The mystery of Chickamauga Lake fish deaths continues

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- A few months ago we brought you a story about the apparent mass die-off of fish in Lake Chickamauga.

Back in May, we heard from several fishermen along Lake Chickamauga they were seeing thousands of dead fish, particularly catfish, in the lake.

The TWRA said back then they didn’t see any evidence of toxins or a chemical spill that would’ve caused this spill.

However, a private test is raising more questions.

Dead bass on Chickamauga Lake

A fisherman group who goes by “The Chic Life” crowdfunded a private water test on Chickamauga Lake late last month.

They shared the data of that test with News 12.

In that data, three chemicals were highlighted as above the acceptable threshold inside the lake.

These are chrysene, isophorone, and pyrene.

In particular, isophorone was measured at 127 micrograms per liter, when the limit is at 10.

After receiving these results, we sent them to the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation, who had conducted their own tests.

While they say they cannot provide analysis of third-party data, they did provide what the parameters are for these three chemicals.

According to their parameters, chrysene would be the only chemical above their limit.

But they do caution that they do not normally test these parameters in water tests.

We did reach out to several professors who specialize in water toxicology across the region.

One professor from the University of Georgia, Robert Bringolf, told us that pyrene and chrysene are typically found in petroleum products or in plastics or dyes.

Isophorone on the other hand he says is found in products like adhesives, paints, and inks.

He mentions that catfish normally are among the most tolerant species to chemical pollutants, but pyrene and chrysene belong to a class of chemicals that can cause DNA damage.

He mentions it is unusual to see these chemicals in the water unless there was a chemical spill.

Phillip McCrenaor, a professor from Mercer University, said that all of these chemicals appear to be used in coal-tar pavement-based sealants.

There have been no reports of those products, or anything recently being spilled into the lake.

These professors did tell us there is still the possibility it is a more natural phenomenon like temperature changes or deprivation of oxygen that led to these kill-offs.

News 12 has not been able to confirm if there is a connection between these chemicals and the fish kill-offs.

While at Lake Chickamauga Wednesday we noticed several fish including bass floating dead in the lake.

We also read a notice that had been put up that water within 150 feet of the shoreline had been treated with a herbicide for water weed control.

The notice said there were no restrictions on swimming or fish consumption, but not to use the water for other purposes for the next week.

Remember that if you see anything suspicious on the lakes that you believe is contaminating the environment, report it to the TWRA or TDEC.