Fish Advisories

Fish Contamination Advisory for Lake Crabtree and Brier Creek
Updated March 2007

DO NOT take any fish from Lake Crabtree, or Crabtree Creek, just above or below the lake.

The State Department of Health and Human Services has warned the public not to eat any catfish or carp from the lake. Routinely eating fish from the lake or the creek may increase your risk of:

• Cancer
• Infections
• Skin problems (including cracked fingernails)
• Learning problems in children born to women who eat fish from these waters

High levels of chemicals (PCBs) have been found in the fish

Officials with the North Carolina Division of Public Health declared fish advisories for Brier Creek, downstream of Brier Creek Reservoir in Wake County, and Lake Crabtree because fish in these areas have shown high levels of PCBs. PCBs may increase the risk of developing cancer, infection, skin problems and learning deficits in infants.

The fish consumption advisory recommends the following:

Brier Creek (downstream of Brier Creek Reservoir) – Do not eat any fish from Brier Creek.
Lake Crabtree – Do not eat carp or catfish. Of all other fish from Lake Crabtree, eat only one meal a month.

These advisories are an extension of the fish advisories that were issued upstream along Little Brier Creek and Brier Creek Reservoir. The fish consumption advisory recommends against eating fish from the following areas:

Brier Creek Reservoir
Little Brier Creek downstream of Brier Creek Parkway
One unnamed tributary to Little Brier Creek

PCBs were once widely used in power transformers as a flame retardant. Although they have not been used since 1977, they still show up at low levels in old transformers. The Wake County contamination was discovered as a result of an investigation of the Ward Transformer facility, which is located on Mount Herman Road near RDU. Ward currently reconditions only old transformers that are PCB-free. The company's current process is in compliance with environmental regulations; however, the process that the company used from 1964 to 1979 allowed PCBs to escape into the environment. Because of that past contamination, the site is on the National Priority List for investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) federal Superfund program.

Environmental and health officials continue to study the Ward Transformer site.

You may catch and release fish.

There is no known risk to human health from catch-and-release fishing, swimming, boating or other recreational activities on, or near, the lake. If future testing reveals new information, then new advice will be given and new signs will be posted. Swimming is not allowed at Lake Crabtree County Park.

If you have routinely eaten fish from these waters and have questions about your health, please call your doctor or Dr. Luanne Williams with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services at 919-707-5912.

Individuals with questions regarding the environmental investigation can contact Ms. Jeanette Stanley with the North Carolina Superfund Section at 919-733-2801, extension 318.

Do Not Eat the Fish