One fish. Nine miles upstream from Vermont Yankee. Lots of fish right in front of the plant were caught and analyzed, but a single fish in Brattleboro is the only one found to have strontium-90 in its edible portions - and non-dangerous levels at that.
But because of that one fish with an inconsequential amount of strontium-90 in its meat, and flying in the face of the expert opinion of the state's radiation chief and the state health commissioner, Gov. Peter Shumlin announces he wouldn't eat a fish caught in the Connecticut River near Vermont Yankee.
And he wouldn't suggest anyone else eat one, either.
And he blames Vermont Yankee, as he always does.
I see two victims here of the governor's unnecessary, unsubstantiated, reckless - and wrong - assumptions.
The first victims are the people who earn a living from fishing and tourism in the tri-state area of the Connecticut River. To the extent that vacationers and tourism professionals take his “I wouldn't eat the fish” comments seriously, they will avoid the river. If they had heard the state's health professionals say “No, no, really, it's safe,” they might be reassured.
The second victim is the process of setting policies based on facts. As long as the chief executive of our state speaks first, listens second, and thinks third, Vermont will never have a fact-based approach to energy or environmental protection, and our lives will be the worse for it.