Pennsylvania officials urge residents not to eat fish from Cumberland and Franklin counties due to dangerous PFOS levels, impacting local fishing traditions.<\/p>\n
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. \u2014 The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) and the PA Fish and Boat Commission are telling people not to eat the fish they catch in parts of Cumberland and Franklin counties, as new studies show high levels of forever chemicals in Middle Spring Creek.<\/p>\n
With trout season just a couple of weeks away, anglers are going to see fewer fish in the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first time they’ve come out and said, don’t eat these fish,\u201d Dr. Sean Cornell, president of Middle Spring Watershed Association and associate professor at Shippensburg University, said.<\/p>\n
The warning comes after the PA DEP officials found dangerously high levels<\/a> of pollution known as perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, in the Middle Spring Creek fish, which is unsafe for consumption.<\/p>\n Now, officials will not be stocking trout in the creek in Cumberland and Franklin counties.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s going to have a profound effect on, you know, the traditions and history that these folks have had,\u201d Dr. Cornell said.<\/p>\n PFOS are considered a forever chemical and, without treatment to the water sources, the EPA studies<\/a> determined it can harm the immune system, damage the liver, raise cholesterol, and disrupt thyroid hormones.<\/p>\n Many homes in the area use wells to pump in drinking water, too.<\/p>\n