Federal fish story endangers health of subsistence fishers

While the state has spent millions of dollars to warn against over-consumption of fish from San Francisco Bay, an obscure federal agency has announced that fish from the Seaplane Lagoon at Alameda Point at the western end of the island of Alameda are perfectly safe to eat.

The difference is of vital importance to the health of Alamedans, especially low-income and minority people who fish for subsistence. The Navy, in compliance with California guidelines, has posted multilingual "No Fishing" signs around the lagoon, whereas the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in its "Draft Public Health Assessment for Naval Air Station Alameda" concludes that "eating fish from [the] Seaplane Lagoon does not present a public health hazard." The state has spent millions to inform Bay Area residents that consumption of most fish from the Bay - including Seaplane Lagoon - ought to be limited to no more than two a month, and the consumption of bottom-dwelling fish avoided altogether.

Who's a person to believe?

In this case, believe the state. The ATSDR has a long history of underplaying environmental risks. ATSDR never even considered the state's recommendations or the dozens of fish studies supporting the state's recommendation. Instead ATSDR relied on documents prepared by itself or the Navy.

The draft focuses on re-uses for Alameda's middle- and upper-income communities and mostly ignored recreational and subsistence uses by Alameda's large Asian and Native American communities. The report failed to note even the existence of Alameda's largest minorities, Asians and Filipinos, reporting simply that 57% of Alamedans are Caucasian and 6% are African-American with no mention of the ethnic makeup of the remaining 37%. Most of the subsistence and sport fishers in Alameda are from the unidentified groups.

The ATSDR draft report was a misuse of taxpayer money for marketing a minimal-cost clean-up of the toxic hazards at Alameda Point. Unless corrected in the final version, the ATSDR report will be toxic to the health of our Alameda community. The draft fails to disclose the very real risks posed to our low-income residents by a minimal clean-up at Alameda Point.

What You Can Do

Please write to:

Max M. Howie Jr., M.S.
Chief, Program Evaluation, Records, and Information Services Branch
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
1600 Clifton Road (E60)
Atlanta, GA 30333

Re: Draft Public Health Assessment for Naval Air Station Alameda, Feb. 11, 2004
EPA Facility ID: CA4170090597

Insist that ATSDR revise its "Draft Public Health Assessment for Naval Air Station Alameda" to take full account of the dangers to people who fish for subsistence of consuming fish from Alameda Point. Ask that ATSDR not undermine the state's educational efforts on the dangers of eating fish from the Bay.

To sign up for the Sierra Club's Alameda Point e-mail alert list, e-mail Bill Smith at:

Bill Smith