The National Park Service plans to dump a toxic chemical known as rotenone into the Colorado River in northern Arizona in an attempt to kill off invasive smallmouth bass and green sunfish.
According to local media, the "chemical treatment" will begin on August 26, with rotenone to be added to water below the Glen Canyon Dam.
While rotenone has been deemed safe by federal regulators, the environmental impact of its use is apparently serious enough to require the closure of a section of the river, including a local cobble bar area, to people.
The rotenone dump will “be carefully planned and conducted to minimize exposure” to human beings and "desirable fish species," the Department of the Interior-subordinated agency said, adding that an "impermeable fabric barrier" will be set up at the mouth of the closed off area to prevent crossover.
Later, a second chemical will be added to the water to dilute the rotenone.
An identical "chemical treatment" was carried out in the area in September 2022, with the feds citing climate change, a decline in water levels and an increase in river temperatures below the dam for an uptick of smallmouth bass and green sunfish populations, at the expense of the local humpback chub.
The apparently ubiquitous use of rotenone in lakes and rivers across much of the United States has concerned residents and environmental activists alike, who have charged federal authorities with showing little concern for the “long-term impact” of their actions in a bid to improve conditions for hobby fishing.
Multiple books and academic articles have been written about rotenone’s risks, including its record of poisoning wildlife going back to the early 1950s. The chemical agent has high acute toxicity to people, and can cause conjunctivitis, dermatitis, sore throat and congestion among humans if ingested.
On the campaign trail in 2020, Joe Biden promised to be the "greenest president" in US history, with his administration promoting a series of legislation to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for so-called green and climate-friendly initiatives, such as wind and solar power and electric vehicles.
Yet his time in office has also seen a number of major of major environmental disasters – including the September 2022 US terror attack on Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines, which caused the largest man-made methane release in history. The February 2023 chemical train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which pumped thousands of tons of highly toxic chemicals into the atmosphere in a "controlled burn" approved by the feds, also sparked questions about the sincerity of the administration’s "green" priorities, especially after Biden decided to jet off to Kiev for a photo op with Ukraine’s president instead of visiting the Ohio disaster site.