SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 10, 2008 (ENS) – Ten California public drinking water systems must monitor for E. coli bacteria in their source water or face federal penalties of up to $32,500 per day for each violation.

E. coli is a type of fecal coliform bacteria commonly found in the intestines of animals and humans. The presence of E. coli in water is a strong indication of recent sewage or animal waste contamination.

“It is vital that drinking water systems develop their plans and sample promptly,” said Alexis Strauss, the Water Division director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest region. “This requirement protects the public from potentially harmful microorganisms in drinking water.”

The 10 systems all are in rural areas and serve fewer than 10,000 people. They include a company logging town, a residential area for PG&E workers, several resorts and a number of agricultural areas in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley.

The water utility serving the Pacific Lumber
Company town of Scotia, California has been
ordered to test for E. coli bacteria. (Photo
credit unknown)

The EPA’s orders, issued Thursday, require these public drinking water systems to develop monitoring plans and conduct pathogen monitoring, as required by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

The monitoring plans are required of all public water systems that obtain their water from a surface source – such as a river, lake – and are part of a year-long source water monitoring effort for E. coli, designed to prevent contamination of drinking water.

The requirements are part of the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment, LT2, Rule imposed in 2006, which increases treatment requirements for water systems that have high levels of Cryptosporidium in their source water.

Cryptosporidium is a micro-organism that can cause gastrointestinal illness with diarrhea in humans, which can be severe in people with weakened immune systems, such as infants or the elderly. It can be fatal to people with severely compromised immune systems, such as cancer and AIDS patients.

Drinking water systems serving fewer than 10,000 people have the option of initially monitoring for E. coli in their source water, which may be an indicator of Cryptosporidium.

If the E. coli levels are too high, the system is required to monitor for Cryptosporidium.

This type of monitoring protects public health by reducing illness due to Cryptosporidium and other harmful microorganisms in drinking water, says Strauss.

Cryptosporidium can resist many common disinfectants, even chlorine-based disinfectants, but there are options available for drinking water utilities to remove the pathogen from their water.

Surface water systems required to provide treatment under the LT2 rule can utilize ultraviolet disinfection or membrane filtration to meet treatment requirements.

Water systems with high levels of Cryptosporidium or which do not filter their water must conduct watershed control programs.

In Alpine County, monitoring orders were sent to Markleeville Water Company and Lake Alpine Recreation Area , located in the Sierra Nevada, between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park.

Four water systems in Fresno County received monitoring orders – two of them in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley – the Panoche Water District, an agricultural area in the western part of the valley; and San Andreas Farms, a large irrigated farm property in the valley’s prime vegetable growing region.

Also in Fresno County, monitoring orders were sent to Cedar Crest Resort on Huntington Lake; and PG&E Balch Camp, a residential area for workers who run the nearby powerhouses and dams.

Two water systems received monitoring orders in Trinity County, a mountainous, heavily forested county in the northwestern portion of the state of California, along the Trinity River and within the Salmon/Klamath Mountains. Coffee Creek Ranch and Riverview Acres Water Systems were each ordered to check their source water for E. coli.

Glenn County’s Elk Creek Community service district in the Central Valley also received a monitoring order as did the Town of Scotia Company in Humboldt County, which is wholly owned by Pacific Lumber Company.

For technical requirements of the LT2 rule click here [www.epa.gov].

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SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 10, 2008 (ENS) – Ten California public drinking water systems must monitor for E. coli bacteria in their source water or face federal penalties of up to $32,500 per day for each violation.

E. coli is a type of fecal coliform bacteria commonly found in the intestines of animals and humans. The presence of E. coli in water is a strong indication of recent sewage or animal waste contamination.

“It is vital that drinking water systems develop their plans and sample promptly,” said Alexis Strauss, the Water Division director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest region. “This requirement protects the public from potentially harmful microorganisms in drinking water.”

The 10 systems all are in rural areas and serve fewer than 10,000 people. They include a company logging town, a residential area for PG&E workers, several resorts and a number of agricultural areas in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley.

The EPA’s orders, issued Thursday, require these public drinking water systems to develop monitoring plans and conduct pathogen monitoring, as required by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

The monitoring plans are required of all public water systems that obtain their water from a surface source – such as a river, lake – and are part of a year-long source water monitoring effort for E. coli, designed to prevent contamination of drinking water.

The requirements are part of the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment, LT2, Rule imposed in 2006, which increases treatment requirements for water systems that have high levels of Cryptosporidium in their source water.

Cryptosporidium is a micro-organism that can cause gastrointestinal illness with diarrhea in humans, which can be severe in people with weakened immune systems, such as infants or the elderly. It can be fatal to people with severely compromised immune systems, such as cancer and AIDS patients.

Drinking water systems serving fewer than 10,000 people have the option of initially monitoring for E. coli in their source water, which may be an indicator of Cryptosporidium.

If the E. coli levels are too high, the system is required to monitor for Cryptosporidium.

This type of monitoring protects public health by reducing illness due to Cryptosporidium and other harmful microorganisms in drinking water, says Strauss.

Cryptosporidium can resist many common disinfectants, even chlorine-based disinfectants, but there are options available for drinking water utilities to remove the pathogen from their water.

Surface water systems required to provide treatment under the LT2 rule can utilize ultraviolet disinfection or membrane filtration to meet treatment requirements.

Water systems with high levels of Cryptosporidium or which do not filter their water must conduct watershed control programs.

