NCJ - New report says Humboldt Bay oysters safe

New report says Humboldt Bay oysters safe

Call it more of the same.

Last July, a report done by a consultant with Sierra Pacific Industries found elevated levels of dioxin in commercial oysters in Humboldt Bay, but asserted that the levels were too low to pose a health threat.

Now a second report by the same consultant, based on sampling conducted in the fall, has again found dioxin in commercial oysters -- at even lower levels than previously.

"The occurrence of dioxins in oysters and mussels from Humboldt Bay does not pose a significant health risk to shellfish consumers," according to the Feb. 11 report by Environ, a Bay Area-based consulting firm.

Just as before, activists are unconvinced.

Patty Clary, with Citizens for Alternatives to Toxics, a Eureka organization, said that the levels would have to be 40 times less for the oysters to be safe. Instead, she said the levels are 10 times lower.

Fred Evenson, an attorney with the Ecological Rights Foundation, an Oakland environmental group that is suing Sierra Pacific, said that independent sampling needs to be conducted of the oyster beds.

After last summer's report, Marc Lappe, a toxicologist hired by the Ecological Rights Foundation, recommended that adult males consume no more than a single monthly serving of six oysters. He said pregnant women "probably should not eat [Humboldt Bay] oysters" at all.

Exposure to dioxin, a byproduct of many industrial processes, is "associated with a wide array of adverse health affects," according to a fact sheet put out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, the EPA has classified dioxin as a "probable human carcinogen."

The Environ report comes seven months after the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board asked Sierra Pacific to draw up a workplan to perform a "human health and ecological risk assessment" of Mad River Slough, which borders the company's lumber mill near Manila.

That decision made taken after dioxin was found in mussels and crabs in the slough immediately adjacent to the plant by the Ecological Rights group. The area is a popular fishing spot.

-- reported by Keith Easthouse