Photo by William Hardy.

PLAYING IN THE WATER is not a harmless bit of fun in Southern Maryland this year.  According to Charles County Health Department testing, the county’s rivers and streams frequently harbor vast colonies of enterococci bacteria: the type of bacteria usually found in human and many animal feces. 

“…it even seems to me that the situation is more grave this year, in that the test results are worse at more locations, and earlier in the year,”  Kurt Wolfgang, local attorney and Nanjemoy resident, told The Bay Net.

For the last couple of years, Charles County has tested our recreational waterways during their peak use season, Memorial Day to Labor Day.  The results are available on the county Health Department website. Port Tobacco and Nanjemoy Conservation groups also test our streams and tributaries in their areas.

When enterococci bacteria enter the human bloodstream, it can infect wounds, heart valves (endocarditis), the urinary tract, the bloodstream itself (bacteraemia), and the brain (meningitis).  These are not the kinds of things people want to bring home with them after a relaxing day on the river, or after mucking about in a stream.

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Photo by H. Bartlett for TheBayNet.com.

How Bad Is It?

At the beginning of June, half of Charles County’s twelve recreational water testing sites had bacteria levels well above the maximum limit.  Four of them were double and triple the safety limit. 

The Port Tobacco River conservation area reported that eight of its thirteen testing sites had extremely unsafe bacteria levels.  In the Nanjemoy Creek Conservancy area, all but one of its five test sites contained dangerous bacteria quantities.  Nanjemoy Creek Conservancy’s Mill Run testing location earns notoriety for its score of 890 mpn/L.  The safe level for freshwater is below 61 mpn/L, so Mill Run contains nearly fifteen times more bacteria than is safe to come in contact with.

“This is not only an environmental emergency; this is a public health emergency. And our government needs to move much, much faster to solve it,” said Wolfgang. 

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Wolfgang told The Bay Net that failing septic systems, sewer pipe overflows, and sewage treatment plant spills are a significant source of the high bacteria levels we’re seeing this summer.

On the other hand, Mark Williams, Charles County Health Department Environmental Division supervisor, told The Bay Net that bacteria source tracking research studies indicate that humans typically make only a 4–20% contribution to the levels of enterococci bacteria in our waterways.

Williams feels that wild animals, livestock and the increased Canada Geese population contribute much greater amounts of the bacteria to our local waterways than do failing septic systems, boaters, and sewage treatment overflow.   He also explained that lower water levels and higher summer temperatures concentrate bacteria levels and increase their growth rate.  Less rain also means a greater concentration of bacteria in the storm water runoff when it finally does rain. 

“[Testing] samples spike within two days after a rain then it tapers off.  That’s telling me a significant portion of this [bacteria] comes from runoff, not failing septic systems,” he explained.

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Photo by William Hardy.

What to Do

According to Williams, most of the hazardous level maximums are based on swimming; in other words, prolonged submerged contact.  He encourages residents who come in contact with our waterways, for recreation or otherwise, to take precautions.  People with open cuts or sores and people with weaker immune systems (including children and the elderly) are particularly susceptible. 

“That risk can vary hour to hour with temperature and depth.  The [testing] program’s about realizing what you’re in and what the risk is,” said Williams.  He encourages residents to call the health department if they see a sewage treatment plant problem, a failing septic system or boater pollution; the health department will help fix the problem. 

Williams called buffer zones of grass and trees between pasture or yards and waterways “a tremendous help” in reducing the bacteria levels in storm water runoff.  He also encourages pet owners to pick up their animals’ waste, on their private property and off, so it doesn’t run into our waterways after a storm.

During last year’s county election race, Wolfgang and nine other candidates for the commissioners’ seats sent a letter to the Board of Commissioners listing suggestions for lowering the harmful bacteria levels in the county’s waterways.  The candidates wanted the County to begin “more comprehensive testing to isolate the sources of pollution”; stop those sources through grants to fix them or citations to punish them; assign responsibility for our waterways’ quality to some portion of County government; and set a timeline by which the waterways will be restored to better condition.

Current Commissioners Samuel N. Graves, Jr. (D – District 1) and Reuben B. Collins II (D – District 3) agreed with the proposal and signed the document.  Commissioner Gary V. Hodge (D – District 4), and one other candidate at the time, did not sign. 

“I am absolutely disgusted, as are others, with the [County’s] lack of progress on this,” Wolfgang told The Bay Net.

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