Compiled testing results raise stream worries

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October 26, 2007

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Fri Oct 26, 2007, 09:49 PM CDT

By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

Parts of several streams in Jasper and Newton counties were classified as “impaired” earlier this year, but two residents concerned about water quality say more should be added to the federal listing.

Wayne Christian, of Carthage, and Dewayne Miller, of Goodman, say bacteria levels are high on streams throughout the region, based on tests done by health departments and volunteer stream teams last summer.

The two have compiled results of tests done by health departments in Jasper, Newton and Lawrence counties in Missouri, the Cherokee County Health Department in Kansas and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.

The information will be shared with the participating agencies, and submitted to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, to support an argument that more streams should be classified as impaired.

The classification made by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency starts a process designed to identify and reduce pollutants causing the impairment.

“What this shows is what we’ve been saying for years in Jasper County — that a lot more streams needed to be classified,” Christian said.

A former science teacher, Christian sponsored a Carthage High School stream team that spearheaded bacteria testing of waters in Spring River near Carthage. Testing also was done by the Newton County Health Department and other agencies.

In 2007, testing programs were started by the Jasper and Lawrence county health departments, and the data compiled by Christian and Miller show results on 117 stream sites in Southwest Missouri. The compilation suggests, the two said, high bacteria levels, including E. coli, throughout the region.

In Jasper County, E. coli levels exceeded what is considered safe by state and federal levels at nearly all the testing sites, throughout the summer, Christian said. That includes sampling done by the stream team and tests of samples taken by the Jasper County Health Department on parts of Spring River, Turkey Creek, Jones Creek, Center Creek, Buck Branch and Dry Fork.

Testing in Newton County found high E. coli levels on parts of Indian Creek, Clear Creek, Shoal Creek, Cedar Creek, Little Lost Creek, Willow Branch and Hickory Creek.

Levels of E. coli exceeding state and federal standards also were found in tests in Lawrence County and in sampling done by the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.

Tests done on streams in Jasper and Newton counties were cited when DNR proposed them to the federal Environmental Protection Agency as “impaired due to high bacteria counts,” said John Ford, of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The EPA has accepted the recommendation on parts of Capps Creek and Lost Creek in Newton County, and still is evaluating recommendations on Hickory and Indian creeks in Newton County and Spring River in Jasper County, Ford said.

“We were surprised, since they normally don’t do that on a piecemeal basis,” he said.

Expanded testing has revealed high bacterial levels that are throughout the region, he agreed.

“We were unpleasantly surprised at how widespread it was,” Ford said.

Once streams are classified as impaired, the state is required to do a study on pollutants in the stream, to determine the level allowable without exceeding state standards.

“We’re given 11 years to do it, but we try to do it sooner,” Ford said. “In instances where there is a bacteria problem, we want to develop a watershed committee that can figure out how to address the problem.”

Some watershed groups are already at work in the area and others are being formed. Anne Peery, a state environmental specialist who helps get the organizations started, noted groups working the Upper Shoal Creek Watershed and the Elk River Watershed.

The groups determine what’s causing the pollution, the best practices to fix the problem, and ways to get local residents and entities involved in the solution.

“It’s all voluntary, and the solution has to be a local one, by a locally led group,” she said.

Christian and Miller said they hope distributing information on local testing results will push protection and corrective programs, citing concerns about runoff from sources such as septic tanks and agriculture, including a growing number of poultry houses in the region.

Lower Shoal Creek

The state earlier this year awarded a $300,000 grant to the Harry S. Truman Coordinating Council to fund the Lower Shoal Creek Watershed Restoration Project, aimed at restoring and protecting that waterway. The steering committee is headed by Bob Nichols, of Webb City, long-active on the Jasper and Newton County Environmental Task Force.