FBRA Contamination Study Summer 2011

October 15, 2011

Herb Cover, Joe Hancharick, Janet Harrover, George Meadows

Background Fairview Beach has a long history of contamination problems in the . The most obvious indication of that is when the Department of Health (VDH) posts beach advisories after finding high levels of enterococci bacteria in a weekly test. Enterococci bacteria indicate the presence of fecal contamination, whether the source is mammal or bird. VDH performs these tests during the summer season, and posts the warning signs whenever the bacteria count exceeds 104 colony forming units (cfu) per 100ml of water. They currently sample at 3 locations: near the trailer park, in front of the Shore Store, and at 2nd Street.

Other evidence of contamination is the actual human waste observed along the one mile shoreline from Passapatanzy Creek to Fairview Beach. Karen Radley, a resident near the Passapatanzy Creek, reports that is quite common to find tampons and human waste along her beachfront. The same is true with residents as far downriver as 8th Street.

The grandson of a fisherman who has several fishing nets at the mouth of Passapatanzy Creek reported that it is common to find human waste and tissue in the nets. Dennis Fisher, who lives about 500 feet upriver from Fairview Beach, reports similar findings

Previous Studies on Problem Since VDH found extraordinarily high bacteria readings in the vicinity of Tim’s II restaurant, this was obviously a point of interest. VDH worked with Professor Hagedorn from Virginia Tech (under contract with the Department of Environmental Quality [DEQ]) to identify the source(s) of the bacteria.

Professor Hagedorn tested numerous samples in the general area of Tim’s II, and he found a significant spike at the end of a 200 foot drainpipe that carries a stream to the river in front of Tim’s II. This led to the discovery of broken sewer pipes and illegal hookups from a nearby trailer park that leaked sewage into the drain pipe. These problems were corrected.

VPI/VDH released a report in 2007 that summarizes their findings, and Jonathan Burkett of VDH also released a paper entitled Septic System Overflow of Fairview Beach Mobile Home Park. Both of these papers contain significant detail of the work, and they can be found on the Fairview Beach Web Site at www.fairviewbeach.org.

FBRA Role The Fairview Beach Residents’ Association (FBRA) began seeking ways to help expedite the process of identifying and correcting the source(s) of the contamination in the spring of 2011. 1

FBRA chaired a meeting with both VDH and DEQ officials at Fairview Beach on April 15th to discuss an all-out strategy to solve the problem.

Tommy Thompson and Jonathan Burkett of VDH volunteered to do more searching for sewer pipes and distribution boxes in the trailer park. As it turned out, they were unsuccessful. Mike Shrewsbury, manager of the property in question, told FBRA later that all of the sewer lines were now connected to public sewage.

Ed Stuart, a water compliance manager with DEQ, also attended the meeting. He assures that wastewater treatment facilities are operating correctly in the Northern Regional Office of Virginia. The region includes the wastewater treatment plant at Fairview Beach, as well as several other plants upriver such as Aquia and Quantico. The team would later find out that these plants discharge treated wastewater into the Potomac River or tributaries of the Potomac.

FBRA expressed an interest to test samples more often and at different places with different circumstances. FBRA felt that the VDH tests were too confined and too random. Although the VDH tests for enterococci are quite expensive, Jennifer Carlson of DEQ said that there was a cheaper alternative, namely the “Coliscan” kit. She suggested contacting James Beckley, a Quality Assurance Coordinator with DEQ, to learn more.

FBRA contacted Mr. Beckley and discovered that he would provide 100 Coliscan kits and training at no cost. (he provided another 100 kits in mid August) He and another representative from DEQ met with VDH, Mike Shrewsbury, and several residents at Fairview Beach on June 20th. He explained that the kits tested for the presence of E. Coli, rather than enterococci. Both of these bacteria indicate the presence of fecal contamination; E. Coli tends to “die off” more quickly in salt water. Sampling results are considered safe when the enterococci count is <104 cfu/100ml (salt water), and when the E. Coli count is < 235 cfu/100ml (fresh water).

