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47-686: The 7.9-mile-long (12.7 km) main branch of the Shabakunk Creek is born near what was once known as Twin Pine Airport in Hopewell Township . Flowing southwards, it flows under Pennington-Lawrenceville Road and then passes underneath Interstate 295 , joining with the East Main Branch, which also originates in close proximity to the former Twin Pines Airport . After joining together with

94-554: A half-life in human blood of about 50 days. Several studies indicate that methylmercury is linked to subtle developmental deficits in children exposed in utero such as loss of IQ points, and decreased performance in tests of language skills, memory function and attention deficits. Methylmercury exposure in adults has also been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease including heart attack . Some evidence also suggests that methylmercury can cause autoimmune effects in sensitive individuals. Despite some concerns about

141-429: A public recreational area . Numerous studies and reports by various Federal, State of New Jersey and Local governments, as well as a number of universities and independent researchers' work, have continuously found over the years, up to the current round of reporting, that all branches of the Shabakunk Creek have medium to high levels of mercury and methylmercury . These reports and studies include annual publications by

188-429: A 2,200 x 100 ft (671 x 30 m) turf surface. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 12,000 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 32 per day. At that time there were 15 aircraft based at this airport: 73% single- engine , 7% multi-engine and 20% ultralight . The airport had a single grass runway and was considered historic. It was home to many aircraft in its years, such as

235-450: A given species of fish, older and larger fish have higher levels of methylmercury than smaller fish. Fish that develop in water bodies that are more acidic also tend to have higher levels of methylmercury. Ingested methylmercury is readily and completely absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract . It is mostly found complexed with free cysteine and with proteins and peptides containing that amino acid. The methylmercuric-cysteinyl complex

282-830: A good source of nutrition and has significant health benefits, but that consumers, in particular pregnant women, women of child-bearing age, nursing mothers, and young children, should avoid fish with high levels of methylmercury, limit their intake of fish with moderate levels of methylmercury, and consume fish with low levels of methylmercury no more than twice a week. In recent years, there has been increasing recognition that methylmercury affects fish and wildlife health, both in acutely polluted ecosystems and ecosystems with modest methylmercury levels. Two reviews document numerous studies of diminished reproductive success of fish, fish-eating birds, and mammals due to methylmercury contamination in aquatic ecosystems. Reported methylmercury levels in fish, along with fish consumption advisories, have

329-471: A result of mercury released from the mercury-cell Chloralkali process , which uses liquid mercury as an electrode in a process that entails electrolytic decomposition of brine, followed by mercury methylation in the aquatic environment. An acute methylmercury poisoning tragedy occurred also in Minamata, Japan , following release of methylmercury into Minamata Bay and its tributaries (see Minamata disease ). In

376-532: A third tributary, the Main Branch continues southward into Ewing , crosses underneath Bull Run Road and Ewingville Road , and enters the 11-acre Lake Sylva on the campus of The College of New Jersey . Below Lake Sylva, the Shabakunk flows southeastward, passing under Green Lane and then Ewingville Road for a second time. For a short distance it forms the border of Ewing and Lawrence townships before joining with

423-627: Is composed of a methyl group bonded to an atom of mercury . Its chemical formula is CH 3 Hg (sometimes written as MeHg ).The Methylmercury compound has an overall charge of +1, with Hg in the +2 oxidation state . Methylmercury exists as a substituent in many complexes of the type [MeHgL] (L = Lewis base) and MeHgX (X = anion). As a positively charged ion, it readily combines with anions such as chloride ( Cl ), hydroxide ( OH ) and nitrate ( NO − 3 ). It has particular affinity for sulfur -containing anions, particularly thiols ( RS ). Thiols are generated when

470-523: Is currently focused on more subtle effects that may be linked to levels of exposure presently seen in populations with high to moderate levels of dietary fish consumption. These effects are not necessarily identifiable on an individual level or may not be uniquely recognizable as due to methylmercury. However, such effects may be detected by comparing populations with different levels of exposure. There are isolated reports of various clinical health effects in individuals who consume large amounts of fish; however,

517-421: Is extremely toxic, and its derivatives are the major source of organic mercury for humans. It is a bioaccumulative environmental toxicant with a 50-day half-life . Methylmercury is the causative agent of the infamous Minamata disease . "Methylmercury" is a shorthand for the hypothetical "methylmercury cation", sometimes written methylmercury(1+) cation or methylmercury(II) cation . This functional group

