Beach Monitoring and Poo
I’ll be headed to the beach this Summer: going to Fort Morgan for fun in the sun, Tacky Jacks 2 (by the Fort), Candlelight Tour of the Fort (with Ghost Stories), and the trails of BON SECOUR National Wildlife Refuge. So this news report got my attention:
The Alabama Department of Public Health issued a swimming advisory today for the waters of Bon Secour Bay at Mary Ann Nelson Park.
Two recent successive tests of water quality at the park were poor. The advisory warned that swimming in this area might lead to an increased risk of illness.
Monitoring will continue and the advisory will be lifted once bacteria values fall below the Environmental Protection Agency’s threshold of 104 enterococcus organisms per 100 milliliters for marine water, according to the statement.
The Health Department retested the site and it is clean. Here’s a link to the ADEM / ADPH Beach Monitoring website, which includes the test results at 25 sites in Baldwin and Mobile Counties (BTW all clean).
The ‘enterococcus’ bacteria (Poo) contamination reporting took the place of the old ‘fecal coliform’ (Poo), because it correlates better to human pathogens found in sewage.
I spoke with a really nice Environmental guy (Byron) from the Baldwin County Health Department (which administers the Beach Monitoring program). He said it was “hard to say” why the Poo levels exceeded the threshold, adding that it was “unusual” for that area. He said it might be that “a pelican dropped a load”, which could give an unexpected test result.
The Fairhope and Gulf Shores areas are on sewer systems, so the poo probably wasn’t human. Other than pelicans, it might be dog poo sewerage runoff or cow poo runoff from ranches. ADEM / ADPH is fixing to develop a system of “source tracking” that would further classify the poo, which could lead to improved remediation.
In order to make the poo threshold explainable to me and children, I asked the guy just what the enterococcus level might be in an unflushed toilet. He didn’t care to estimate, but he did say that a sewer spill (that “you couldn’t even smell”) he had dealt with had levels between 3,000 to 5,000 colonies per mL of water.
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April 28th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Thanks for the additional info on the bad water report. I live on Ft. Morgan Rd. and was concerned when I read the news article. I am glad you made the phone call, you asked the questions that I would have.
I have a website about the local area…it is a bit behind at the moment while we re-build it using different software…so bear w/ me. But I do have a lot of useful info and fun stuff to do w/ kids. http://www.gulf-shores-alabama.net if this doesnt work, maybe this link will
Gulf Shores AL
April 28th, 2008 at 2:21 am
There are many causes of these “variations” in levels of chemicals and bacteria. One likely culprit is runoff from storms, washing debris from drainage ditches and sewers into the streams and then the Bay. Anything dumped into in the ditches over time like animal waste or anything like paint thinner/oil dumped into the gutter ends up in the Bay and Ocean.
I am quite conservative, and as such, wish to “conserve” our natural resources not only for the marine and animal life, but the recreational uses to which we Alabamians are blessed to be able to use. Not good to go to the beach and swim in “Poo” getting sick. Not good if the fertilizer runoff causes a red tide, killing off the great fishing industry in our area–(not to be confused with a massive Red “Roll Tide” which is a very good thing).
April 28th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Poo or not, it sounds like a great trip. A candlelight tour with ghost stories? How fun! I trust you’ll give us a full report.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:04 am
HurricaneProof - thanks for the link. BTW I took the Master Gardener class here in HSV.
DB - I’m a “crunchy Conservative” too, interested in conserving our natural heritage - Alabama the Beautiful!
Julie - the Fort Morgan Candlelight Tour is July 1st.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I have never heard the term “Crunchy Conservative”. I did a cursory search a minute ago–don’t really think I would fall fully under that category, but certainly think Freedom gives one the opportunity to make a good OR bad choice. I’ll have to read more on this.
On the environment: an “animal rights activist” ( ie. looney leftist) would say hunting is abhorrent. However, a hunter would find value in hunting, but would also preserve the habitat of his prey. He knows that if the environment is harmed, the number of potential prey would be reduced. It is also right and good to treat animals humanely. The good Lord gave us this earth for our use, but also asked us to be good stewards of it.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:25 am
DB - OK, so I’m not ‘fully’ a crunchycon either: but I do identify with “nature good”, buy local, live bourgeois Bohemian.
Excellent point about being good stewards. I heard Doug Phillips, UAT professor and host of APT’s “Discovering Alabama”, use that same idea to promote environmental preservation. He is getting churches involved in the campaign to re-authorize and expand the Alabama ‘Forever Wild’ program, which expires in 2012.
IIRC here is the article that coined the ‘crunchycon’ phrase:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTFmYmUzNGZiMGFjN2EwMDlhODk1MDg0N2UzOTlkYWE=
More:
http://crunchycon.nationalreview.com/about/