E. coli levels in Lake Newport down from tests done earlier this week

October 10, 2015 at 12:02a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Results from week 11 of the 12-week testing program at Lake Newport, released Friday by the Mahoning County District Board of Health, showed a decline in E. coli counts compared with testing done earlier in the week after rainfall.

Two out of nine sampling sites throughout Mill Creek MetroParks yielded elevated levels of the bacteria; samples collected from Indian Run had counts of 1,400 and 2,000 colony forming units per 100 milliliters of water and those taken near the Anderson Run inlet had counts of 1,400 and 700.

The Mahoning County District Board of Health has reported that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency considers counts of 576 and above to represent a potential public-health risk. Samples collected at the other seven locations Wednesday had counts below that level.

Samples collected Monday, however, all had elevated counts.

“The collection on Wednesday was for the normal weekly sampling, and the levels of E. coli have declined following Monday’s sampling, which took place 48 hours after a rainfall event. The testing program will continue through the week of Oct. 12, 2015, and the results will then be examined in order to look for potential problem areas as well as trends or relationships between weather and the levels of E. coli in Lake Newport,” said Ryan Tekac, environmental-health director for the county health board, in a release.

Mill Creek MetroParks waterways have been closed for recreational use since July after earlier testing found elevated E. coli levels. That testing was done in response to a massive fish kill in Lake Newport in June.