E. coli testing at Lake Newport yields fairly low bacteria counts


By Jordyn Grzelewski

jgrzelewski@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Results from E. coli testing at Lake Newport and other Mill Creek MetroParks waterways released Friday showed counts that, for the most part, were below the threshold the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency considers to represent a potential public-health risk.

The Mahoning County District Board of Health is in week nine of a 12-week program that was initiated in an attempt to establish a baseline E. coli-level for the lake. Health board technicians collect two samples each from nine sites throughout the park each week and after significant rain events; the board recently expanded the number of sites to nine in an attempt to determine why counts consistently were higher at one testing location in Mill Creek.

The program is a response to earlier testing, done in response to a massive fish kill in the lake, that found elevated E. coli counts in the water. MetroParks waterways have been closed for recreational use since July.

Samples were collected Wednesday from the Lake Newport boathouse on West Newport Drive, a footbridge over Mill Creek just north of Shields Road, the Lake Newport boat launch, a bridge at Smythe Island in the Newport Wetlands, the wetlands shore at Smythe Island, a walking trail off U.S. Route 224 near the golf course, Old Calla Road near the Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, the Cranberry Run inlet and the Anderson Run inlet.

All samples yielded counts below the OEPA threshold of 576 colony forming units per 100 milliliters of water, except for counts of 876 and 668 at the Old Calla Road site. Samples collected at Anderson Run came close, at 560 and 416.

“The sampling will continue through the week of Oct. 12, 2015, and the data will then be analyzed in order to look for potential problem areas as well as trends or correlations between weather and the levels of E. coli in Lake Newport,” said Ryan Tekac, environmental-health director for the health board, in a statement.

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