DEQ still hasn't quite gotten their britches pulled back up.
The fish testing program cost about $500,000 per year and led to an average of three new mercury advisories per year.
That all ended in 2008, when DEQ gutted the program
amid a push by Gov. Bobby Jindal to force cuts across various state
agencies. For eight years, there was no fish tissue sampling, except in
the aftermath of a chemical or oil spill.
State law requires the
program to draw its funding from tax dollars, grants or donations. DEQ
has been hesitant to ask for more funding from the Legislature or push
for a rule change that would allow the use of money from fees or fines.
In
2015, environmental groups put pressure on DEQ to revive the program.
“We had to embarrass the hell out of them,” Kohl said. It worked,
apparently.
“Our butt was hanging out and we had to cover it up,” Piehler said.
This also says that Louisiana's waterways are particularly dangerous environments for mercury poisoning in the fish that live there. But, you know, as President Trump says....
“Atmospheric mercury is less than it was, and most of the mercury we were getting was from aerial deposition,” he said.
That doesn’t mean testing should cease, Kohl said.
“If you don’t test, you don’t find problems,” he said. “Some people like that. Ignorance is bliss.”
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