Situation Report: Heavy DDT Contamination At Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
A DDT manufacturin/!; plant that operated on the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama dischar/!;ed DDT-laden effluent from 1947 to 1970 into a creek on Wheeler National Wildlife Refu/!;e. Seven to 9 years after the plant closed, high DDT, DDE, and DDD levels were reported in soils, river sediments, and fish in the area. Eleven of 27 mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) collected on the Refu/!;e during February 1979 had carcass DDE residues that exceeded levels associated with e/!;gshell thinning. DDE residues in a smaller number of mallards exceeded levels associated with egg breakage, poor...
