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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, March 5, 2002
| Contact: | Linda
Hofstad,
Environmental Health Specialist, 360-754-4111, Ext. 7314 | | Mark Swartout, Natural Resource Program Manager, 360-709-3079 | | Art Starry, Environmental health Director, 360-786-5456 |
TESTS SHOW
POSSIBLE HENDERSON INLET POLLUTION SOURCES
OLYMPIA – A scientific evaluation of bacterial pollution sources for
the southern portion of Henderson Inlet shows the E-coli bacteria comes from a
variety of human, animal and bird sources.
The study ran from February of 2000 through May of 2001 and was a
cooperative effort of Thurston County Environmental Health and Doctor Mansour
Samadpour of the University of Washington.
The final report was finished in late January and is now being released
to the public. The testing looked
at the DNA of E-coli bacteria found in the waters of Woodland Creek and two
small creeks near Swayne Drive, which empty into Henderson Inlet and in
samples collected from marine waters and sediments in Henderson Inlet.
Those findings were then compared to E-coli types from a library of
samples kept by Doctor Samadpour.
Environmental Health Specialist Linda Hofstad says, “We were able to
match the pollution samples with known sources 87-percent of the time, which
is very high for this type of research.”
Among the findings-
·
The
“picture” of non-point pollution in Henderson Inlet showed fecal coliform
bacteria came from 27 different types of animals.
·
The
more urban Woodland Creek watershed showed the main sources were human,
canine, birds and dogs.
·
The
more rural Swayne Creek watershed revealed the main sources were birds,
canine, deer and rodents.
The DNA typing study was undertaken as part of the larger investigation
into bacterial pollution that has caused the closure of commercial shellfish
beds in some areas of Henderson Inlet. A
similar closure has impacted some areas of the Nisqually Reach.
Hofstad says the
information will be helpful in designing plans to recover water quality.
“While these results are specific to Henderson Inlet, they will be
useful to people who are trying to address non-point pollution in other areas.
They confirm that non-point pollution really comes from many locations
and that we need to consider a variety of sources if we are going to be
successful in our efforts to improve water quality in Henderson Inlet.”
The information from the study will be passed along to the stakeholder
group that is currently being formed for a Shellfish Protection District for
Henderson Inlet. A similar group
is being formed for the Nisqually Reach District.
The groups will help form action plans for recovery of water quality in
the two areas. Natural Resource
Program Manager Mark Swartout says, “The information will be valuable to the
stakeholder groups as they develop strategies to reduce bacterial pollution
from those sources which we have some control over.”
Copies of the DNA report are available on the Thurston County web site
at www.co.thurston.wa.us/shellfish/. Also available at that address is additional information
regarding the Shellfish Protection Districts.
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