1ED 

### alik 2 t> g 

# tira 1 o a zc AL pnole



## Memorandum Date Subject 

# To From UNITED STATES 

# ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

# AGENCY REGION 1 5 Post Office 

### Square Suite 

### 100 Boston

# MA 021093912

January 

## 30 2015 Analysis 

### ofsuppression questions 

### from Chemrisk Study File Ellen Weitzler This is to 

### document calculations 

## made to analyze responses to questions 

### from the 

## 19891990 Chemrisk survey 

### oflicensed 

### Maine anglers regarding suppression 

### due to fish 

### consumption advisories 

### Data Provided 

## By email 

### of October 

## 32013 Ellen 

### Ebert primary author 

### ofthe 

### Chemrisk

## study sent 

## me excel spreadsheets consisting 

### ofraw data 

### from the survey 

## in two files 

# CHEM6 DAT lof2 

## Axis and 

# CHEM6DAT2of2Bxls as well as a 

## summary spreadsheet 

### offish 

### consumption from consuming anglers 

## MaineConsumingAnglersxls and the 

### users guide to the data 

### Users 

## Guidepdf This analysis is 

### ofthe 

### rawdata Methodology I 

### used Microsoft Excel to tally question responses 

### and calculate basic statistical functions I analyzed the responses to questions 

### 38 through 

### 44 for all survey respondents 

## consuming and non

## consuming anglers Results 

### Below are the questions asked 

### on the survey 

### and results for

### each question
Intro to questions provided in 

### survey 

## Some people 

### have raised health concerns about water quality in public 

### waterways 

# We would like to learn about 

### any concerns 

### you might have about the areas 

### you fish 

### Question 

## 38 Are you aware of any official fish 

### consumption advisories concerning fish caught in 

## Maine

ChernRisk 

# A Division of

## McLarenHart Consumption ofFreshwater Fish 

### byMaine Anglers Portland 

## Maine July

## 24 1992

1

## No If 

## no skip to Question 

### 45 

## 1017 or

# 65 Yes 

## 556 or

# 35 Question 

## 39 The following are 

## some statements about fish 

### consumption advisories in 

## Maine For each statement indicate 

### whether each statement is true false or if 

### you 

## dont 

## know The existing fish 

### True 

## 25 or

# 4 False

## 460 or 

## Dont know 

## 71 or 

### consumption advisories 

# 83 13 apply only to fish caught in lakes 

### and ponds Only 

## some rivers in 

### Maine True 

## 436 or False 

## 75 or 

## Dont know 

## 45 or are the subject 

### offish 

# 78 13 

# 8 consumption advisories 

### The fish 

### consumption True 

## 149 or False 

## 347 or 

## Dont know 

## 59 or advisories 

## recommend that 

# 27 63 11 no one eat 

### any fish caught in locations covered 

### bythe advisories 

### The fish 

### consumption True 

## 76 or

# 14 False 

## 389 or 

## Dont know 

## 90 or advisories cover only 

# 70 16 certain species 

### The fish 

### consumption True 

## 411 or False 

## 52 or

# 9 Dont know 

## 93 or advisories cover all sizes 

### of 

# 74 17 fish Question 

## 40 During 

## 1990 did 

### you ever eat fish at locations covered 

### by an official fish 

### consumption advisory 

## No If 

## no skip to Question 

### 44 

## 341 or

# 60 Yes 

## 160 or

# 28 Dont know if 

## dont 

## know skip to Question 

## 4570 or

# 12
Question 

## 41 Do fish 

### consumption advisories affect 

### whether you keep the fish caught at locations covered 

### by fish 

### consumption advisories 

## No 29 or

# 18 Yes 

## 135 or

# 82 If 

### yes circle all that 

### apply I 

### keep no fish 

## 81 or

# 60 I 

### keep fewer fish 

## 27 or

# 20
I 

### keep only the smallerfish 

# 2 or

# 1
I 

### keep only certain species 

## 18 or

# 13 Other 

## 12 or

# 9
Question 

## 42 Do fish advisories affect 

### whether you eat the fish caught at locations covered 

### by fish 

### consumption advisories 

## No27 or

# 16

2

