Environment Massachusetts
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Clean Air, Healthy Families
The Haverhill Gazette
Thursday, February 3, 2011

Catch and release: State issues fish health warning

By
Ross Marrinson

Fish caught in the city's drinking water supply are not fit for human consumption, according to a warning from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Area lakes, ponds and waterways are contaminated by mercury, which is toxic to the human nervous system, according to a report released by watchdog agency Environment Massachusetts. Several river and lake systems have been contaminated by coal-fired power plants.  The mercury from those plants builds up in the fatty tissue in fish.