In Alpine County, monitoring orders were sent to Markleeville Water Company and Lake Alpine Recreation Area , located in the Sierra Nevada, between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park.

Four water systems in Fresno County received monitoring orders – two of them in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley – the Panoche Water District, an agricultural area in the western part of the valley; and San Andreas Farms, a large irrigated farm property in the valley’s prime vegetable growing region.

Also in Fresno County, monitoring orders were sent to Cedar Crest Resort on Huntington Lake; and PG&E Balch Camp, a residential area for workers who run the nearby powerhouses and dams.

Two water systems received monitoring orders in Trinity County, a mountainous, heavily forested county in the northwestern portion of the state of California, along the Trinity River and within the Salmon/Klamath Mountains. Coffee Creek Ranch and Riverview Acres Water Systems were each ordered to check their source water for E. coli.

Glenn County’s Elk Creek Community service district in the Central Valley also received a monitoring order as did the Town of Scotia Company in Humboldt County, which is wholly owned by Pacific Lumber Company.

For technical requirements of the LT2 rule click here [www.epa.gov].

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AUSTIN, Texas, May 29, 2008 (ENS) – Concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria in six Houston-Galveston area bays have risen to the point that some areas are closed to the harvesting of shellfish for direct marketing, according to the Texas agency in charge of environment.

“Microorganisms from human and animal waste may contaminate oysters and other shellfish, making them unsafe to eat, especially since some shellfish are eaten raw,” the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Wednesday.

The commission now is seeking public comment on a draft plan to establish and implement Total Maximum Daily Loads, or TMDLs, for the polluted waters.

A TMDL is like a budget for pollutants. It estimates the amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive in a single day and still support its designated uses.

The load is then allocated among the sources of pollution within the watershed, and measures to reduce pollutant loads are developed as necessary.

The commission explains that as required by section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act, six TMDLs were developed for the Upper Texas Coast due to elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria.

To eliminate the bacteria along the Upper Texas Coast in Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston and Harris counties, the commission is developing total maximum daily load standards so that oysters may be harvested from the affected bays.

The use of coastal waters for harvesting shellfish, called the “oyster waters use” in the state’s standards for surface water quality, is the most commonly impaired use among Texas bay and gulf waters.

The areas that need TMDLs are in Chocolate Bay, Trinity Bay, East Bay, West Bay, Lower Galveston Bay.and Upper Galveston Bay.

The commission requests comments from the public on its TMDLs for Bacteria in Oyster Waters along the Upper Texas Coast. The public comment period is May 23 through June 21, 2008.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will conduct two meetings to receive comments on the six draft TMDLs.

Monday, June 9, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. at Clear Lake Park Meeting Room, 5001 NASA Road 1 in Clear Lake.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at White Memorial Park, Whites Park Exhibit Hall, 225 Whites Memorial Drive in Hankamer.

Comments not submitted at the public meeting must be provided in writing and submitted to: Casey Johnson, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Chief Engineer’s Office, Water Programs, MC 203, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087 or faxed to: 512-239-1414.

After the public comment period, commission staff may revise the draft TMDLs for the six bays. Upon commission approval of a final document, the TMDL and a response to public comments will be made available on the commission’s website at: www.tceq.state.tx.us

Final TMDLs will be adopted by the commission and subsequently reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval as an update to the State Water Quality Management Plan.

The draft TMDL plans are available online. Just click here [www.tceq.state.tx.us].

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BELLEVUE, Washington, March 31, 2008 (ENS) – The Washington state Department of Ecology has fined developers of a Lynnwood residential construction site $12,000 for failing to prevent polluted runoff into Swamp Creek.

Pacific Ridge Homes LLC of Bothell, Washington are the developers of the eight-acre project, Blackstone Residential Community at 15730 Manor Way.

In announcing the fine on Thursday, the state agency said the developers failed to cover bare soils and protect cleared slopes, even though inspectors from the Department of Ecology pointed out the need for these protections at repeated visits to the site.

These measures are designed to protect exposed earth from washing away in rainy weather. They are required under the Department of Ecology’s construction stormwater permit, which applies to construction sites larger than one acre in size.

“The permit requires contractors and developers to take necessary measures in preventing water pollution in the first place,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, a regional supervisor for the state agency’s water quality program.

“Hundreds of construction sites follow these requirements every day around the state. At Blackstone, we saw what happens when prevention falls short,” he said.

Inspectors informed the site’s managers of several problems after site visits on November 7 and December 20-21, 2007.

They found that exposed soil was not or inadequately covered, thus being exposed to rain erosion. Slopes needed erosion protection. Inspectors could see slope sediments and debris on Manor Way.

The inspectors found that channels leading to a stormwater treatment vault had no lining, so water flowing into the vault contained unnecessarily higher amounts of silt.

The violations contributed to releases of muddy water from the construction site. The site’s stormwater discharges drain to Swamp Creek, which already does not meet state standards for dissolved oxygen, temperature, and fecal coliform bacteria.

High levels of silt in stream water can harm the breathing gills of fish.

Swamp Creek is the subject of a water improvement plan, in cooperation with local governments and organizations.

Swamp Creek flows to Lake Washington, which drains to Puget Sound.

The Department of Ecology’s construction stormwater efforts are part of the department’s support of the Puget Sound Partnership’s efforts to protect and restore the Sound by 2020.

Pacific Ridge Homes may appeal the penalty to the Department of Ecology or to the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board within 30 days.

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