 2005.

"We are working on the language with the Public Health Service right now," she said. "The hold-up is in translation. We are trying to get the hazards down to one or two sentences."

In the meantime, Clark-Shear said rangers periodically hand out fliers to people fishing.

On a recent weekday busy afternoon, one man who gave his name as Don said he had not received a flier but was not worried about hazards.

"The fishing is too slow for me to worry [about the mercury]," he said, holding up his index finger to indicate the one fish he had caught.

For more information on the mercury in fish report, visit http://www. oehha.ca.gov/fish/so_cal/bayareares.html.