Most of the residents who attended that meeting banded together to create a team to help find the source(s) of the contamination problem. The team consists of Herb Cover, Janet Harrover, George Meadows, and Joe Hancharick. The results of our testing through October 1, 2011 are described below. Please see Appendix A, which is a map that shows the sample locations.

Local Runoff At the beginning of the testing in late June, there was a general perception among residents that high bacteria counts were correlated with rain events. Consequently, our initial strategy was to test all sources of runoff in the vicinity of Fairview Beach. The runoff can take several paths to the river- natural streams, culverts, ditches, pipes, and over the bank. The team initially tested samples from the runoff, before it reached the river.

Local runoff is considered to be any runoff between Dennis Fisher’s property (about 500 feet upriver from Tim’s) and the FVB sewer plant dump site (about 75 feet downriver from the marina). On June 25th, the team identified the following locations of possible runoff:

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1.) The stream that ends under Dennis Fisher’s pier 2.) The stream that enters the drainpipe that empties at Tim’s II 3.) An impression in the sand behind the Shore Store 4.) Runoff at the end of Fairview Drive near the pump station 5.) Runoff (two places) at 2nd St 6.) Several small pipes emerging from seawall between 3rd and 4th 7.) Runoff at 5th St stairs 8.) The stream that ends on the beach at Littek’s house near 6th St 9.) The drainpipe at 8th St (in the water) 10.) Runoff at 10th St 11.) Runoff at 11th St

The team sampled all of these locations at different times. See below for results.

Results of Testing Local Runoff The samples that were collected with little or no recent rainfall showed very little, if any, bacteria. However, the samples that were collected within an hour of a rain event causing significant runoff showed significant amounts of bacteria. This was especially true on July 8th after a rainfall of 1.3 inches. Only 1 of 19 samples had a reading of less than 900 cfu/100ml. Most were in the thousands, and a few were TNTC (too numerous to count).

The highest reading of TNTC was found on both 10th and 11th Streets. Samples were taken on both sides of each street between Riverview Drive and Potomac Avenue. The readings were TNTC near the highpoint at Riverview Drive, and then fluctuated going downhill to Potomac Avenue. The runoff from both 10th and 11th streets converges with runoff from Potomac Avenue before emptying into the river. The bacteria count at the point of entry was about 3,000 cfu/100ml.

The second highest reading observed was 9,200 cfu/100ml, which came from a sample taken from a perforated corrugated pvc pipe in the sand behind the Shore Store. It wasn’t clear what the purpose of the pipe was. It did not appear that water from the pipe ever reached the river. Dye tests were conducted in the old bath house and the Shore Store nearby, but there were no leaks. No more analysis was performed.

Six of the 19 samples were taken from runoff at the river’s edge. They were from Dennis Fisher’s stream, 2nd St, 5th St, 10th St, 11th St, and 12th St. The readings from the 6 samples averaged 2,790 cfu/100ml. It is a fact that the “local” runoff is one source of contamination at Fairview Beach. However, the team has not tested the runoff and the river under these same conditions, so it is not known how high readings from the runoff impact the readings from the river.

Although the locations on 10th and 11th were obviously “hot spots” on July 8th, it is not known what made them “hot”. A significant number of animals have been spotted at the culverts on 11th St- cats, dogs, rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc. On the other hand, there could be leaks from the central sewage system. There exists an instrument called a fluorometer that measures optical brighteners (found in soap, etc), and that could say if the source is human on not. The 3 team has not been able to locate one yet. VDH has only one instrument statewide (in Virginia Beach) that would do the job, but no one knows how to use it.

Ed Stuart, the water compliance manager with DEQ, suggested that the team obtain a list of Fairview Beach residents who pay a sewage fee to the County. If there are residents who do not pay the fee, then it might be possible that a resident has a leaky septic system contributing to the problem. Mr. Stuart also provided the team with a map of the sanitary sewer collection system pipes within Fairview Beach (provided to DEQ by the King George County Service Authority). The team did request the list of residents as suggested, but has not received it yet. No further action was taken.

