When last we left them, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish and Boat Commission were publicly sparring over the definition of “impaired.”

Some things just don’t change. It seems the two state agencies are still playing in the kiddie river.

A smallmouth bass collected from the Susquehanna River near Selinsgrove displays the black spots that have anglers concerned.PA FISH & BOAT COMMISSION PHOTO

Commission Executive Director John Arwary has spent almost a year calling for DEP to declare98 miles of the lower Susquehanna River impaired under the Federal Clean Water Act.

He points to the plunging population of smallmouth bassin the river from Sunbury to the Holtwood Dam as his evidence. Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

During that time, DEP Secretary Mike Krancer has said the commission’s concerns — young-of-year die offs, lesions on adult bass and inter-sexing of the species — are real and being actively studied by DEP experts.       Full Story………