The State - News from Oct. 22, 1987

A report released by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board said PCBs--a dangerous substance sometimes used in electrical equipment--have been discovered in fish that inhabit rivers and streams of Northern California in concentrations that could threaten human health. Robert E. Fujii, a regional water board engineer who headed the team that drafted the report after three years of research, said the Sacramento urban area appears to a major source of the pollution and that an investigation is needed to track down locations where PCBs are escaping. Fish containing PCBs, have been found in the San Joaquin River near Vernalis, but investigators do not know whether the chemicals come from upstream or originate in the Stockton area.