New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Public contact, Information Center: (888) 248-6866
Media contact: Dan Williams: (505) 476-8004
dan.williams@state.nm.us 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, DEC. 11, 2017:

Cimarron River fish safe to eat, tests show

EAGLE NEST – Recent tests of trout in the Cimarron River show that the fish are now safe to eat because no traces of pollution were found from a 2016 fuel spill.

A 1.5-mile stretch of the river off N.M. 64 within the Colin Neblett Wildlife Area and Cimarron Canyon State Park was closed in December 2016 after a tanker truck overturned and spilled approximately 1,100 gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel into the river.

The area between mile marker 291 to the Perryville Fishing Access Area was reopened to angling in May 2017 after successful restoration efforts, but anglers were advised to eat no more than three meals of fish per month from the spill area. That recommendation has been lifted because recent tests of fish from the area showed no signs of contaminants in the fish tissue.

For more information about fishing New Mexico, including the Environment Department’s fish consumption advisories for certain waters, please visit the department’s website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us.

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