FBRA Contamination Study of 2011

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 Potomac River. The most obvious indication of that is when the Virginia 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: 2 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.

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