Questioning TCEQ's Successful Project To Make It Safe To Fish Again In Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake

That beautiful green waterway you see in the picture is the north end of Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park in Fort Worth, Texas a few months ago.

There are signs all around Fosdic Lake warning fishermen to be wary of fish they catch in Fosdic Lake. As in, don't eat them.

The signs are courtesy of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, more commonly known as TCEQ.

Well, imagine my surprise to find myself contacted by TCEQ, asking permission to use some of my photos for a story TCEQ is writing for an EPA publication about the successful project to make it safe to fish again in Fosdic Lake.

I read that and a big HUH? crossed my mind. What's been done to mitigate the Fosdic Lake pollution that has rendered the fish safe I wondered?

I replied to the message, giving permission to use the photos and asking, "Is it actually true? Fosdic Lake has been upgraded to being safe to eat the fish????"

Below is the first message I got from TCEQ, and below that is the perplexing reply I got to the question asking if it was actually true that the Fosdic fish are no longer deadly....

Hi, Durango,

I work for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Austin, Texas. Our agency is writing a story for an EPA publication about the successful project to make it safe to fish again from Fosdic Lake. Unfortunately, all our good pictures of Fosdic Lake show "no fishing" signs!

You have several nice pictures of the lake posted on your blog site and also at durangotexas.com (a site I am happy to find!). May we use one or two of them? We would be glad to credit you for the photos if you will let us know how you want the credit to appear, and whether you want us to note them as copyrighted or not. 

If you give permission, we will let you know which specific pictures we might use. I'm currently favoring these:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdm_X4wx2PlSDq8TmXOUIg8lRN1U9RD31TLPBX5xU3ryvoG0bDV92eWvPJwBEPqA6CKBaCuN-JmqPECdNVP7C_FDL26H1qnRN1l0tRDRkERhuQGmvPvaosZoINvJ13_5CExnI8P9Y5nls/s1600/Fosdic+Lake.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PRn2JUJEWchNAg9kvvdQw2VMevuXp1tl4vLLZBZ4mI-WZ468H50WIrqgcPgaIkQOzciszf1alVnNdjUMWn1AIjQkxPL63OQHyzCX4aBbcGFP9dWMKCDjuiiHLe145TI19x70XUyswBE/s1600-h/Fosdic+Ducks.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPVIG_obTt1uI-YxDtcq0PRvEluIx6Fnt5K1Wd3yzEZ3BKJjf9UZdkU9H9pJNbVvRcavvxR8CisdLTWK69af3g-kPRNIxg8o2WMXaPS3zxUXdAYnyYA5vnxT4VKbe9GmYFlmZkRepxWKw/s1600/Oakland+Fosdic+Lake.jpg

http://www.durangotexas.com/eyesontexas/fortworth/oaklandlakeparkfiles/oaklandlakepark2.jpg

Please advise as by 1/7/11 or soonest convenient for you. Thanks very much for your time and for considering our request. 

BTW, it is nice to know that somebody else in Texas does not like the Cowboys ;-)

--Louanne Jones 

So, like I already said, I replied, giving permission to use the photos and asking the question about Fosdic Lake. To that I got the following reply, telling me that Ms. Jones is out of the office and wishing me a Happy New Year...

This is an automatic reply to your message.
I am out of the office from December 24, 2010 through January 2, 2011.

Please contact one of the following people if you require assistance in my absence. 

Public inquiries: 
Gail Rothe, grothe@tceq.state.tx.us, 512-239-4617

Water Web pages: 
E-mail the contact e-mail address on the Web page of interest.

Communications Coordination tasks: 
ac@tceq.state.tx.us. 

Please direct all other inquiries to my manager, 
Ronald Stein, rstein@tceq.state.tx.us, 512-239-4507.

Happy New Year!
--Louanne Jones

So, if Ms. Jones is out of the office, who is it who asked to use some of my photos to embellish something being sent to the EPA about the supposedly successful project that has returned the Fosdic Lake fish to relative safety?

And if TCEQ is writing a story for an EPA publication about the successful Fosdic Lake Restoration, but can't find any photos, but mine, without those vexing "NO FISHING" signs, why does TCEQ not take down the signs if they are no longer relevant?

It is all very perplexing.

UPDATE: Ms. Jones later got back to me, and put an end, for the most part, to what was perplexing. Below is the message........

Thank you for permission to use your photos! We will use one of the credit lines following, depending on which photos we use. 

Photograph© courtesy of durangotexas.blogspot.com or Photograph© courtesy of durangotexas.com

Sorry, my statement to you about the safety of fish consumption was a trifle imprecise. The consumption advisory has been lifted for all species except for common carp. 

The DSHS recommends adults and children 12 and older eat no more than two 8-ounce servings of carp per month. Children under 12 should eat no more than two 4-ounce servings per month. Women who are or might become pregnant and women who are nursing should not eat any carp from the lake. 

Sadly, there is often a long lag time between consumption advisories and posting of signs. The state Department of State Health Services (DSHS) issues the advisories but counties are responsible for posting signs. Though the advisories are usually up-to-date on the Web, the Internet is still not readily available to many folks. 

Thanks again, 
Louanne