High levels of dangerous chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, have been detected in the fish and sediment in the Milwaukee River and Lincoln Creek for years, but progress in cleaning the waterways has proceeded at a glacial pace.

The discovery of the contamination has been an "evolutionary" process, according to Ted Bosch, spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He said the DNR has known about fish contamination since the 1970s and about the sediment contamination since the mid-1990s.

"A U.S. geological survey completed in 1999 identified Lincoln Park as the most highly contaminated area in the Milwaukee basin," Bosch said.

When asked, Bosch could not give a clear answer as to why cleaning up the waterways has taken so long.

PCBs are manmade substances used as coolants and lubricants that were banned from the manufacturing industry in 1977, said Stephanie Marquis, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs can cause cancer and other adverse health effects.

Marquis said infants, children and women who are of childbearing age or are pregnant are most at risk for PCB contamination.

PCBs can only contaminate the body if they are ingested, but people should also be careful walking and wading into the riverbed, Marquis said.

Marquis said the Department of Health and Family Services and the DNR have collaborated on deciding which fish from the contaminated areas people should avoid eating and how to properly consume the fish that can be eaten.

"Our most important message is that people cut away the fatty tissue and cook away the fat, either through broiling or grilling, to avoid contamination," she said.

People should limit the amount and type of fish they are eating from the contaminated area, Marquis said.

Walleye are becoming the most common fish found in the Milwaukee River, as they are in the process of being restocked.

Brad Eggold, southern Lake Michigan fisheries supervisor for the DNR, said the DNR has been stocking walleye in the Milwaukee River to restore a native species as well as to try to improve the river's ecosystem.

"Part of our mission is to restore a native fish species to the river," Eggold said. "Walleye were present in the river historically."

According to Eggold, the majority of PCB contamination is north of where the walleye are being stocked, which is below the former North Avenue Dam on the Milwaukee River.

"Like any fish from Lake Michigan, the walleye can move upriver to the contaminated areas," he said.

The DNR does a regular rotation of testing on walleye, salmon and trout to determine the levels of PCBs in those species, Eggold said.

According to Rosemary Wehnes, the conservation organizer for the Sierra Club in Milwaukee, the PCB contamination above and around the North Avenue Dam flowed downstream into the Milwaukee Harbor when the dam was removed.

"Instead of putting money into stocking walleye in the contaminated area, the DNR should put plans forward to clean up the contamination," Wehnes said.

The DNR has contacted the EPA for emergency funding to clean up the river, Bosch said.

Bosch said the forecasted cost of the cleanup is $36.1 million.

Cheri Briscoe, chair of the Sierra Club in Milwaukee, said the Sierra Club is aware of the situation in the Milwaukee River.

She said she is concerned with cleaning efforts because of an incident in which the DNR tried to clean up the Fox River in Waukesha but ended up doing what she said was more harm than good.

"Environmentalists were upset because the contaminated sediment had been settled for so long that when they started digging it up it stirred up things and caused more damage," Briscoe said.

Wehnes said the only viable way to clean up the river is to remove the contaminated sediment.

"There are ways to keep contaminated sediment from washing downstream," she said. "Newer technology can help guarantee a safer process."

Wehnes said because many of the companies responsible for the contamination are no longer in business, funding for cleaning up the river will not be an easy task.

"It's tragic that there's contamination in the first place to the great extent that there is," Wehnes said. "It's now impossible to trace the companies responsible for the contamination because many of them are gone."

Marquis said 171 signs were ordered by the Department of Health and Family Services to warn the public about PCB contamination near Lincoln Park, 1301 W. Hampton Ave.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 11, 2005.