THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602170361
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Virginia health officials reopened the lower James River to shellfish harvesting Friday but kept the rest of the river closed due to high levels of bacteria.
The middle to upper reaches of the James, where some of Virginia's last active public oyster grounds are found, will remain closed until next week and perhaps longer, said Robert Croonenberghs, state director of shellfish sanitation.
The entire river was shut for the first time in seven years on Jan. 30 after a rush of floodwaters carrying animal wastes, sewage overflows from Richmond, and other pollutants created unsanitary conditions for catching oysters and clams.
But tests last Friday and Monday showed that fecal coliform bacteria had returned to safe levels south of the James River Bridge, which crosses at Isle of Wight County and Hampton, said Croonenberghs.
The Virginia Department of Health decided to wait a few more days before reopening these lower waters Friday morning as a precaution, he said. The area is where most clamming is done on the James.
``(The clams) were probably fine, but we're talking public health, and we wanted to give them a little more time to purge themselves,'' Croonenberghs said.
Fecal coliform, a bacteria found in the feces of warm-blooded animals, does not sicken shellfish directly but can spread disease or cause intestinal problems in people who eat tainted clams or oysters.
A spokesman for the Virginia Marine Patrol, which enforced the river closure, said Friday that no watermen violated the ban by collecting and selling shellfish.
``The last thing they need is for someone to eat some bad clams and get sick,'' said spokesman Wilford Kale. ``That could ruin their whole season. So they pretty much stay away when the Health Department steps in.''
Scientists, meanwhile, are studying whether the rush of pollutants resulting from a fast melt of near-record snows this winter will have much of an impact on the Chesapeake Bay.
Ray Alden, director of the Applied Marine Research Lab at Old Dominion University, is participating in a long-term study of river flows in the Bay. Alden said problems could occur if flooding continues through the spring.
``You could see an elevated number of algae blooms,'' which rob water of oxygen and can lead to fish kills and poor water quality, Alden said. ``But we need to see if these heavy flows continue.''
The downstream flows are loaded with such pollutants as sediment and pesticides from farm fields, oil and fuel from parking lots, and city streets and sewage that overflowed a Richmond treatment plant from Jan. 20 to Jan. 22. Not since 1989 has the state been forced to close the James due to such runoff contamination, officials have said.
To reopen the river, health officials need to see two consecutive water tests showing safe bacteria levels, Croonenberghs explained. Tests north of the James River Bridge to Hog Island remained ``extremely high'' this week, he said.
Health officials will take more samples in these waters next week. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
THE BACTERIA
Fecal coliform, a bacteria found in the feces of warm-blooded
animals, does not sicken shellfish directly but can spread disease
or cause intestinal problems in people who eat tainted clams or
oysters.
by CNB