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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991                   TAG: 9103290412
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DYNAMITE MAY HAVE KILLED FISH

A fish kill in the Roanoke River in Southeast Roanoke may have been caused by illegal dynamiting, a state Water Control Board official said Thursday.

About 50 dead fish were found Wednesday in an isolated pool near Roanoke Memorial Hospital, state and local authorites said. Because the fish were contained in a small area, it is possible they were killed by someone using explosives to catch fish, said Larry Willis, regional biologist for the west central office of the state Water Control Board.

One problem with that theory, Willis added, is that the kill appeared limited to trout. But trout are very sensitive, and they sometimes drive away native fish when the river is stocked for trout season, he said.

The section of the river where the fish were recovered had been stocked with trout about three weeks ago.

Some of the fish have been sent to a state laboratory in Richmond, but it will be a week before the results are known, Willis said. The tests should also reveal whether illegal chemical-dumping led to the fish kill.

by CNB