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564-583: Is only a trace constituent of such fuels, their large scale combustion in utility and commercial/industrial boilers in the United States alone results in release of some 80.2 tons (73 metric tons ) of elemental mercury to the atmosphere each year, out of total anthropogenic mercury emissions in the United States of 158 tons (144 metric tons)/year. In the past, methylmercury was produced directly and indirectly as part of several industrial processes such as

611-423: Is recognized by amino acids transporting proteins in the body as methionine , another essential amino acid . Because of this mimicry, it is transported freely throughout the body including across the blood–brain barrier and across the placenta , where it is absorbed by the developing fetus . Also for this reason as well as its strong binding to proteins, methylmercury is not readily eliminated. Methylmercury has

658-448: The amino acid cysteine and the peptide glutathione form strong complexes with methylmercury: Methylmercury is formed from inorganic mercury by the action of microbes that live in aquatic systems including lakes , rivers , wetlands , sediments , soils and the open ocean . This methylmercury production has been primarily attributed to anaerobic bacteria in the sediment. Capable bacteria that can methylate mercury are mostly

705-427: The central business district of Pennington , in Hopewell Township , Mercer County , New Jersey , United States . The airport was established in 1945 and is an example of a municipal government's desire to appropriate property for its own use using taxation methods as an alternative to eminent domain . Twin Pine Airport covered an area of 52 acres (21  ha ) and contained one runway designated 12/30 with

752-449: The sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), iron-reducing bacteria (FeRB) and methanogens . Significant concentrations of methylmercury in ocean water columns are strongly associated with nutrients and organic matter remineralization , which indicate that remineralization may contribute to methylmercury production. Direct measurements of methylmercury production using stable mercury isotopes have also been observed in marine waters, but

799-590: The Ontario case, inorganic mercury discharged into the environment was methylated in the environment; whereas, in Minamata, Japan, there was direct industrial discharge of methylmercury. Because methylmercury is formed in aquatic systems, and because it is not readily eliminated from organisms, it is biomagnified in aquatic food chains from bacteria , to plankton , through macroinvertebrates , to herbivorous fish and to piscivorous (fish-eating) fish. At each step in

846-861: The Shabakunk Creek emerges from the airfield of Trenton-Mercer Airport in Ewing. From there, it flows generally southeastward, quickly joining with several small, unnamed tributaries while passing underneath the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad (formerly owned by the Reading Railroad , now owned by Conrail ), Scotch Road and Upper Ferry Road . It then passes underneath Carlton Avenue, Lower Ferry Road , Stratford Avenue, Central Avenue, North Olden Avenue Extension , Pennington Road , Parkside Avenue and Prospect Street . At this point, it turns northeasterly, passes under North Olden Avenue Extension again and finally flows underneath Spruce Street . Shortly thereafter it meets

893-461: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), have issued guidance for fish consumers that is designed to limit methylmercury exposure from fish consumption. At present, most of this guidance is based on protection of the developing fetus; future guidance, however, may also address cardiovascular risk. In general, fish consumption advice attempts to convey the message that fish is

940-699: The United States Environmental Protection Agency, The United States Department of the Interior, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Ground water contamination from the Twin Pines Airport's leaking underground tanks and burying of petroleum and industrial fluid wastes are seen as being the main source of the high levels of mercury and methylmercury, as well as other heavy metals, that have been measured in

987-722: The West Branch Shabakunk Creek, turning eastward and completely entering Lawrence. After passing underneath Lawrence Road , Princeton Pike and Brunswick Pike , the stream is impounded within Colonial Lake . Below Colonial Lake, the stream crosses underneath the Trenton Freeway and the Delaware and Raritan Canal before finally reaching its terminus at the Assunpink Creek. The 5.3-mile-long (8.5 km) West Branch of

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1034-536: The airport and turn it into athletic fields. The airport's official closing ceremony was held on April 6, 2008. EAA Chapter 176 was based at Twin Pine and is planning a fly-by celebration for the airfield. After the last aircraft left, artificial turf soccer fields called the Twin Pines Athletic Complex were constructed funded by the towns that purchased the property. A museum detailing the airport's history

1081-485: The airport to dump cans and containers filled with changed-out oil and other aviation fluids, into holes and ditches that were dug both on the Airport's premises and across Lawrenceville-Pennington Road, in or near the fields where the sources springs and marshy areas of the East Main Branch of the Shabakunk Creek originated. As of 2023, the area previously occupied by the Twin Pines Airport has for many years been repurposed as

1128-496: The cleanup and repair of damage. As a result, a $ 4.2 million flood and erosion control project was initiated to stabilize the banks and create storm water detention basins along the more heavily developed central and southern portions of the creek's course. All three of the tributaries of the Main Branch of the Shabakunk have their sources close to the contaminated lands of the Twin Pines Airport. Opened sometime before 1945, Twin Pines