Testing in the Potomac River On July 18th, the team tested water from the river in front of the Trailer Park (VDH location 3), the Shore Store (VDH location 1), at 2nd St (VDH location 2), at 5th, 8th, and 11th Streets, and below the marina where the Fairview Beach Sewer Plant discharges treated waste. A representative from VDH also collected samples from the usual 3 locations at the same time. The water was calm, and there had been no rain event in the last few days.

The readings were extraordinarily low. The 3 VDH readings were all less than 10cfu/100ml with an average of 1. Our Coliscan readings showed a total of only 1 colony for all 7 samples, so our results were consistent with the VDH results.

Attention Switches to the Sediment On August 7th, the team collected waist deep samples from the river in the vicinity of Tim's restaurant, as well as points upriver and downriver. The samples showed NO bacteria. VDH collected samples the very next morning (20 hours later), and the two locations at Tim's restaurant exceeded the 104 standard with readings of 140 and 160. What happened in those 20 hours to cause this?

When the team collected samples on Sunday, the river was very calm. The river was still calm the next morning around 8:00AM. But when VDH collected their samples at 9:45, the river was described with "an incoming tide with an onshore wind which created about a 12" chop on the water. Few whitecaps, but nothing too rough". This would lead one to believe that high readings at Tim's occur after the river bed is agitated, which may or may not happen during a rain event.

The team then consulted with VDH to find out what the river conditions were when they previously reported high readings. Every time the water was rough and muddy, the readings were extraordinarily high. A former VDH employee once told us that he could almost forecast high bacteria readings based on the sight of the river- muddy, rough. Could it be that the bacteria “lives” in the sediment and is released with agitation? Or maybe the sediment is being “recharged” from Tim’s?

The team then consulted with Guy Booth (manager of Tim’s), and asked if it could run some dye tests through the restaurant. Mr. Booth assisted the team in checking the men’s toilets, the 4 women’s toilets, the grease trap in the kitchen, and a couple other places. Every time, the dye went straight to the manhole in front of Tim’s (which goes to the pump station at the end of Fairview Drive). There was no dye ever spotted in the river.

The team also collected a couple of samples from the river in front of Tim’s after agitating the sediment. No bacteria were found. The team also ran another test on the sand in front of the Shore Store. 50 grams of sand were collected near the water’s edge and mixed that with 300ml of distilled water. The container was agitated for 5 minutes, and then tested for bacteria. There were none.

On September 10th, samples were taken from the river, waist deep, at Dennis Fisher’s place, the Shore Store, 2nd St, 5th St, 8th St, and 11th St. Samples were also collected at those same locations farther out in the river at shoulder depth. The samples close in showed E. Coli bacteria counts between 200 and 250 cfu/100ml, while the samples farther out showed NO E. Coli.

High concentrations of other bacteria, red in color, were detected in the samples taken close to shore, but not found in the samples taken farther out in the river (see figure below). According to Micrology Laboratories, which manufactures the Coliscan kits, the red bacteria are probably Aeromonas, another type of bacteria. The results of the tests on September 10th suggest that high concentrations of several kinds of bacteria might hug the shoreline in other places than Tim's II.

From left to right, visible plates include samples from Shore Store, 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th Streets. The plates on the bottom row show bacteria from shallow waters; the plates on the top row show bacteria from deeper waters.

Human Waste in the River It was mentioned earlier in this report that several residents have observed human waste in the Potomac River. One theory, supported by Ed Stuart with DEQ, is that boats large enough to be equipped with restroom facilities periodically discharge human waste into the river. This is feasible, since this is an option for lazy boaters who would rather not bother with disposing of waste in a proper manner. There are no local marinas that offer the use of a wastewater discharge station. 5

Another theory supported by local residents is that wastewater treatment plants upriver discharge untreated sewage that eventually reaches the Potomac River. As the waste flows down the river, it could easily spin off (centrifugal force) and settle at Fairview Beach. Note the figure below that shows that the river is shaped like a parabola with Fairview Beach at the vertex.

In order to identify the waste treatment plants upriver, the team contacted Mr. Burton Tuxford with the Office of Water Permits and Compliance Assistance of DEQ in Richmond, VA. He provided a list of all Virginia facilities and individuals who are permitted to discharge treated waste into the Potomac and Basin.

