This week Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed announced the temporary closure of the public beach at City Island due to elevated E-Coli levels—a bacterium that can cause gastrointestinal illness if accidentally digested.

The closure is due to a recent water quality test that shows E-coli levels exceed safety standards by 400 percent.

This closure, and the many that are likely to occur this summer, are indicative of a much larger problem in the Susquehanna River and in many other rivers and streams in Pennsylvania: excess bacteria and nutrients from human and animal fecal matter in our waterways.

"Urban run-off, wastewater treatment plants and agricultural activities significantly impact our streams, the Susquehanna River, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay," said CBF Pennsylvania Executive Director Matt Ehrhart. "The Governor and General Assembly have committed nearly $1.2 billion for improvements to water and wastewater treatment systems and other infrastructure upgrades. While we applaud their action on this issue, they missed an opportunity to tackle agricultural pollution by not increasing funding to help farmers reduce pollution from agricultural practices."

With over 86,000 miles of streams and rivers, Pennsylvania has the most stream miles of any state in the continental United States. Unfortunately nearly 16,000 miles of those waterways are severely polluted. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural practices, sediment-laden run-off from development, and inadequately treated wastewater treatment plant discharges are damaging water quality within the Susquehanna River watershed.

"The E-coli contamination that we're seeing here in Harrisburg is just one of many indicators that our rivers are out of balance," said Harry Campbell, CBF Pennsylvania Scientist. "Increases in E-coli levels tend to happen after large rain events, like the storms we encountered this past weekend."

When it rains, many older sewage treatment plants cannot handle the increased flow of water and are therefore forced to discharge raw sewage into the river. There are over 400 of these discharge points along the Susquehanna River, and 60 of them are in Harrisburg.

"Likewise, on farms, any manure near a stream will be flushed into that system by the rain. If we want healthy rivers and streams to fish, swim, and recreate in, then we must equally address both wastewater and agricultural pollution issues," Campbell said.

The health of our waters directly impacts the health of our communities. Over 80 percent of all Pennsylvanians get their drinking water from surface waters – our lakes, streams and rivers. While the closure of City Island is temporary, it should not be discounted as a temporary inconvenience.

"The problem with E-coli levels after heavy rain events is that tests are conducted only at public beaches and not on the majority of our waters," said Campbell. "So while we know for certain that the levels at the City Island beach are above the maximum, we simply don't know whether our other streams and rivers are suffering from bacterial pollution."

Learn more about water quality in local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay at the CBF-Pennsylvania webpage.

NewsClip: Stay Out of the Water on Harrisburg Beach

7/11/2008