It is to be hoped that the important uncertainties about possible relationships 

 between valuable agricultural activities and valuable estuarine resources will be 

 definitively resolved and either corrected or dismissed, as may be appropriate. 



Chlorinated hydrocarbons were the subject of both concern and research, and the 

 knowledge of their effects was brought before Chesapeake Bay interests (Walsh, 

 1972). Concern has declined along with use, although decay products have been 

 reported in Bay sediments. Special problems have arisen with the storage of PCBs in 

 inadequate facilities, the transfer to improved containment, and proposed incinera- 

 tion, but no serious pollution is known to have occurred. 



Radioactivity has not been shown to be detrimental to the uses of the Chesapeake 

 Bay. There are two nuclear generating stations on the estuary. The well-known Three 

 Mile Island is in the middle of the largest source of freshwater. Completion of a series 

 of nuclear plants is underway with some in the series operative and some proposed 

 on the Susquehanna. Cleanup and decontamination of Three Mile Island have not 

 been completed, and 2,646,000 1 (700,000 gallons) of highly contaminated water 

 must be disposed of. Public agencies and the citizens of the Chesapeake area are 

 deeply concerned but hopeful that the established safety levels for radionuclides are 

 valid. 



The Kepone Saga 



Release into the James River of a relatively unknown pesticide developed to 

 control ants, cockroaches, and Central American banana root borers created an 

 estuarine catastrophe that will last indefinitely. The later stages of the sequence are 

 well documented and may be summarized as follows (Associated Press, 1980; Cronin 

 et al., 1979; Huggett and Bender, 1980; Huggett et al., 1980; Lunsford et al., 1980; 

 Nichols et al., 1979): 



• From 1966 to 1975, Kepone was discharged into the environment, the sewage 

 treatment system, and the tidal river at Hopewell, Virginia, on the James River. 



• Recognition of dangers occurred when employees displayed serious health prob- 

 lems and subsequent investigation uncovered heavy contamination of soils, 

 water, and estuarine sediments, and threatening quantities in benthicand pelagic- 

 organisms. 



• Kepone is toxic to many aquatic species, concentrated in a number of species, and 

 transferred through the food web. 



• About 140 kg (308 lb) of Kepone are concentrated in the biota of the system. 



• An estimated .5 metric tons now remain in or near the source area. 10.4 metric 

 tons are distributed in the sediments of the estuary over a distance of 88 km 

 (55 mi). 



• All major components of the James estuary contain Kepone biota, water, and 

 sediments. The pathways of cycling have been approximated and include plants, 

 benthos, plankton, nekton, and birds. 



• Kepone is highly persistent, and a wide variety of proposed corrective measures 

 (stabilizations in sediment, covering of sediments, incineration, etc.) are costly 

 and unfeasible. The least expensive plan would cost over $3 billion. 



• The economic impact is enormous, since the river was closed in 1976 to the entire 

 \aluable recreational and commercial fisheries. 



• Modest improvement has occurred, and recreational fisheries are now permitted 

 to retain their catch and short-exposure fish such as shad can be retained. Medical 

 tests are reported to show that humans can eliminate Kepone more effectively 

 than test rats and mice. 



• Kepone is slowly buried by more recent sediments in areas of high sedimentation, 

 but high contamination persists in much of the biota. 



• Reexamination of old analytic data and archived samples reveaied the early 

 history of introduction when the problem was unsuspected (Cronin et al., 1979). 



Documentation of the fate, effects, costs, and possible remedial measures has been 

 exceptionally thorough. Involved investigators have noted that "our ability to 



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