Hundreds of Dead Fish Found in Delco Lake, Creek

Authorities say water samples found nothing strange despite fish kill in Ridley Park Lake and Swarthmore’s Crum Creek

Nearly 1,000 dead fish were found floating in Ridley Park Lake last weekend, and more dead fish were found in Crum Creek in Swarthmore Monday, authorities say.

With water samples showing no sign of a problem, the multi-species fish kill remains a mystery.

“Whatever killed them could be gone by now,” Department of Environmental Protection Water Quality Specialist Michael Brenner told the Delaware County Times in the case of Crum Creek. “We could be a little too late. We can’t point to any particular cause.”

According to Ridley Park Police Chief Tom Byrne, authorities were first notified of the hundreds of dead fish cropping up 8:15 p.m. Saturday. Byrne says the Pennsylvania DEP responded and took water sample but everything was found to be fine.

More water samples have been sent to the state laboratory for more testing, according to Byrne. He says that at this time there is no danger to anyone visiting the lake, but authorities are discouraging fishing until further notice.

The Ridley Park Highway Department began cleaning up the fish early Sunday morning, Robert Bonfitto told the Delaware County Times that he found about 15 to 20 fish along the banks of Crum Creek when he went there Monday morning.

“I could smell them,” Bonfitto told the Delco Times. “I had heard about what happened at Ridley Lake and I thought, ‘Oh, no. It’s happening here, too.’”

Like Ridley Park Lake, in the case of Crum Creek DEP officials found nothing strange in the oxygen, pH or chlorine levels in the water samples.

The causes for both fish kills are still under investigation.

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