Pesticides and Fertilizers are Wreaking Havoc on the lobster and fish of the Norwalk River Watershed

Death downstream

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Pollutants like fertilizers, pesticides and heavy metals are often attached to soil particles and wash into the water bodies, causing algae blooms and depleted oxygen, which is deadly to most aquatic life.”The DEP recorded several unexplained fish kills in Norwalk Harbor, which is at the mouth of the Norwalk River. The largest occurred two years ago when more than a million fish died in the harbor.“When we went out to check the health of the harbor, we found just 70 juvenile bottom-feeding fish,” Mr. Harris said. “Normally, we would expect to find between 300 and 400.”At the same time, Long Island Sound experienced a massive lobster die-off in the late 1990s. The die-off gutted a $26 million industry. Once more, science could not find any one main cause, although pollution from the Norwalk River is among the suspected reasons, especially pollution from untreated runoff.“We’re still scratching our heads about the lobster die-off,” Mr. Dunbar at the DEP said. “We know the issues of water quality played a big role, but we don’t how.”In addition to fertilizer and parking lot runoff, a 2006 DEP report found high levels of pesticides in the river. Some came from land owners while others were the result of towns’ attempts to control mosquitoes. “Lab studies revealed lobsters are considerably more sensitive to the effects of (pesticide) than any other freshwater fish and aquatic invertebrates previously tested,” the report said.

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