Oklahoma tests on river show low levels of harmful bacteria

Oklahoma tests on river show
low levels of harmful bacteria

BY ROBERT J. SMITH

Samples pulled from the Illinois River on May 21 by the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission showed low levels of fecal matter in the water.

The samples taken at six sites on the Illinois River and at two tributaries showed low levels of enterococci and Escherichia coli, known as E. coli.

Such samplings will take place each Sunday and Wednesday this summer as a way to determine the necessity to protect those who recreate in the river, said Ed Fite, director of the scenic rivers commission.

The commission will spend about $ 6, 000 on sampling this summer and use the results to determine whether advisories should be issued to warn the public about bacteria.

The tests aren’t connected to the federal lawsuit filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson against eight Arkansas poultry companies, Fite said. Edmondson alleges in U. S. District Court in Tulsa that fecal bacteria in poultry litter threatens human health in the Illinois River watershed.

Oklahoma believes poultry farmers are responsible for the bacteria in the river that causes diarrhea and other illnesses.

“This may overlap with the lawsuit, but it’s not intended to fuel the lawsuit,” Fite said. “It’s intended to show what the river is like when people are using the river.” The low levels of the two types of fecal bacteria were discussed cautiously by officials in Edmondson’s office who didn’t want to make too much of the samples.

Edmondson, during a nineday hearing that ended in March, asked a federal judge to ban poultry litter spreading in the watershed.

“The bacteria levels in the river change from day to day depending on the flow and recent rains,” said Charlie Price, an Edmondson spokesman. “During the motion hearing, we presented a history of U. S. Geological Survey samples that proved high levels of dangerous bacteria in the water.

“ If the tests are accurate, it’s good news for that day and location,” he said. “We are pleased the regulatory agencies have taken the testimony of our experts to heart and will be testing the river twice weekly.” But a poultry company spokesman on Wednesday used the samples to rebut the information presented by Edmondson during the hearing.

“The reports of these sampling results appear to be consistent with the evidence that we presented to the court at the preliminary injunction hearing which showed that Mr. Edmondson’s claims of unsafe bacteria levels in the Illinois River are unfounded exaggerations,” said Jackie Cunningham, a spokesman for the Poultry Community Council, an Oklahoma organization created by the poultry companies in the lawsuit to educate the public about the poultry industry.

Gerald Hilsher, a scenic rivers commissioner, was reluctant to make too much of the first samples.

“We need a few weeks of sampling before we should be making any suggestion of what this means,” Hilsher said.

Fite on Wednesday wasn’t about to get drawn into a conversation about what the first results mean, either.

“I’m going to be the only person pulling the samples for the most part,” Fite said. “I want to make sure it’s done right and done consistently.”