Homepage?>?Local News?>?Most Popular Lauren Victory lvictory@hearst.com
POSTED: 11:51 pm EST February 7, 2012
UPDATED: 2:29 am EST February 8, 2012
FRANKLIN, Vt. -- A new report finds fish in the northern part of Vermont are radioactive like the fish living in the waters near the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The significance of this finding is not just that these fish have radioactive elements in their bones, it's that the ones found up north have no physical connection to those in the Connecticut River by Vermont Yankee. Steven Laramee's been ice fishing on Lake Carmi for years and oftentimes makes a meal out of his catch. "Walleye fish and northern fish and we keep perch too," said Laramee who lives across the street from Lake Carmi State Park. So to hear something could be up with one of favorite foods was a bit puzzling. "I've never had any reaction to it, but now they're talking more of it. I don't know if it's more or less. They always talked about mercury or that in the water," said Laramee. In this case, scientists said they have found traces of radioactive materials in Lake Carmi's fish. "Strontium-90 and Cesium-137," said Bill Irwin, the radiological and toxicological sciences program chief for the Vermont Department of Health. The results are eyebrow-raising he said, but not because they makes these fish inedible. "If fish were healthy to eat two days ago before anybody heard about this, it's still the same," Irwin said. But because the amounts found were similar to those in fish tested down by Vermont Yankee, two years ago. Lake Carmi and Yankee are on opposite ends of the state, more than 150 miles apart. "What we thought, that that plant has not yet leaked any kind of radioactive materials of this nature into the environment where it could harm public health, is currently true," said Irwin. Instead, the radiological expert said his team believes the source is from before Vermont Yankee's time. "Most of it came from weapons testing in the Atomic era -- the 1940s, '50, and '60s," said Irwin. The fish in Lake Carmi and the Connecticut River are both safe said Irwin and that's the bottom line for folks like Laramee. "I'm still going to fish. Even if i didn't eat them. I'm still going to fish because I enjoy fishing," said Laramee. The state plans to do a lot more tests on areas like Lake Carmi -- ones unassociated with Vermont Yankee -- to further prove its results. Officials said they've paired up with surrounding states to continue their study. Copyright 2012 by WPTZ.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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