Thu, Nov 26 2009
|
|
Published July 02, 2006 12:00 am - Looking for safe place to swim? The Joplin Globe By Andy Ostmeyer
Globe Assistant Metro Editor As the executive director of Table Rock Lake Water Quality Inc., Dave Casaletto has a full plate. There's no shortage of things to worry about, ranging from shoreline trash - 32 tons of it and 300 tires picked up in 2005 - to nitrates and phosphates spread on surrounding fields as fertilizer that find their way into the water. One thing he doesn't worry about is E. coli levels in the lake, despite the fact that many of the 20,000 individual septic systems around Table Rock Lake experience some degree of system failure, according to Casaletto's not-for-profit organization. Bacteria sampling his group has done, as well as regular sampling by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and some county testing, indicate that there are no problems. "In Table Rock Lake, what you find is just the volume of water dilutes it," Casaletto said. "I have found almost no traces of E. coli in the main body of the lake. Nowhere could we find unsafe swimming conditions," he said. Casaletto said that he has a young grandchild who spends much of her summer at the lake. "If I had any qualms at all I wouldn't let her swim in the lake. I have no qualms about E. coli being in the lake." Rodney Raley, chief park ranger over recreation for the Corps' office at Table Rock, said the Corps' tests back that up. The Corps regularly tests at designated swim beaches for E. coli beginning the week before Memorial Day. At Moonshine Beach, for example, which is the most popular swimming area on the lake, the mean so far this year has been 2.49 colonies of E. coli per 100 milliliters of water - well below the level of 126 colonies per 100 milliliters that the Environmental Protection Agency sets as the danger threshold. At swimming beaches on the western end of the lake, the numbers also are below levels of concern. At Eagle Rock, the mean has been 36.93 this year; at Big M it has been 43.47; and at Campbell Point it has been 9.68. If there is a problem, he said, the Corps will post the beach as unsafe until it gets readings below the threshold. Bill Cauthron, monitoring coordinator with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, in Oklahoma City, said the board officials have done periodic monitoring at Grand Lake, as have volunteers, and the lake so far has registered clean. "We have detected some bacteria in the lake," he said, "but it's safe; go ahead and use it." His office did not provide specific numbers, however, despite numerous requests made during the week. 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
Canine ‘pawsengers’ take inaugural pet rescue flight Fourth Street scheduled to reopen Funeral for soldier killed in Afghanistan scheduled in Galena |
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
Photographer documents struggle with cystic fibrosis w/ slide show and link to National Transplant Assistance Fund page
 |
 |
: Special Offer For New Subscribers
:
 |
|||||||
|
|||||||
 |
|
|
Published by Newspaper Holding, Inc. 117 East Fourth Street, Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com • (417)623-3480 Advertise with the Joplin Globe Copyright © 2006 The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO All rights reserved. 
|
Popular Business directory links - Joplin Apartments | Joplin Attorneys | Joplin Auto Dealers | Joplin Auto Parts | Joplin Auto Repair | Joplin Beauty Salons | Joplin Car Rental | Joplin Dentists | Joplin Doctors | Joplin Flowers | Joplin Hotels | Joplin Insurance | Joplin Loans | Joplin Mortgages | Joplin Movers | Joplin Pizza | Joplin Realtors | Joplin Restaurants | Joplin Storage | Joplin Tax Preparation | Joplin Travel | Joplin Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |
