Roy Exum
Lowndes County, where it is now believed 34 percent of its citizens have traces of the parasite hookworm, is located in the southern part of Alabama that we in the South know as the Black Belt. Most people believe that is because there are a disproportionate number of African Americans – which is true – but the real reason is the rich black river of soil that is found in Lowndes and nearby counties near the city of Montgomery.
Hookworm – actually a generic for a number of intestinal parasites – was all but eradicated by the 20th century, according to the CDC, but has made a comeback in poor areas and here’s where we need to pay close attention. The black dirt – where septic tanks are the norm -- doesn’t perk well. The “field lines” that move sewer away from the septic tanks – and Lord knows I’ve dug my mile of them – by design return the waste to the soil, where it will dissipate in due time; the system really works.
That is, if the ground perks. If not, the sewage comes to the surface where the parasite eggs hatch and are transmitted through the skin. Every time it rains, the raw sewage is carried away in the rainwater and – what? – flows to the lowest point in the watershed. Parasite eggs can flow for miles.
In the north end of our Hamilton County, there are a number of areas that don’t perk well. This is why – right now, today – there is Escherichia coli or “E.coli” in Savannah Bay and elsewhere in our water table. And this is why, on the last day of this month, our Waste Water Treatment Authority has been summoned to the “principal’s office” in Atlanta not to discuss this problem but to inform the Environmental Protection Agency what we are going to do about it. You don’t paddy-cake with the EPA – if they don’t like your plan, they promptly tell you theirs. As of ‘right now.’
I can safely say that nobody of sound mind wants a sewage treatment plan in their community. We all know that. But while I’m not a big fan of the WWTA (after they cut my water off one time), I am a huge sympathizer because there are no solutions any of us are going to like but within the next four weeks we must have a viable plan and schedule of response. Our WWTA is the only source we’ve got. Please note the “we.”
The best plan is a site on Mahan Gap Road. That’s because the watershed from about 20,000 acres flows “downhill” to the lowest part of the topography, which at that point is roughly 680 feet above sea level. Unfortunately, “we” have lacked the ‘tough love’ from our elected commissioners to move on what must be done.
This decision isn’t going away. It can be postponed no longer. It is also quite impossible to please everybody. The lone decision is to do what’s right, even if it makes you cry, even if everybody who will directly benefit from the new sewage center joins hands in a huge circle around the courthouse and sings “Kumbaya.” To “do nothing” any longer is translated by the EPA as “ostriching,” where you bury your head in the sand just minutes before the big boot kicks you quite convincingly in your sitter.
Our commissioners are politicians. They want the EPA to force the solution so they can vow they held out to the bitter end, that it is surely “criminal” what the EPA is forcing on us, that our government has no sanctity for our lives, and, most of all, “my principles prevent me from ever approving such an abomination.” Yet if they would adhere to equal parts of guts and gumption, embrace the EPA oversight, and encourage cooperation, we as a community would fare far better.
The idea to store raw sewage in tanks is idiotic. The hope we might build our waste facility in a neighboring county is equally absurd. Consultants have spent months studying this project and let’s be honest – the experts know far more than our commissioners what is urgent as well as at stake. For that matter, so does the EPA crowd who in four weeks will provide a solution if we do not.
Some years ago a real smart guy at the University of Minnesota -- professor of biosciences Timothy Johnson, Ph.D. -- wrote on his personal blog about E. coli to dispel the panic we have when it is announced we have E. coli and Salmonella in places like Savannah Bay and Wolftever. Here are some excerpts of what our scientists know to be true facts:
* * *
DR. TIM JOHNSON ON E. COLI AND WHAT IT MEANS TO OUR RIVERS AND LAKES
NOTE: This post originally appeared on the personal blog of University of Minnesota associate professor of biosciences Timothy Johnson, Ph.D. Professor Johnson’s research at the U of M College of Veterinary Medicine includes investigations into antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens, microbial communities in the animal gastrointestinal tract, and multidrug resistance of E. coli and Salmonella in both humans and animals.
* -- 1. WE ALL CARRY ABOUT 1,000,000 E. COLI CELLS per gram of feces in our guts. That’s right, over 1 million E. coli per gram of poop! If you are healthy, none of these E. coli are capable of causing gastrointestinal illness. In fact, gastrointestinal disease (i.e., diarrhea) due to E. coli is extremely rare in the U.S. and other industrialized countries. We tend to think of E. coli as bad because of the popular press, but, in actuality, these are important components of a healthy gut in animals (including us).
