THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9509300280
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
City Hall's got a duck problem at Lake Trashmore.
More precisely, there's too much duck poop in the man-made lake next to Mount Trashmore.
How much poop? According to preliminary results of a yearlong water study, animal waste is a key reason why Lake Trashmore has excessive levels of fecal coliform, a bacteria that can carry diseases.
High bacteria counts forced the lake closed to human contact in 1990, a move that shut a popular boat-rental center at the park.
Now, the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Department is making a new push to remedy the problem so visitors can again rent canoes and paddle boats. Also, the city hopes to showcase a revamped lake at a planned Earth Day celebration next May.
``We'd really, really like to have the lake open for recreational use by this spring,'' said Valerie King, a parks district supervisor.
Which brings us back to the ducks, a popular park attraction themselves, especially among children. The 55-acre lake is home to hundreds of mallards, Canada geese, Muscovys, snow geese - and, of course, their poop.
When the city Public Works Department released its preliminary study results this week to City Council, an odd suggestion soon emerged: Maybe the ducks should go.
``It's a fair question, something the community needs to think about,'' said Councilwoman Louisa Strayhorn, who represents the Kempsville area, including Mount Trashmore.
``Are you going to tell me we can't do anything because we've got too many ducks and people can't use the park? I've got a problem with that,'' Strayhorn said. ``Personally, I think the park's for people. I know some people won't like to hear me say that. But that's how I feel. Our kids need recreational outlets.''
Actually, relocating ducks is not that unusual, said Phil Egghorn, a program manager at the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, who has several such projects in the works.
A permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is needed to trap and move wild ducks, Egghorn said, but no permits are required to transport domestic ducks. Both wild and domestic species can be found at Lake Trashmore.
Officials still are hopeful they won't have to consider a massive duck lift. Mark Johnson, a city engineer and public works administrator, said his department is researching a treatment system that would filter pollutants from the lake. The pollutants not only come from ducks but also from storm drains that empty into the lake.
Johnson also said the city could simply thin the duck population or perhaps build a wetlands habitat that would soak up some of the wastes.
In its preliminary report, the city found fecal coliform levels routinely in excess of the state standard for recreational waters. The standard is 200 colonies per 100 milliliters of water; some readings in Lake Trashmore were ``in the thousands of colonies,'' said Johnson.
Virginia Beach has never allowed swimming in the lake, which opened in 1975. Fishing is permitted, but the city advises consumers to throughly cook fish pulled from the lake to lower the risks of bacteria contamination, officials said.
A final report on water-quality problems at Lake Trashmore is expected in early October.
City officials say it's doubtful the cleanup would be complete by next spring, as the parks department had hoped. ILLUSTRATION: Above: L. TODD SPENCER; below: File
Michelle and James Buchanan buy dated bread at a bakery and take it
about twice a week to their feathered friends at Lake Trashmore.
Because of bird waste, Lake Trashmore has excessive levels of fecal
coliform, a bacteria that can carry diseases.
[File]
Days gone by. . .
Workers prepare rowboats for the 1989 season at Lake Trashmore.
KEYWORDS: LAKE TRASHMORE MOUNT TRASHMORE POLLUTION by CNB