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Sam Penrod reportingLast night we told you of a plan by state officials to remove millions of carp from Utah Lake and possibly send them to Iraq to benefit starving people. But Eyewitness News discovered today that part of that plan has suddenly run into two big problems.
First of all, it turns out the man who wanted to market the harvested carp out of the lake and sell them overseas is under federal investigation in Minnesota for operating a similar plan that has been called a scam by prosecutors.
Also, an environmental group here in Utah plans to fight the plan over concerns the fish are too contaminated with PCBs to even eat.
The big issue in Utah Lake really is an overabundance of carp that dominate over other species in the lake. Plans to re-introduce the native and endangered June sucker to the lake requires the carp to be thinned out so the June sucker can have a chance at survival.
State officials had hoped to not only remove the carp from the lake, but also find a use for them. One idea was to sell them to eat or donate them to third-world countries, but with a warning already existing about eating fish taken from the Utah Lake, opponents are speaking out.
"It's really not a goodwill type of gesture. It doesn't seem to be all that humanitarian. It's actually dangerous, and we should be liable and responsible for the products that we pollute, and we should clean these carp up before we send them overseas or to anybody," said Jeff Salt, spokesman for the Great Salt Lake Keeper.
Another problem is with Matthew Powell from Minnesota, whom Utah officials have been working with to market the carp taken from the lake. He is under federal investigation in that state, but today the director of the Utah June Sucker Recovery program said their priority and focus is removing the carp from the lake and it's considered a bonus if the carp are utilized.
Either way, the problem of carp in Utah Lake isn't an easy one to solve and now faces more complications.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
