toxaphene, as well as smaller quantities of other i ns ecticides. The manager of the plant
admitte d that qua ntities of powde red ins ecticide had been was hed into the s torm s ewer
recently and, more s ignificantly, he acknowledged that s uch dis pos al of ins ecticide s pillage and
res idues had been common practice for the pas t 10 years. On s earching furthe r, the fis hery
officers found othe r plants whe re rains or ordina ry clean-up wate rs would carry insecticides
into the s ewer. The fact that provided the final link in the chain, however, was the dis covery
that a few days before the water in lake and river became lethal to fish the entire storm-sewer
s ys tem had been flus hed out with s everal million gallons of water under high pressure to clear
it of debris. This flus hing had undoubte dly releas ed ins ecticides lodged in the accumulation of
gravel, sand, and rubble and carried them into the lake and the nce to the river, whe re chemical
tests later established their presence. As the lethal mass drifted down the Colorado it carried
death before it. For 140 miles downstream from the lake the kill of fis h mus t have been almos t
complete, for when s eines were us ed later in an effort to dis cover whether any fis h had
es caped they came up empty. Dead fis h of 27 s pecies were obs erved, totaling about 1000
pounds to a mile of riverbank. There were channel cats, the chief game fish of the river. There
were blue a nd flathead catfis h, bullheads , four s pecies of s unfis h, s hiners , dace, s tone rollers ,
largemouth bas s , carp, mullet, s uckers. There were eels , gar, carp, river carps ucke rs , gizzard
s had, and buffalo. Among them we re s ome of the patriarchs of the river, fis h that by their s ize
mus t have been of great age—many flathead catfis h weighing over 25 pounds , s ome of 60
pounds reportedly picked up by local residents along the river, and a giant blue catfish officially
recorded as weighing 84 pounds. The Game and Fis h Commis s ion predicted that eve n without
further polluti on the patte rn of the fis h population of the river wo uld be altered for years.
Some species—those existing at the limits of their natural range—might never be able to re -
es tablis h thems elves , and the othe rs could do s o only with the aid of extens ive s tocking
operati ons by the s tate. This much of the Aus tin fis h dis as ter is known, but there was almost
certainly a sequel. The toxic river water was still poss ess ed of its death-dealing power after
pas sing more than 200 miles downs tream. It was regarded as too dangerous to be admitted to
the waters of Matagorda Bay, with its oyster beds and s hrimp fis heries , and s o the whole toxic
outflow was diverted to the waters of the open Gulf. What were its effects there? And what of
the outflow of s cores of other rive rs , carrying contaminants perhaps equally lethal?
At pres ent our ans wers to thes e ques tions are for the mos t part only conjectures , but the re is
growing concern about the role of pesticide pollution in estuaries, salt marshes, bays, and other
coastal waters. Not only do these areas receive the contaminated discharge of rivers but all too
commonly they are s prayed direc tly in efforts to control mos quitoes or othe r insects.
Nowhere has the effect of pesticides on the life of salt marshes, estuaries, and all quiet inlets
from the sea been more graphically demons trated than on the eas tern coas t of Florida, in the
Indian River country. There, in the s pring of 1955, some 2000 acres of salt marsh in St. Lucie
County were treated with dieldrin in an attempt to eliminate the larvae of the s andfly. The
concentration us ed was one pound of active ingredient to the acre. The effect on the life of the
waters was catas trophic. Scientis ts from the E ntomology Res earch Center of the State Board of
Health surveyed the carnage after the spraying and reported that the fish kill was ‘substantially
complete’. Everywhe re dead fis hes littered the s hores. From the air s harks could be s een
movi ng in, attracted by the helples s and dying fis hes in the water. No s pecies was s pared.
Amo ng the dead were mullets , s nook, moja rras , gambus ia.
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