Sample From Tributary Of Barber Creek That Received Oconee County Sewer Spill Shows Excessively High Levels Of E. Coli Bacter

Volunteers with the Upper Oconee Watershed Network have found excessively high levels of E. coli bacteria in a water sample drawn late last week from the unnamed tributary to Barber Creek that received raw sewage from a spill on Aug. 21.

The volunteers also reported excessively high and roughly equal levels of the bacteria in Barber Creek itself below the inflow from the tributary and upstream from the inflow from the tributary, suggesting that the spill has not had lasting negative impact on Barber Creek.

Oconee County itself reported, based on samples it drew from Barber Creek on the day of the spill, that “the spill caused no serious changes” to Barber Creek.

The county did not provide data on the impact of the spill on the small tributary, which flows above ground only a short distance before reaching Barber Creek just downstream from the new Mars Hill Road bridge.

The county also tested for fecal coliform, which the federal Environmental Protection Agency holds is a “poor indicator” of health risk from recreational water contact involving fresh water though it is still commonly used–with a higher standard--as a measure of contamination of drinking water.

For more on the story, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Site of sampling from tributary to Barber Creek.