The Fish Consumption Advisory Board of Montana issued a warning advising residents not to eat certain fish caught in the Yellowstone River.
The board, which is made up of members from the Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), issued an advisory Friday regarding the consumption of mountain whitefish after a freight train derailed into the river near the end of June, according to a statement from the Montana FWP.
“As part of a follow-up to the train derailment that occurred on June 24, FWP staff collected five mountain whitefish and five rainbow trout of various lengths below the derailment site for contaminant testing,” the statement said.
A train derailment into the Yellowstone River near Twin Bridges Road between Reed Point and Columbus has led to the closure of parts of the Yellowstone and Stillwater Rivers, at the request of Stillwater County officials. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/9OVnmimN7Q
— Montana FWP (@MontanaFWP) June 24, 2023
The FWP said testing showed mountain whitefish had high “levels of a chemical called phenanthrene,” per the FWP statement. Due to the high levels of phenanthrene, it was “high enough to warrant an advisory to avoid all consumption of mountain whitefish.” (RELATED: At Least 30 Killed, 60 Injured In Train Derailment Abroad)
Phenanthrene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), according to the FWP statement. Some PAHs can reportedly be found in “oil, gas, plastics, and pesticides.” PAHs can lead to problems such as “birth defects, reproductive problems, and damages to skin, body fluids, and immune systems,” according to lab tests done on animals. The effects of eating fish containing “high levels of PAHs” are not yet known for humans, per the FWP.
“It is not yet known if the impacts to mountain whitefish are a result of the train derailment,” the FWP said, noting that rainbow trout “did not show any levels of contamination.”
On June 24, eight railcars containing asphalt and molten sulfur derailed after a bridge between Columbus and Reed Point, Montana, collapsed, according to a statement from the Montana Rail Link.