When it rains, it poos

Fecal bacteria-filled water is being dumped into the James River by overflows in Richmond’s combined sewer system. Data show that 26 combined sewer release points overflowed at least once into the James during the month of August alone.

Some of the release points overflowed as many as three times.

According to the Richmond Department of Public Utilities Web site, combined sewer overflow (CSO) is a discharge of untreated storm and wastewater from a combined sewer into the environment. When combined sewers fill up with too much water from heavy rainfall, CSO can occur and be released into the James.

Leonard A. Smock, VCU Rice Center for Environmental Life Sciences director, stated in an e-mail, “The city has made great strides toward having separate storm and sewer systems, but the job is not yet complete in some areas of the city. During heavy rainfall, fecal bacteria levels often rise in the river due to the combined system.”

These CSOs are discharged directly to the river at overflow points in the sewer system. There are 29 CSO release points along the James River. The major overflow points are located along the banks of the James and Gillies Creek.

A recent request by Richmond to increase allowable levels of fecal bacteria in part of the already contaminated James River was unanimously rejected by the State Water Control Board.

The section of the river, which stretches from the Mayo Bridge in Richmond to Hopewell, includes Great Shiplock Park and the Richmond dock, both popular fishing areas. As recently as August 2008, the James River has violated the limits regarding fecal bacteria.

The Water Control Board voted 7-0 against the city’s request.

“We are tasked with ensuring Virginia’s water quality
standards are met, and do that in a variety of ways,” stated Allison Dunaway, the regional enforcement manager for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Piedmont office, in an e-mail. “When we issue permits, we ensure the discharge won’t violate or cause a violation of our water quality standards.”

Bill Hayden, DEQ regional director of public affairs, failed respond to informational requests.

The limit for E. coli bacteria is a geometric mean 126 bacteria colonies per 100 milliliters of water. The city requested the level be raised to 206 colonies per 100 milliliters.

The main contributor to James River contamination is Nonpoint Source Pollution, caused by storm water running over land and picking up pollutants such as septic tank overflows and pet waste. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site states NPS is the nation’s largest water-quality problem. NPS occasionally causes sewer overflows, which are released into the James.

“I think it’s awful that (CSO) overflows into the river. They need to somehow make the system bigger where they can control the overflow,” said Greg Mondello, a VCU alumnus who earned a degree in parks, recreation and sports management with a minor in environmental studies.

“This is a huge problem with no easy fix,” Mondello said. “The city needs to really focus on this issue and put money into it, whatever it costs.”

According to the Virginia DEQ Web site, water samples taken from numerous locations along the James are tested for E. coli bacteria, which are indicators for the presence of harmful bacteria.

CSOs – Combined Sewer Overflows: A discharge of untreated storm and wastewater from a combined sewer system into the environment.

NPS – Nonpoint Source Pollution: Storm water which runs over land and picks up pollutants such as septic tank overflows, pet and livestock waste.

E. coli – From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site: Escherichia coli (abbreviated as E. coli) are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can make you sick. Some kinds of E. coli can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia and other illnesses. Still other kinds of E. coli are used as markers for water contamination-so you might hear about E. coli being found in drinking water, which are not themselves harmful, but indicate the water is contaminated. It does get a bit confusing-even to microbiologists.