### Yes 

## 137 or

# 84 If 

### yes 

## how do they affect 

### whether you eat the fish

### you catch I 

## dont eat 

### any ofthe fish 

## 91 or

# 66

I eat only the smallerfish

# 4 or

# 3

I eat only certain species 

## 23 or

# 17 Other 

## 17 or

# 12 Question 

## 43 Do fish 

### consumption advisories affect 

## how you prepare 

### and serve the fish caught at locations covered 

### by a fish 

### consumption advisory 

## No 106 or

# 71 Yes

## 44 or

# 29 If 

### yes 

## how do they affect 

## how you prepare 

### and serve the 

### fish I only broil or grill these fish

# 8 or

# 18 I trim 

### and discard 

### any dark flesh 

## 11 or

# 25 I trim off all fat 

## 13 or

# 30 I trim offthe lateral line

# 9 or

# 20 Other 

## 24 or

# 55
Question 

## 44 Suppose conditions 

### were different so that there

### were no fish 

### consumption advisories in 

## Maine Would you have fished 

### any additional bodies 

### ofwater during the 

## 19891990 ice fishing season or 

### 1990 openwater seasons 

## No 388 or

# 81 Yes 

## 93 or

# 19
Discussion 

### Awareness Although there 

### were fish advisories for certain waters in 

### Maine at the 

### time ofthe 

### survey only

# 35 ofthe respondents 

### were aware that there 

### were any fish advisories in 

### Maine 

## see Question 

# 38 During the 

## 19891990 fish 

### seasons there 

### were fish 

### consumption advisories for sections 

### of specific 

### Maine Rivers but 

### no statewide fish advisories 

### Maine issued 

### two ofthe fish advisories forthe first time in the year

### ofthe 

### study These were the 

### main stem ofthe 

### Penobscot River where the 

### Penobscot Nation reservation is located the 

### Androscoggin River 

# 1985 and the 

### Kennebec River 

# 1987 and it issued advisories for the 

### Presumpscot River 

### and West Branch ofthe Sebasticook River in 

### 19902 Impact of Fish Advisories 

### on Fishing 

## Ofthose respondents 

## who were aware ofthe site specific fish advisories

# 20 indicated that they 

### would have fished in additional bodies 

### ofwater if there 

### were no fish 

### consumption advisories 

## see Question 

# 44 Impact of Fish Advisories 

### on Fish 

### Consumption

2 

### Maine 

## DEP testimony to the 

### Maine Legislature April 

## 25 2011 

# p 20 3

### The survey provides evidence that fish advisories affected 

### whether fishers kept 

### and ate their catch 

## see Questions 

### 40 through 

# 42 Ofthose respondents 

## who were aware offish advisories 

### and fished in those waters 

## anyway 

# 82 responded that the fish advisory affected 

### whether they kept the fish the caught there 

## Ofthose

# 80 reported that they kept 

### no fish or

### fewer fish 

### from those waters because ofthe fish 

### consumption advisories 

## Ofthe 

### same group most

# 84 responded that the fish 

### consumption advisory affected 

### whether ornot they actually ate the fish they 

### caught with 

### most ofthem

# 66 saying that they 

### didnt eat the fish caught 

### from those waters at all 

### and the rest adjusting their 

### consumption by eating smallerfish only certain species or other modifications


### Conclusion 

## EPA analysis 

### ofthe 

## ChemRisk survey response data indicates that

# 35 ofrespondents 

## 556 individuals 

### were aware ofthe advisories during the time ofthe 

### survey 

## Ofthe 

### 160 respondents 

## who reported that they ate fish 

### from locations covered 

### by fish 

### consumption advisories

# 82 135 reported that the advisories affected 

### whether they kept the fish caught at those locations 3 It is not clear 

### because the question 

### was not 

### asked whether anglers avoided certain waters in the 

## 19891990 fishing season because ofthe fish advisories 

### and whether that

### avoidance affected their total fish 

### consumption Nonetheless it is clear that the existence ofthe advisories did result in 

## some anglers reducing their take 

### from those rivers



### 4