Might ammonia be cause of Chinook crash?
SACRAMENTO — Ammonia created as a byproduct of human waste may be causing significant damage to the ecosystem around Sacramento, Calif., scientists say. San Francisco University oceanographer Richard Dugdale said the ammonia likely is from human urine and feces treated at the city’s regional sewage treatment plant, The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee reported Sunday. Working with researchers at the university’s Romberg Tiburon marine laboratory, Dugdale said initial evidence points toward ammonia being a vital factor in the collapse of Delta fish populations. “We’re not going out on the edge to say this is the whole answer,” Dugdale said. “But we think it’s part of the reason for the decline in (ecological) productivity.” It would cost the city as much as $1 billion to adequately remove the ammonia from Sacramento’s wastewater, Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District officials say. The Bee said to facilitate the cost of such precautionary methods, residents in the Sacramento region wou
