By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Bacteria levels in Spring River at Kellogg Lake exceeded federal standards more than tenfold after the rainstorms more than a week ago.
That’s according to data compiled by the Jasper County Health Department showing the results of weekly testing of streams throughout the county since late May.
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends against swimming in water with E. coli levels of 235 colonies per 100 milliliters of water. The sample taken June 13 at Kellogg Lake tested at 2,419.6 colonies. The eight samples taken that day from Center Creek, Spring River and Turkey Creek tested above federal levels — all but one at least seven times over the standard.
“We expected it; we all realize that high water brings with it an influx of bacteria,” said Tony Moehr, county health director.
The Kellogg Lake site and two other Spring River locations were among just a few sites where bacteria levels dropped below federal pollution levels in sampling Tuesday of this week.
Moehr reviewed test results Thursday with members of the Jasper County Commission, and he and the commissioners discussed studies aimed at addressing stream conditions.
The county department started the stream sampling program in late May, and the goal is to test 20 sites on four streams each week. Moehr said workers have not taken samples at every site every week, but the county is beginning to compile data that can be used to draw conclusions about pollution problems in the region.
“We’re just now getting the countywide picture, but we need more information, especially longer-term data at normal water levels,” he said. “But I think eventually this will lead to funding and studies to pinpoint the problems and address them.”
County officials are talking with members of the Environmental Task Force of Jasper and Newton Counties about organizing a group to develop a management plan for the Spring River watershed. Based on sampling by the Carthage Senior High School stream team, parts of the river recently were designated as impaired by the Missouri Clean Water Commission.
The county also is looking at working with another group on a study of the North Fork of Spring River, said Jim Honey, Eastern District county commissioner.
He said officials plan to attend a meeting next week to discuss a proposal for grant funding for a project to reduce sediment problems in the North Fork of Spring River.
The Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District is proposing the study, with the help of workers with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Carthage.
“We’ve prepared what they call a ‘pre-proposal,’” said Robert Paul, with the conservation service office. “If it’s accepted, we’ll draft a proposal.”
The request must be reviewed by the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The study would address a watershed that encompasses 245,000 acres in central and southwest Barton County, north and east Jasper County, and small areas of Dade and Lawrence counties, Paul said.
He said the group working on the study would be eager to work with a Spring River watershed group.
“It’s essential to see the overall picture and to pinpoint groups to address different problems in different parts of the watershed,” Paul said. “Our grant would be a little piece of the picture, and once Jasper County has a baseline on the bacteria levels, another grant could be proposed and a plan developed to address that.”
More tests
Recent tests conducted by the Eastern Shawnee Tribe found E. coli levels of 114.5 colonies per milliliter in Lost Creek and 103.6 colonies per milliliter in Spring River.
Carthage, Jasper County
<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0>Flooding flushes bacteria into Jasper County streams<font color="#ff0000"> w/ water quality testing data for Spring River in Jasper County</font>
- Carthage, Jasper County
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Carthage attorney, reformer of revenue department, dies
James R. Spradling, a Carthage attorney who was noted for his reform of the Missouri Department of Revenue in the 1970s, died at 5:50 a.m. Monday at McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital.
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Bondswoman charged with false imprisonment
A bail bondswoman from Carthage is facing a charge of false imprisonment for allegedly attempting to put a man in jail without a judge’s order, then taking him home and handcuffing him to the banister of a staircase until a friend of the man paid her his bond money.
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Man’s last statement to be given to defendant
A judge ruled Monday that the Jasper County prosecutor must provide attorneys for Darren J. Winans with a videotaped statement co-defendant Matthew D. Laurin made about the Sheldon murders shortly before killing himself.
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Carthage proposes 1.6-cent rise in city property tax
A drop in the assessed value of Carthage real estate will translate to an increase of about 1.6 cents in the city’s proposed property tax rate.
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Open house to celebrate projects at courthouse
Projects completed last year at the Jasper County Courthouse will be celebrated in ceremonies Thursday in the courthouse lobby.
County officials will join representatives of local chambers of commerce and others for a ribbon-cutting and open house to mark the opening of a Route 66 display in the lobby and a new “peace star” atop the building. -
State budget cuts reduce county funds
County officials are bracing for more state budget cuts to translate into a loss of county revenues.
In an effort to balance Missouri’s budget, the state earlier this year cut the amount it reimburses county assessors for work to determine property values. The budget approved by lawmakers for fiscal 2011 calls for cutting the amount the state reimburses counties to house prisoners bound for state lockup. -
Jo Ellis: County home to rare yellowwood tree
In late spring, drifts as white as snow fill the gutters and curbs on the east side of the Jasper County Courthouse. It isn’t snow, of course; it’s the fallen petals of the yellowwood tree that grows squarely in front of the door to the Jasper County Extension office.
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Jasper County Commission gets building project update
Plans to close out one building project and start another were reviewed by the Jasper County Commission last week.
Darieus Adams, Western District associate commissioner, met Thursday with officials of the firm who designed a $292,400 project to upgrade the lighting and make other changes to make four county-owned buildings more energy efficient. -
Two men running for associate judge in 39th Circuit take case to court
Two men running for associate judge in Missouri’s 39th Circuit began battling it out in a Jasper County courtroom this week.
Jasper County Circuit Judge Gayle Crane heard arguments Wednesday concerning the disclosure of documents sought by Robert “Bobby” George, Aurora, the current Lawrence County prosecutor. -
Unveiling ceremony celebrates CHS tiger
Kandy Frazier, Carthage High School principal, summed it up once the new addition to the CHS campus was unveiled Thursday.
The bronze tiger sculpture created by Carthage artist and sculptor Bob Tommey, she said, is the kind of work that would be found at a big university. - More Carthage, Jasper County Headlines
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