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By Gregory Crofton
Tribune staff writer
The ban on the construction of new piers at Tahoe could be lifted or altered because of a just- released study about toxic chemicals produced by boat motors.
The fear was that a pollutant produced when burning a mixture of gasoline and oil, called PAH, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, is toxic enough to harm Tahoe's fish habitat.
Regulators speculated that high traffic areas for boats, such as a pier, could create high concentrations of PAH and impact areas deemed to be "significant spawning" habitats for fish.
But after more than two years of science and $500,000, scientists have found the chemical does not warrant as much concern as once believed.
"We're not finding any concentrations that cause an effect in localized areas," said Mary Fiore-Wagner, environmental scientist at the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Analysis of the pier ban is also expected to be part of a long-awaited report on Tahoe's shorezone, referred to as the Shorezone Environmental Impact Statement. Due in February, it is expected to say in part that research shows that banning piers to protect fish habitat makes no sense, according to the UC Davis Tahoe Research Group. Standing piers in general enhance fish habitat.
That information coupled with the PAH study could lead to a major change in pier construction policy for the basin by the end of the 2004, said Fiore-Wagner.
Lahontan has had a ban on new piers to protect fish habitat since 1980. The Tahoe Regional Planning has it own new pier prohibition.
Lahontan requested the PAH study after a professor from Ohio detected the chemical. James Orvis of Miami University was out on the lake trying to detect gasoline ingredients like MTBE and benzene in the lake. He found those chemicals, but he also ran into PAH.
The study says PAH levels near shore areas such as the Tahoe Keys Marina continue to be monitored because they are "hot spots" for the chemical. But overall, more work needs to be done to figure out if the toxic substance, which degrades in sunlight in 24 hours, really impacts fisheries.
"There is no question these compounds are toxic - in some places, concentrations are high enough to cause enhanced toxicity," said Glenn Miller, environmental scientist at University of Nevada, Reno, who led the study. "But there is some question whether it represents risks sufficient to cause any regulation."
