By Terry Loney - The Aberdeen Daily World writer. 6/26/2001
The state Department of Ecology is asking for help, lots of help, to clean up rivers flowing into Grays Harbor.
A new study shows there are high levels of fecal coliform bacteria in most of the rivers, especially the Chehalis, which is listed as one of the state's most polluted rivers.
The state Department of Ecology suspects the biggest cause is farms along the banks of the Chehalis in Lewis and Thurston counties and southeastern Grays Harbor County.
Most of the rest of the bacteria is coming from failing septic tanks, pet wastes and storm drains in Aberdeen, Hoquiam and Cosmopolis, the study says.
"On a general scale, what we found is that 90 percent of the problem is coming from (those) sources," said Dave Rountry, Ecology's water cleanup coordinator. "The findings are based on how high the levels (of bacteria) are above the state water quality standards."
The study is titled the Chehalis/Grays Harbor Watershed Fecal Coliform Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load. A draft was released in May.
E. coli comprises the largest portion of fecal coliform in sewage and animal waste.
The bacteria can cause intestinal problems such as diarrhea, gas and other maladies. One virulent strain can cause death, especially in infants and elderly persons with weakened immune systems.
The department gathered the information for the study from several dozen monitoring sites in the harbor and along the Chehalis, Wishkah, Hoquiam, Humptulips, Elk rivers and their tributaries.
As well as being a human health hazard, the bacteria can be detrimental to the shellfish industry.
Rountry said that when fecal coliform bacteria levels exceed limitations set for the protection of health, oysters and other shellfish cannot be harvested.
He added that high levels of bacteria also can be detrimental to the harbor's aquatic health in general.
"The oysters are the most affected," said Sandy Howard, a spokeswoman for the Department of Ecology.
"We are encouraging people to get involved and look at their land and see if there is anything they can do to help block these sources of pollution," said Howard.
She said there's not much room for finger pointing.
"In many cases, everybody is contributing to this. It does not matter who is the biggest contributor, everyone must do what they can to reduce the amount coming from their own property."
The department believes residents living along the rivers can help reduce the amount of bacteria in all of the rivers except the Elk River.
Rountry said in that case wildlife appears to be the biggest contributor of fecal coliform bacteria into the river. He said that was easy to determine because there are few people living along its banks. The river has 90 percent more colonies of bacteria than is deemed acceptable.
But "there is not much we can do to manage that or reduce that," Howard said.
So the department is seeking to focus its efforts on the other rivers that have high levels of bacteria.
Another of the most polluted rivers is the Wishkah, according to the study. "It had some of the highest levels in it," Rountry said.
While the upper portions of the Wishkah are predominately undeveloped, "the lower one - third is heavily populated," he said, noting that is where most of the bacteria originates.
Ecology is looking for cooperative efforts with the public and local government agencies to reduce the bacteria in the rivers.
Rountry said there are a lot of local agencies that can aid Harbor residents to clean up sources on their properties.
For failing septic tanks, they can call the County Health Department, and for help in cleaning up manure on farms, the Grays Harbor Conservation District.
If volunteer efforts fail, Ecology may resort to stronger enforcement policies.
"There is the fall - back of enforcement, but we would rather see this go through at a voluntary level," Rountry said.
The Grays Harbor Health Department can be reached at 532 - 8665, and the conservation district at 249 - 5944.
Terry Loney, a Daily World writer covering East County, can be reached at (360) 532 - 4000, ext. 137, or at tloney@thedailyworld.com
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