Fishing season opens in March for many public lakes and rivers, but before you throw your line in the water, check out the current fish consumption advisories. Several Wake County creeks and reservoirs are off-limits because of pollution from Ward Transformer, an 11-acre Superfund site and former manufacturing plant on Mount Herman Road in Raleigh.
While the EPA has overseen a clean-up of the areamore than 350,000 tons of contaminated material have been removedover several decades, PCBs from the transformers contaminated soil and surface waters downstream.
Eating contaminated fish could increase your cancer risk and could damage your immune, reproductive and nervous systems.
No consumption of any fish
1) Brier Creek Reservoir
2) Brier Creek downstream of the reservoir
3) Little Brier Creek and tributaries downstream of Brier Creek Parkway
No consumption of carp and catfish; no more than one meal per month of other fish
4) Lake Crabtree
No more than one meal per month of carp, catfish and largemouth bass
5) Crabtree Creek above and below Lake Crabtree to the Neuse River
No more than one meal per month of carp and catfish
6) Neuse River downstream of Crabtree Creek to Auburn-Knightdale Road
No more than one meal per month of carp and catfish; no more than one meal per week for all other fish
7) Walnut Creek and 8) Rocky Branch tributary upstream of where it meets the Neuse River
Sources: N.C. Wildlife Commission, Environmental Protection Agency
