LAKEPORT – On April 14, Dr. Tom Suchanek from U.C. Davis and the U.S. Geological Survey will present the results of a long-term interdisciplinary study of mercury cycling and bioaccumulation in Clear Lake to the Lake County Board of Supervisors.

The presentation is scheduled to take place at 9:30 a.m. during the board meeting, which will take place in the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

This presentation will be the culmination of over 15 years of study by about 30 scientists from U.C. Davis and other academic institutions as well as from federal, state, and local governments on the sources, transformation, transport, burial, bioaccumulation and effects of mercury on Clear Lake’s water, sediments, benthic (bottom) invertebrates, plankton, fish, birds and humans.

A primary focus of the Special Issue and the presentation will be the influence of the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund Site as a source of mercury in Clear Lake, as compared with other mercury-contaminated sites worldwide.

The results of these studies were published recently (December 2008) as a 300-page special issue of the highly regarded peer-reviewed scientific journal Ecological Applications that is distributed to ecologists and other scientists throughout the United States and the world.

This study represents the first holistic ecosystem-level study of mercury cycling and bioaccumulation derived from mining sources, as opposed to atmospheric deposition.

The 17 individual publications in this special issue may be accessed and downloaded as PDF files for free at the following Web site, www.esajournals.org/toc/ecap/18/sp8.

Results from an additional follow-on paper published in 2009 by Suchanek and others in the peer-reviewed journal Water, Air and Soil Pollution, that provides a mass-balance mercury budget for the lake (quantifying the inputs, outputs and storage components of mercury within the Clear Lake aquatic ecosystem), will also be presented.

The presentation will be held on April 14 during the Board of Supervisors Chambers (1st floor) of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 North Forbes Street, Lakeport, CA 95453.

A follow-on reception by Drs. Tom Suchanek and Peter Richerson will be held in the Lakeport Museum (second floor conference room) from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Entrance to the Museum on April 14 will be through the stairs at the rear of the building, which is directly across the street from the Courthouse. Several of the other authors of the papers in the Special Issue are also  expected to be present as well.

Questions regarding the presentation and reception may be directed to Dr. Tom Suchanek (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or via telephone 916-919-0859.