Thursday, April 13, 2006

E-mail this  |  Print page

River users could face water-quality dangers
Relaxed standards would be tied to current speed

By James Bruggers
jbruggers@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Environmental standards put in place to protect swimmers and boaters who use the Ohio River could be weakened under a change proposed by the commission overseeing water quality on the 981-mile-long waterway.

The change would mean that on rainy days, or just after, during the river's period of heaviest recreational use -- May through October -- bacteria levels could be 10 times higher before being considered out of compliance with standards for body contact.

The standards for fecal coliform and E. coli, which are associated with human and animal waste, are meant to protect river users from getting infections if contaminated water gets into a cut, or to safeguard them from gastrointestinal illnesses after an unintended drink.

When the standards are exceeded, agencies are required to investigate the cause, which can lead to penalties for polluters. No such standards are in force for the other months of the year because the river is not used as much then.

A less strict standard set for treatable drinking water would remain in place.

Officials said they are not trying to allow the river, which is much cleaner than it was 35 years ago, to get dirtier. Three decades ago, the river would not have been considered safe for swimming or other body contact any day of the year.

Instead, officials said they want to establish what they described as more realistic standards that recognize that pollution goes up during and after heavy rains -- periods when fewer people would potentially be exposed.

"What we are saying, under extreme high flows, recreation (activities and standards) may not apply," said Peter Tennant, deputy executive director of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission.

To accomplish that, the commission, taking the lead from policies in place in Kansas, proposes to abandon its recreational standards whenever the river flows faster than 2 mph from May through October.

The reasoning is that the river flows faster when swollen with rain, and a current of 2 mph is too strong to make recreation safe, Tennant said.

Not so, said Charles "Mac" McClure, husband of Louisville's record-setting rower, Tori Murden-McClure. The river can be safe for experienced rowers at higher speeds, he said.

Penny Kephart, a kayaker from Louisville, agreed, and noted that the area below the McAlpine Dam near Falls of the Ohio State Park is a major whitewater attraction.

After a rain, she said, "you've got all that (polluted) run-off. It makes people sick. Water quality should be getting better, not worse."

Richard Ruggieri, who coaches the University of Louisville women's rowing team, said coaches and rowers are careful to make sure that their daily workouts in the river are safe. He said a river speed of 2 mph would not be enough on its own to keep them out of the water.

The team, which is in the water from August through October and March through May, has witnessed the river gaining popularity for people with boats and personal watercraft, he said.

"It's a great river," Ruggieri said. "I would hate to see it go backward."

Kentucky Waterways Alliance is challenging the proposal in public comments. It contends that it is inappropriate to use river velocity alone to determine when to relax standards.

Some people use the river for boating when it's flowing faster than 2 mph, said Judith Peterson, the alliance's executive director.

"One of the central issues here is making sure the river is as clean as it can be when people are out there. . Unfortunately what ORSANCO is proposing does nothing to protect or clean up the river," she said.

To understand how the proposed rule change might affect the Louisville area, The Courier-Journal analyzed National Weather Service river data showing estimated daily velocity from January 2005 through April 3.

The result is an uncertain picture because the McAlpine Locks and Dam influences river speed.

For example, on the same day, river speed can be greater than 2 mph in the lower pool -- below the locks and dam -- but much slower on the upper pool.

That was the situation much of last week after storms.

The newspaper's analysis shows that during May through October 2005, the river below the locks flowed at estimated speeds faster than 2 mph on 39 days, or 21 percent of the time.

But in the upper pool, 2 mph was topped on just five days, or about 3 percent of the time, although officials noted that river flow last summer was less than normal.

^^  Back to top

E-mail this

Print this

Subscribe

RSS feeds