
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 25, 1990                   TAG: 9004250130
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Short

BIOLOGISTS TO ANALYZE FISH FROM CLAYTOR LAKE, CREEK

Biologists from the state Water Control Board collected enough fish of various types from Claytor Lake and Peak Creek on Monday to get a "good sampling," an official from the board said this week.

The fish were taken to a lab in Richmond to be analyzed Tuesday and results are expected back in 10 to 12 days, said Neil Obenshain, the board's acting regional director.

"When we get the information we'll pass the information on to the health department," Obenshain said. "They're the primary source of information on whether the fish is safe to eat."

Biologists recommended testing fish in Claytor Lake and Peak Creek in February after finding high concentrations of heavy metals in the creek's sediments. The metals, which appear to have leached into the water from the old Allied Chemical Plant, include copper, lead, selenium and iron, according to state reports.

The board is working with Downtown East, the limited partnership that now owns the Allied site, to stop the industrial waste from polluting the water. Downtown East has been given until April 30 to clean up the site.

Obenshain said officials used an electrical current Monday to temporarily stun the fish near Conrad's Boat Landing at the Peak Creek section of the lake. "That way we could select the size and specific fish we needed. The fish we didn't take for sampling were returned to normal life."

by CNB