Conway Corp New Sewer Plant Could Hurt Gar Population

[creekin bassnerd]

Saw this article in the newspaper Sunday, thought it was interesting. I hope Conway Corp will at least consider EVERYTHING that will be affected by its new sewer treatment plant so as to not kill off a prehistoric species of Arkansas, the Aligator Gar.

http://thecabin.net/news/local/2010-08-30/gar-expert-asks-impact-study-conway-corp%E2%80%99s-wastewater-plans

[Tim Smith]

Saw this article in the newspaper Sunday, thought it was interesting. I hope Conway Corp will at least consider EVERYTHING that will be affected by its new sewer treatment plant so as to not kill off a prehistoric species of Arkansas, the Aligator Gar.

http://thecabin.net/news/local/2010-08-30/gar-expert-asks-impact-study-conway-corp%E2%80%99s-wastewater-plans

Classic stuff. The journalist screwed up the estrogen issue...

Spitzer said if the company bypasses the bayou, another concern is the use of estrogen in purifying wastewater.

Conway Corp. CEO Richie Arnold said he is unfamiliar with that technology, and the Tupelo Bayou Wastewater Treatment Plant will not employ estrogen as a means to purify water.

Estrogen, is a problem from the wastewater itself, not the purification process.

...also liked the anglers in the comments section disregarding the population estimate from a formal mark-recapture study because they saw a lot of gar (probably not even aligator gar) in another creek somewhere. Horrifying dreck.

Interesting issue though. Glad the company is on board with the impact assessment.

[tjulianc]

Sounds like Prof. Spitzer has a lot of work to do down there. Doesn't the estrogen comes from human waste, people taking pharmaceuticals that contain estrogen, and then the estrogen coming out as part of human waste? Also from people flushing pills down the toilet. There's probably a pretty high concentration of anti-depressants and antibiotics in waste water too.

[Tim Smith]

Sounds like Prof. Spitzer has a lot of work to do down there. Doesn't the estrogen comes from human waste, people taking pharmaceuticals that contain estrogen, and then the estrogen coming out as part of human waste? Also from people flushing pills down the toilet. There's probably a pretty high concentration of anti-depressants and antibiotics in waste water too.

Yes, birth control pills and estrogen mimics from other sources. Sewage treatent does a lot of good but it doesn't fix everything. They've found feminized fish (with both sperm and eggs) downstream of just about every sewage treatment plant they've checked.