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EPD: Ogeechee fish OK to eat
But cause of 'stress' for fish kill still unknown
FISH KILL file for Web
In this photo from last week, Ogeechee Riverkeeper director Diana Wedincamp collects a dead fish on the Ogeechee River near U.S. 301. The EPD said fish caught from the river is now OK to eat. - photo by SCOTT BRYANT/file
It’s safe to eat fish caught from the Ogeechee River, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division said Friday. The announcement came a week after a ban was lifted on swimming in the river, and two weeks after a massive fish kill left thousands of dead fish on the banks of the south Georgia blackwater river. Tests on fish tissue conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found no reason to avoid consuming fish caught from the river, said Kevin Chambers, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources EPD. Earlier tests found the fish died from a severe outbreak of columnaris, a bacteria caused by “environmental stress.”
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