Toxic PCB levels soar above norm in St. Lawrence Natives
TESTS: Old military bases are the suspected cause of the pollution.

By Tom Kizzia, Anchorage Daily News

Published: October 3, 2002

Native hunting and fishing families who camp near a Cold
War Air Force site on St. Lawrence Island have nearly 10
times as many toxic PCBs in their blood as average Americans,
according to a new study released Wednesday in Anchorage.

The Northeast Cape military base closed in the early 1970s,
but families from Savoonga who use the area showed very high
contamination in blood tests taken a year ago, according
to the study prepared by Alaska Community Action on Toxics,
an environmental group working with St. Lawrence leaders
under a federal environmental health grant.

Overall, Natives of Gambell and Savoonga, the two communities
on the Bering Sea island, averaged 7.5 parts per billion
of PCBs in their blood, compared with a national average
of 0.9-1.5, according to the study. A former Army base in
Gambell is also suspected of being a source of pollution,
the group said.

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