Upon receipt, the team then identified the plants upriver from Fairview Beach: Alexandria City (3), Arlington County (3), Fairfax County (16), Fairfax City (2), Manassas City (1), Prince William County (14), and Stafford County (4). The team did not identify similar plants in or Washington, D.C. that also discharge treated waste to the Potomac River, though they do exist.

According to Mr. Stuart, the DEQ monitors these facilities, and only one of these sites has any history of discharging untreated waste. This is the City of Alexandria’s Combined Sewer System which conveys both sewage and storm water runoff to a wastewater treatment plant not owned by the City. The System does not have the capacity to handle the huge combined volume, so consequently, it is actually permitted to discharge untreated waste into the Oronoco Bay (adjacent to the Potomac River). There could be an automatic overflow of untreated sewage whenever there is more than ¼ inch of rain in Alexandria.

Evidently it's prohibitively expensive to upgrade the sanitary sewer collection system to remedy the problem. Although the DEQ and Environmental Protection Agency are focusing on the problem, it’s anybody’s guess as to when corrections will be made.

Birds

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In samples taken in 2007, Professor Hagedorn determined through DNA analysis of the bacteria that 57% of the bacteria source was birds. Based on this fact, the team began looking for large concentrations of birds. The team learned that the Van Valzah family operated one of the largest chicken farms in the state of Virginia, and wondered if this could be a source of the bacteria. However, the business shut down over 40 years ago, and most experts said that it was unlikely that the farm could now be a contributor.

Another possibility is geese and swans. There are a significant number of geese that inhabit a private beach owned by the Radleys about a mile upriver from Fairview Beach near the mouth of Passapatanzy Creek. According to Ms. Karen Radley, there are also large flocks of swan that live up in that creek. Both of these birds are infamous for their droppings.

The team has limited test results so far. Ms. Radley collected a sample from the river near the geese, and also collected a sample from the Passapatanzy Creek. Neither sample showed significant bacteria.

Summary and Future Efforts Significant E. Coli bacteria counts were found routinely in runoff along the streets of Fairview Beach during flash floods. High counts of bacteria were also routinely found in shallow (but not deep) waters of the river when the river was turbulent and muddy. These results were consistent, regardless of the amount of rain fall.

It is not known if the host contributor of the bacteria present in heavy runoff is human or not. A fluorometer could shed more light if available. If the source is human, that would probably indicate a leak in the central sewer system. The King George Service Authority has offered to perform smoke tests to check for leaks. This could be pursued in future efforts.

The source of the bacteria found in shallow waters of the river near Tim’s II is still unknown. However, the team did eliminate the old bath house, the Shore Store, and Tim’s II restaurant as possible sources with comprehensive dye testing. The team also tested agitated sediment and sand once, and found no bacteria. However, there have been studies indicating that E. Coli can survive indefinitely in sand and sediment. The team will take a few samples during the fall and winter to see if the bacteria are still present.

Preliminary testing at points upriver and downriver from Tim’s II suggest that significant E. Coli may not be localized to the vicinity of Tim’s II. Additional testing upriver all the way to Passapatanzy Creek, when the river is rough and muddy, may be informative.

Several residents and a commercial fisherman have observed human waste upriver from Tim’s II, especially at the mouth of Passapatanzy Creek. The team learned of two possibilities for the source. One theory is that boats with restroom facilities periodically discharge their waste into the river rather than at a disposal station. The second possibility is that the source of the waste is a discharge from a wastewater treatment plant upriver or an overflow from a sanitary sewer collection system before it reaches the treatment plant. It is a fact that the City of Alexandria Combined Sewer System could discharge untreated sewage into the Potomac River anytime

7 there is ¼ inch of rain in Alexandria (discharges from this system are based on the duration of and intensity of the wet weather event).

Geese and swan could be another source of contamination at Fairview Beach. More testing needs to be performed before any conclusions can be drawn.

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APPENDIX A

The cluster of pins cover Fairview Beach. The 2 pins to the left are near Passapatanzy Creek. You are looking at a 1.75 miles of shoreline.

One mile of shoreline from Dave Williams property on the left to the Marina on the right

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