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Water, Fish Tests Encouraging, Officials Say

Posted on: Monday, 24 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

By AMY WOLD

So far, so good when it comes to south Louisiana's water quality in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. During a conference- call news briefing Friday, federal environmental officials, as well as officials from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama agreed that recent water and fish tests are encouraging.

Ben Grumbles, assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water, said recent water test results taken in the Mississippi River and near the coastline show that bacteria levels are low enough to even allow swimming.

The testing at 20 different monitoring sites was done between Sept. 27 and Oct. 2.

Grumbles said that at four of the stations, a bacteria known as enterococcus was found at levels of 10 to 53.1 colony forming units (CFU) per 100 milliliters. The bacteria is an indicator of sewage in the water.

Those levels are well below the marine water standard of 500 CFU per 100 milliliters and freshwater standard of 151 CFU per 100 milliliters, he said.

However, Grumbles was quick to caution, those results doesn't mean that it's OK to eat raw or undercooked shellfish from these waters.

"These preliminary results are encouraging, but we need to keep on guard," Grumbles said.

He said that continued testing of water and fish will be done to watch for any contaminants that may accumulate in species.

Steve Murawski, with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the agency is concentrating on the safety of seafood for human consumption.

"Based on data we've analyzed, we do not see a significant threat to the seafood supply," Murawski said.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration representative, Don Kraemer, agreed.

"FDA has no reason to question the commercially available seafood from the Gulf of Mexico," he said.

Part of the reason for that confidence, Kraemer said, is that the harvest of oysters and other shellfish is closed until further notice. Test results from other fisheries, such as shrimp or fish, haven't shown any problems, he said.

Chris Piehler, a senior environmental scientist at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said it's good news that widespread contamination of the water and fish hasn't been found.

Piehler said the state is waiting for additional fish samples that are being run through an FDA laboratory. He said that will give a picture of the condition of commercial fisheries in the short term, although he agreed that long-term monitoring needs to continue.

In addition, Piehler said, DEQ is extending the water monitoring into the Barataria estuary and into the Breton Sound area, now that those areas can be accessed by staff.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

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