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From Sound Rivers

 

Sound Rivers has issued a water-quality alert for Port Terminal on the Tar River in Greenville.

Sound Rivers’ Swim Guide is a weekly water-quality monitoring program that runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day and is intended to inform the public about bacteria levels in waters they may be recreating in.

This week, water samples were collected from 12 locations in the Tar-Pamlico basin from Greenville to the Pungo River. Samples collected this week from Port Terminal on the Tar River in Greenville exceeded recreational water quality standards for E. coli. The public is recommended to use caution when recreating on or particularly in the water near these locations. Results from samples collected from Town Common, Yankee Hall Road, Bonner Point, Mason’s Landing, Swan Point, Cypress Landing, Blount’s Bay, Washington waterfront, Pamlico Plantation, Woodstock Point and Cotton Patch Landing were below levels of concern. E. coli, the bacteria group used for testing, is found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. While many strains are harmless, others can cause illness, therefore E. coli is used as an indicator for recent fecal contamination of waterways. People swimming or recreating in waters with fecal bacteria levels higher than the recreational water quality standard have an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal illness or skin infections.

Sound Rivers is a nonprofit organization with a mission to monitor and protect the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico River watersheds covering nearly one quarter of North Carolina and to preserve the health and beauty of the river basins through environmental justice. This monitoring is made possible by support from Grady White Boats, Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Cypress Landing on Chocowinity Bay, Lenoir UNC Health Care, Blackbeard Sailing Club, UNC Pavel Molchanov Scholars, and Melinda Vann and David Silberstein.
To find out more about water quality in your area, go to www.soundrivers.org/swimguide or text ‘SWIM’ to 33222 for weekly water quality text updates.