1175-481: The contaminated lands of the Airport where solid wastes, including, according to local residents, cans and containers that had been used to store oil, lubricants, transmission fluid, solvents, and other industrial fluids, had been dumped. Long-term residents living in the immediate area reported to independent river keepers who were monitoring the Creek's high mercury levels, that it had been the long-term practice of workers at

1222-411: The distributed mercury depositional input is from current anthropogenic sources, and 70% is from natural sources. The natural sources category includes re-emission of mercury previously deposited from anthropogenic sources. According to one study, based on modeled concentrations, pre- Anthropocene tissue-bound levels in freshwater fish may not have differed markedly from current levels. However, based on

1269-554: The dumping of industrial waste that resulted in the pollution and subsequent mass poisoning in Minamata and Niigata , Japan and the situation in Iraq in the 1960s and 1970s in which wheat treated with methylmercury as a preservative and intended as seed grain was fed to animals and directly consumed by people (see Basra poison grain disaster ). These episodes resulted in neurological symptoms including paresthesias , loss of physical coordination, difficulty in speech , narrowing of

1316-447: The famed Boeing 450 Stearman, nicknamed the "Red Baron", which regularly gave rides in and out of the airstrip. Charles Lindbergh frequented the airport during the time he lived at Highfields . In more recent years, some aircraft were left at the airport after its closure. These include a Cessna 150, a Varga Kachina, a Citabria, a Mooney M20C, and a Cessna 310. Twin Pine Airport had been owned by William Weasner since 1956. The property

1363-447: The fish and bed sediments of the upper reaches of the Main Branch and of the Shabakunk Creek and its three tributaries which originate on or in close proximity to the contaminated lands of the Twin Pines Airport and the adjoining fields across Lawrenceville-Pennington Road. A study of the Main Branch of the Shabakunk, including testing of its upper tributaries found levels of mercury and methylmercury that were five and ten times higher than

1410-528: The food chain, the concentration of methylmercury in the organism increases. The concentration of methylmercury in the top-level aquatic predators can reach a level a million times higher than the level in the water. This is because methylmercury has a half-life of about 72 days in aquatic organisms resulting in its bioaccumulation within these food chains. Organisms, including humans, fish-eating birds, and fish-eating mammals such as otters and cetaceans (i.e. whales and dolphins ) that consume fish from

1457-535: The main branch at the Ewing/Lawrence border. Much of the West Branch Shabakunk Creek's course between Pennington Road and Spruce Street is canalized due to heavy commercial development, with at least one structure built directly over the stream. Under the command of Colonel Edward Hand , a successful delaying action was fought at the Shabakunk Creek near Lawrence Road which prevented British forces from reaching Trenton before nightfall on January 2, 1777. This skirmish

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1504-695: The manufacture of acetaldehyde . However, currently there are few direct anthropogenic sources of methylmercury pollution in the United States. Whole-lake ecosystem experiments at IISD-ELA in Ontario , Canada, showed that mercury falling directly on a lake had the fastest impacts on aquatic ecosystems as opposed to mercury falling on the surrounding land. This inorganic mercury is converted to methylmercury by bacteria. Different stable isotopes of mercury were added to lakes, wetlands , and uplands , simulating rain, and then mercury concentrations in fish were analyzed to find their source. The mercury applied to lakes

1551-493: The microbes involved are still unknown. Increased methylmercury concentrations in water and fish have been detected after flooding of soils associated with reservoir creation (e.g. for hydroelectric power generation ) and in thermokarst wetlands that form after permafrost thaw. The increased methylmercury concentration is due to its ability to bio-accumulate and biο-magnify in aquatic food webs. There are various sources of inorganic mercury that may indirectly contribute to

1598-519: The potential to disrupt people's eating habits, fishing traditions, and the livelihoods of the people involved in the capture, distribution, and preparation of fish as a foodstuff for humans. Furthermore, proposed limits on mercury emissions have the potential to add costly pollution controls on coal-fired utility boilers. Nevertheless, substantial benefits can be achieved globally by introducing mercury emission reduction measures because they reduce human and wildlife exposure to methylmercury. About 30% of

1645-419: The production of methylmercury from microbes in the environment. Natural sources of mercury released to the atmosphere include volcanoes , forest fires , volatilization from the ocean and weathering of mercury-bearing rocks . Anthropogenic sources of mercury include the burning of wastes containing inorganic mercury and from the burning of fossil fuels , particularly coal . Although inorganic mercury

1692-718: The relationship between methylmercury exposure and autism, there are few data that support such a link. Although there is no doubt that methylmercury is toxic in several respects, including through exposure of the developing fetus, there is still some controversy as to the levels of methylmercury in the diet that can result in adverse effects. Recent evidence suggests that the developmental and cardiovascular toxicity of methylmercury may be mitigated by co-exposures to omega-3 fatty acids and perhaps selenium , both found in fish and elsewhere. There have been several episodes in which large numbers of people were severely poisoned by food contaminated with high levels of methylmercury, notably

1739-703: The specific health effects and exposure patterns have not been verified with larger, controlled studies. Many governmental agencies, the most notable ones being the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada , and the European Union Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General , as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) and

1786-647: The top of the aquatic food chain receive the methylmercury that has accumulated through this process, plus the toxins in their habitat. Fish and other aquatic species are the main source of human methylmercury exposure. The concentration of mercury in any given fish depends on the species of fish, the age and size of the fish and the type of water body in which it is found. In general, fish-eating fish such as shark , swordfish , marlin , larger species of tuna , walleye , largemouth bass , and northern pike , have higher levels of methylmercury than herbivorous fish or smaller fish such as tilapia and herring . Within

1833-611: The upper ranges of allowable Federal Government levels, as was reported in a study of the Shabakunk Creek's mercury levels by the United States Department of the Interior. Twin Pine Airport Twin Pine Airport ( FAA LID : N75 ), originally called the Pennington Airport, was a privately owned public-use airport located on Pennington-Lawrenceville Road three miles (4.8 km) southeast of

1880-406: The visual field , hearing impairment , blindness , and death. Children who had been exposed in utero through their mothers' ingestion were also affected with a range of symptoms including motor difficulties, sensory problems and intellectual disability . At present, exposures of this magnitude are rarely seen and are confined to isolated incidents. Accordingly, concern over methylmercury pollution

1927-458: Was also expected to be constructed. The last remaining hangar at the airport was demolished in September 2015. As of 2015, the owners alleged they had not received the total funds from the municipalities. Methylmercury Methylmercury (sometimes methyl mercury ) is an organometallic cation with the formula [CH 3 Hg] . It is the simplest organomercury compound. Methylmercury

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1974-693: Was an active regional airport for over 63 years, being open until 2008. For many decades the airport was extremely active, having dozens of planes stationed there, while hundreds of takeoffs and landings were recorded each week, for many years exceeding 100 per day. Although the Airport had a grass airstrip and its hangars and shops were one story wood plank structures, Twin Pines was a full service facility, offering complete maintenance services to its clients and visiting flyers, including oil and transmission fluid changes, lubrication and cleaning programs, as well as having three underground tanks, two for oil products and one for aviation fuel. In 2008, as Hopewell Township

2021-438: Was determined that all three of the tanks had been leaking their contents into the ground on a long-term basis, and the underground plume of the leaked oil and aviation fuel was projected to have reached the grounds across Lawrenceville-Pennington Road, where the headwaters of the East Main Branch of the Shabakunk lay. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's inspection also determined that there were multiple sites on

2068-489: Was found in young-of-the-year yellow perch within two months, whereas the mercury applied to wetlands and uplands had a slower but longer influx. Acute methylmercury poisoning can occur either directly from the release of methylmercury into the environment or indirectly from the release of inorganic mercury that is subsequently methylated in the environment. For example, methylmercury poisoning occurred at Grassy Narrows in Ontario, Canada (see Ontario Minamata disease ), as

2115-427: Was in the process of negotiating to buy all of the lands of Twin Pines, an environmental inspection by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection determined that much of the land of the Airport, especially areas bordering Lawrenceville-Pennington Road, where the Airport's hangars, workshops, and offices were located, were contaminated due to leakage from three underground petroleum product tanks. Upon removal it

2162-475: Was part of the Second Battle of Trenton . On June 12, 1996, a 100-year flash flood occurred on the West Branch Shabakunk Creek in Ewing. Over 7 inches of rain fell in just 4 hours, resulting in $ 10 million in damages and $ 24 million in municipal overtime costs due to cleanup efforts (in 1996 dollars). Over 175 residences and 75 businesses were affected, and some businesses were closed for nearly 2 weeks due to

2209-401: Was valued at $ 500,000 in 2005, but after the county ordered revaluations it was assessed at nearly $ 2,000,000. This caused a property tax increase from $ 17,000 to more than $ 36,000 per year, increasing the airport's business expenses by over 200%. In 2006, the towns of Hopewell Township, Lawrence Township , Hopewell , and Pennington applied for $ 2 million in grants from Mercer County to purchase

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