WALLINGFORD – The City Council Ordinances Committee took no formal action Tuesday on the ban on lead in fishing tackle used in the city’s water bodies, Councilor Tom Laffin agreeing to pursue the matter directly.

Laffin suggested creating an ordinance to ban the use of lead in fishing gear, such as split sinkers.

A female bald eagle was recently found ill on the trail behind Wallingford Senior Center and died of suspected lead poisoning. Laffin said that since raptors like eagles eat fish, it could have been poisoned by lead in fishing tackle.

The advisers, while generally supportive, discussed the difficulty of enforcing an ordinance and where lead has come from in the environment, including fishing tackle, hunting ammunition or animals that have traveled elsewhere.

Other ideas discussed by the council included installing signs near fishing grounds and warning of lead with fishing licenses.

Town Corporation attorney Janis M. Small said New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York state have banned or restricted lead in fishing gear.

“It’s more active at the state level than at the local level,” she said, adding that a local ordinance would allow the city to impose fines.

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