OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C 20460
POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA-335
L3 Q TECHNICAL NOTES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chris L. West
(503) 752-4211, Ext. 300
December 8, 1973
EPA AWARDS $108,675 CONTRACT TO OREGON STATE GAME COMMISSION TO
STUDY EFFECTS OF POLLUTANTS ON SALMON ADAPTATION TO SEAWATER
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $108,675
contract to the Oregon State Game Commission to study the effects of
pollutants on the ability of young salmon to adapt to seawater.
The Game Commission also will contribute $27,200 to the two-year
project, making a total of $135,875 available for the study.
There will be two phases to the project:
— Game Commission scientists will expose young salmon to maximum
"safe" levels of copper and zinc metals in freshwater. While
such effects have been theorized, they have never been tested.
— The same fish will then be placed in seawater for 20 days,
simulating the normal transition in which young salmon leave
freshwater and migrate to the ocean.
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The experiments will be conducted with a standardized test
being developed for EPA under the contract. Because the Pacific
Northwest has many industrial sources of waste with high concentrations
of heavy metals, the new testing method is expected to be of great use
in related studies.
EPA's project officer for the study is Dr. Gary A. Chapman, an
aquatic biologist at National Environmental Research Center in Corvallis,
Managing the study for the Game Commission is Dr. Harry H. Wagner, a
fishery research coordinator in the Agency's Department of Research on
the Oregon State University campus. The principal scientist on the
project is Dr. Harry Lorz.
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