Warning on fish extended in Wake

Lake Crabtree, upstream tainted

Warnings about eating fish contaminated with toxic chemicals have been extended upstream from Lake Crabtree County Park along Crabtree Creek in Wake County to Cedar Fork District Park in Morrisville.

Based on recent state tests, Drew Cade, park manager for Lake Crabtree County Park, posted new signs with the warning, "do not take any fish from Lake Crabtree or just upstream" of the lake along the creek to the Cedar Fork soccer complex managed by the town of Morrisville.

State health officials found levels of industrial chemicals called PCBs in largemouth bass, catfish and carp collected from Crabtree Creek as part of an investigation of Ward Transformer, a long-contaminated industrial site near Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

"The fish are swimming up from the lake," said Luanne Williams, a toxicologist with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. "The area is accessible to the public. I did have concerns about that area that there might be elevated levels."

Williams said she is trying to secure funding for fish testing next summer at six sites suspected of elevated PCB levels, including the mouth of Crabtree Creek, Walnut Creek, Rocky Branch and on the Neuse River.

Earlier tests found some contaminated fish where Crabtree Creek enters the Neuse, but not enough samples were taken to justify an advisory.

Fish consumption advisories already have been posted on Lake Crabtree, Brier Creek upstream of Lake Crabtree and Crabtree Creek downstream of the lake.