By Andy Ostmeyer

aostmeyer@joplinglobe.com

Heading into the last big weekend of summer, between one-fourth and one-half of 40 swimming holes, streams and creeks in Southwest Missouri continue to register bacteria levels that make them unsafe for swimming.

That's according to the latest data available from stream team volunteers and county health department officials, as well as a sampling of area sites tested at the request of The Joplin Globe.

The results:

Spring River continues to have elevated levels of either E. coli or enterococci, and often both types of fecal bacteria, at five sites around Carthage, according to Stream Team 2416, which conducted its latest tests on Aug. 19.

Five of 10 sites tested by the Newton County Health Department showed levels of E. coli on Aug. 16 in excess of federal standards. Two more Newton County sites tested above the state standard but below the federal threshold.

The Lawrence County Health Department found that none of eight sites tested on Wednesday showed elevated levels of E. coli. Lawrence County officials also use the higher federal standard. Four sites tested above the state limit. Three weeks earlier, three of the eight sites exceeded the federal limit. Wednesday's reading is the best that county has seen since it began testing several years ago.

Of 17 sites tested at the request of the Globe on Aug. 17, only one was above the EPA level - Shoal Creek near the Barry-Newton county line. Two other sites tested above the state threshold.

None of eight sites tested in McDonald County, which draws thousands of tourists annually to swim and fish in the Elk River and its tributaries, had elevated levels of E. coli on Aug. 17.

The samples for the Globe were collected by volunteers who also collect samples for Newton County, and the tests were conducted by the Newton County Health Department and paid for by The Globe.

In all, 11 of 40 sites tested recently topped the federal standard, while 19 sites topped the state standard for the bacteria Escherichia coli, which can causes numerous illnesses ranging from meningitis to urinary tract infections. One strain of E. coli can even be deadly. Enterococci, which only the Carthage stream team is currently testing for, also is associated with human illness.

Yet, other than in Lawrence County, no one in Southwest Missouri is posting sites as unsafe for swimming when bacteria levels are elevated.

Health threat

That's what bothers Wayne Christian, a Carthage science teacher who directs the volunteer stream team.