Where people and salmon have lived together for eons, the people eat a lot of salmon. And the tribes of the Columbia River basin are no exception to this rule, but they have been asking government to test salmon for contaminants, because the Columbia has a long history of industrial and agricultural contamination.
OPB, Oregon Public Broadcasting, teamed up with the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica to take salmon samples to a lab. The samples showed mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at levels high enough to cause concern at the high levels of salmon intake of tribal members.
OPB investigative reporter Tony Schick visits to describe the unfolding of the story, and where it may lead.