{"id":10960,"date":"2019-06-08T11:53:44","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T15:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=10960"},"modified":"2024-08-20T13:01:51","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T17:01:51","slug":"testing-the-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/testing-the-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing the Waters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Contamination from large rain events like Hurricane Florence can severely affect water quality. How does the state ensure that shellfish are safe to eat?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As Hurricane Florence bore down on North Carolina last September, Chef Craig Love was concerned foremost about the safety of his family and coastal community, Carolina Beach. But as the founder of Surf House Oyster Bar and Surf Camp \u2014 located about 12 miles southwest of Wrightsville Beach, where the storm’s eye made landfall \u2014 he also was anxious about the potential impacts on the state\u2019s seafood supply<\/p>\n\n\n\n Love\u2019s restaurant, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this August, locally sources the majority of its seafood. After Surf House reopened to guests post-Florence, \u201cthe first question they had when they sat down was, \u2018Is it okay for us to eat the seafood here?\u2019\u201d Love recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diners inquired about various seafood products. Among them were \u201coysters, for sure,\u201d Love says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s understandable that consumers would be concerned about the hurricane\u2019s potential effects on their shellfish. Oysters, clams and mussels are rooted to their environment, so they can\u2019t simply swim out of polluted waters. They\u2019re also filter feeders, meaning that they strain food from the surrounding water through their gills. With that nourishment, however, they also can take in bacteria and viruses, as well as pollutants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s more, \u201cthey concentrate any contaminants that might have been in the water, sometimes 10, 100, even 1,000-fold,\u201d says Rachel Noble, an environmental microbiologist with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\u2019s Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Morehead City. Consuming raw shellfish that contain high concentrations of certain bacteria or viruses can lead to gastrointestinal illness such as diarrhea, vomiting, nausea \u2014 and worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With Florence\u2019s torrential rain came massive flooding carrying a concoction of sewage and animal waste, among other contaminants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou could visibly see that there was contamination in the system, and \u2014 I\u2019ll be honest with you \u2014 in a lot of areas, you could smell it,\u201d says Noble, describing the odor as an acrid, \u201cawful stink\u201d reminiscent of strong organic compost, fecal waste and chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the month following the hurricane, the state\u2019s Division of Water Resources<\/a> (DWR), part of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality<\/a> (DEQ), received notifications of 80 wastewater bypasses at 61 treatment facilities across the state. Those breaches released nearly 62 million gallons of partially treated and untreated wastewater to surface waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, DWR learned of 516 sewer overflows at 149 systems, resulting in nearly 55 million gallons of untreated wastewater coursing into surface waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did that sewage reach shellfish harvest areas? It\u2019s highly likely, according to DWR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The division also received reports from swine farmers that 33 waste lagoons brimmed and ran over the top of the dike wall. There was evidence, too, that some poultry farms were inundated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s possible that hog and poultry waste traveled to shellfish harvest areas. But the most heavily affected areas primarily were in inland counties or in places that don\u2019t drain directly to shellfish waters, according to DWR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While DWR did not investigate or receive reports of harmful algal blooms associated with Florence, \u201cit is too early to tell what the runoff following Hurricane Florence has in store,\u201d according to Hans Paerl, a marine and environmental scientist at IMS. \u201cStay tuned for what might happen this summer, as the sediments that entered our estuaries from last fall\u2019s storm are still releasing nutrients that could fuel algal blooms in those estuaries as well as Pamlico Sound.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The N.C. Division of Water Resources recently published a water quality report related to Hurricane Florence called \u201cReport: Survey of Surface Water Quality Associated with Hurricane Florence, September 2018<\/a>.\u201d<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\nWashing Downstream<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Safety First<\/h2>\n\n\n\n