* -- 2. WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ANIMALS THAT CARRY E. COLI: Nearly every mammal and bird carries E. coli. And, there are many different “flavors” of E. coli. Some can colonize birds, some can colonize humans, some can colonize pigs, some can colonize cattle, and some can colonize all of these animals. So, one E. coli certainly does not equal all.
* -- 3. FECAL COLIFORM AND E. COLI COUNTS do not necessarily mean that pathogens capable of causing disease are in the water. It is very important to understand what “high E. coli levels” means when they are found in lakes. E. coli levels are established, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, through testing of water samples from Minnesota beaches. They take these samples and perform culturing of the samples to determine how many E. coli are present in 100 mL of water (100 mL is slightly more than 3 ounces of water).
Over a 30-day period, the number of E. coli cells should not exceed 200 per 100 mL of water, on average. Also, no single sample should ever exceed 1,000 E. coli cells per 100 mL of water. If these criteria are exceeded, then closure of a beach is recommended until the numbers of E. coli go down. Remember, these are generic counts of E. coli cells in the water. The actual source of these E. coli are unknown.
In fact, they likely originate from a multitude of possible sources, including human waste, bird droppings, agricultural run-off, or even naturally occurring E. coli present in the soil. In short, an E. coli count of 1,000 cells per 100 mL does not mean that there are 1,000 E. coli cells that can make you sick per 100 mL of water. It is actually quite likely that none of these E. coli will make you sick.
The reason that the department of health uses these criteria is based on the likelihood of pathogens (not just E. coli, but other pathogens as well) being present in the water based on the counts of E. coli as an “indicator organism.” This is a very conservative approach to estimate the possibility that pathogens are in the lake water.
* -- 4. WHAT ABOUT THE E. COLI that can cause disease? So let’s assume that the lake we are going to swim at does harbor some pathogenic E. coli or other pathogen. We have to consider something called “infectious dose,” or how many cells of the pathogen it actually takes to make you ill. Remember, I said before that at best, a small fraction of the E. coli present in lake water will actually be capable of causing disease in humans.
The only way it can make you sick is through oral ingestion (the infamous fecal-oral route). And, for healthy humans, the infectious dose of E. coli (only the ones able to cause disease) needs to be in the range of 100-10,000 cells. And, you can ingest these bacteria even if you don’t drink the lake water.
However, typically in order to acquire enough of the pathogenic bacteria you would have to swallow water, in my opinion. If you have young kids, you know all about swallowing water. Yes, it happens.
* -- 5. SHOULD I BE WORRIED? There really shouldn’t be any cause for major alarm when these alerts go out. The department of health is looking out for your best interests, with good reason, to prevent the occurrence of disease acquired through swimming. I am not recommending that you do not heed their warnings! These warnings are established, like I said, through a conservative approach to ensure that you don’t get sick when you swim.
In my opinion, most of these alerts are likely benign, and only a small percentage of “high E. coli level” lakes actually contain pathogens capable of causing human disease. However, I am not willing to play the pathogen lottery with my kids or my family, and I wouldn’t recommend that anyone do that. Until we have better and cheaper ways to measure pathogens in lake water, this is the best we have and it is in place for a reason.
There is no reason to panic. Like I said before, these E. coli can arise for a lot of different reasons, they don’t always correlate with microbes that can make you sick, and they will go down over time. So, my advice? Pick a different lake this week, and don’t hesitate to return to your favorite lake when the alert subsides!
Oh, and don’t blame the E. coli.
* * *
A Sewage Treatment Plant in North Hamilton County is inevitable, critical, necessary, and is solely for the betterment of every family of every person who opposes it. Our County Commission must do what is hard, unpopular, and distasteful in the quest of Hamilton County being the very best it can be. When the very area this sewage facility will serve is now in the top 10 growth areas of the state, we must have the infrastructure to serve all those who will be affected. It is, quite simply, the right thing to do, the only thing to do, and the best thing to do. So let’s wait not a day any longer. This circus must stop and we must move ahead.
* * *
“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
royexum@aol.com