Kepone and the James River

Huggett, Robert J.

Item

Kepone and the James River

Huggett, Robert J.

Abstract

The James River in Virginia was contaminated by the pesticide kepone when the material entered the river as early as 1968 and continued until its discovery in 1975. The river became so contaminated that commercial fisheries were closed. In 1988, 13 years after closure, all fishing restrictions were lifted. The contaminated sediments have been diluted and covered enough by uncontaminated material that the kepone flux back into the water column has diminished. Kepone concentrations in organisms inhabitating the river are finally below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration action levels. Biological, chemical, physical and geological aspects of the contamination indicate that remedial actions to remove kepone would be expensive and environmentally unwise.