"ALBANY -- A small, brownish weasel that spends much of its life in the water, hunting for fish and frogs, the American mink is a signal for the ecological health of where it lives.
Right now, the mink is not doing very well along the Hudson River, largely due to decades of PCB pollution from two General Electric plants in Washington County, according to a joint state and federal study released Thursday.
The study found the Hudson River has about 40 percent fewer minks living along it than the ecologically similar Mohawk River, and blamed that disparity on PCB contamination in the minks' diet, which inhibits fertility and increases mortality of young minks. Exposure to PCBs also causes health problems in minks, including jaw lesions and the loss of teeth, the study reported."
Brian Nearing reports for the Albany Times Union November 1, 2018.
