As you look down at the river, flowing slowly by the sandbars and the forested hillsides, you may wonder what the problem is. The river appears relatively clean and looks like an inviting place to swim, canoe, fish, or just go wading on a sunny afternoon. Such activities were once quite common in Tangipahoa Parish before the safety of the river was questioned - first in a master's thesis written by a graduate student, and then by a group of Girl Scouts who used the river for sporting and recreational activities at a camp each summer. Now the warning signs, placed there by both the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and DEQ, are signs of change on the river. In October 1987, the Girl Scouts of America wrote to the Governor and the Secretary of DEQ, requesting that the Tangipahoa River be investigated thoroughly to determine its safety for fishing and swimming. DEQ responded to the request and initiated a study of the river. The study was intended to analyze the water quality condition and identify all possible sources of fecal coliform bacteria pollution in the watershed. Sampling in the river and its tributaries began in October 1987 and continues to be done on a regular basis. A review of the historical fecal coliform data from the river and preliminary results of the ongoing investigation have revealed high coliform counts.
Analysis of historical data for the Tangipahoa River during the period from 1978 to 1991 shows that the average values for fecal coliform in the river ranged from 3,000 to 4,500/100 milliliters. These high values for bacteria indicate that there could be pathogens - disease-causing agents - in the river that would be harmful to people if ingested.
Nonpoint sources - sources that come from land-use activities and communities with no sewerage or poor sewerage systems - were identified as a large contributor to the fecal coliform problem. Fecal coliform bacteria reside in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded mammals, both humans and animals, and are released with their waste into the environment.
Industries in the area, such as those involving milk, fish, and meat processing, are all primarily agriculture-related. The majority of the parish is rural, with unsewered communities, subdivisions, trailer parks, and recreational campgrounds. Following the issuance of enforcement procedures for the point-source discharges, such as the municipal treatment facilities, DEQ requested that all dairy farmers in the parish either apply for a general permit for confined animal-feeding operations or install a no-discharge treatment system (lagoon). In response, most of the farmers have agreed to install the lagoon systems. Under a $1.1 million federal cost-share program, farmers wishing to participate were able to apply for and receive federal assistance to install the no-discharge lagoon systems. A state-funded cost-share program, initiated by the Louisiana Legislature in 1991, has been jointly administered by DEQ and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The U.S. Soil Conservation Service supplied technical assistance to farmers who participated in the federal program. The Ground Water Division of DEQ served in an oversight role for soil-core borings and construction, ensuring that groundwater aquifers in the parish were protected from possible contamination by nitrogen or bacteria. The Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service and DEQ's Nonpoint Source Program conducted a series of educational activities and field days to explain how the lagoons were installed, how they should be maintained, and how the liquids and the solids in the systems could be utilized as a source of nutrients for the dairymen's pasture.
During the summer of 1992, these two agencies participated in four field days within the Florida parishes. These events included demonstrations of the equipment needed to pump the lagoon systems and how the liquids and solids would need to be slurried and pumped onto the fields at least once every four years if the lagoon was to function efficiently as a no-discharge system. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation is investigating the possibility of purchasing the equipment needed to pump the lagoon systems. In this way, the foundation can assist the dairymen with some of the costs incurred for maintenance of the no-discharge systems.
In addition to the dairies, communities with no sewerage system or a poor sewerage system were also identified as contributors to nonpoint-source-pollution bacteria contamination in the river. The parish sanitarian in Tangipahoa Parish has worked with individuals and small communities to reduce the level of untreated or poorly treated sewage entering the river.
In addition, demonstration projects are planned to investigate alternative systems that might be more suitable for the types of soils and climatic patterns that exist in Louisiana. And the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation has shown an interest in working on pollution problems associated with Florida parishes areas that have no sewerage system or a poor sewerage system. The citizens of Tangipahoa Parish have also been involved in efforts to clean up the Tangipahoa River. They have formed a citizen action committee, called Citizens for a Clean Tangipahoa (CFACT), that will address different pollution problems through separate subcommittees. CFACT is working actively on mobilizing local citizens to clean up their river. The various agencies and citizens have coordinated their efforts so that recreational activities can resume on the Tangipahoa. Data indicate that the river is improving, with averages of fecal coliform showing measurable declines. There is still much work to be done, but the partnerships necessary to open the river have been made, and progress continues. Within another year or two, the Tangipahoa River may be clean enough for the public to enjoy once again.
May - June 1993.
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