Mixed results in latest E. coli testing at Mill Creek Park waterways

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County District Board of Health today released E. coli test results from its 12-week testing program in Mill Creek MetroParks that for the first time include an expanded number of test sites.

Results from nine locations throughout the park yielded mixed results; most counts were below the threshold of 576 that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency considers a potential public health threat.

Health board officials announced Wednesday they would expand the number of sites, which for the first seven weeks of the program included three locations. That adjustment was made after previous testing yielded similar results: one sample location, a footbridge over Mill Creek just north of Shields Road, consistently had higher E. coli counts.

“The additional samples will continue to be collected in an attempt to isolate areas that may have contributed to the elevated E. coli levels in previous testing weeks,” said Ryan Tekac, environmental health director, in a statement.

The testing program was initiated after previous testing found elevated levels of E. coli in Lake Newport. Mill Creek MetroParks staff closed its waterways to the public in July.

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