Oklahoma River Water Causes Illnesses

[soonerguru]

Per Health Department report. Despite what was previously reported here, there were 45 triathletes made ill from the river.

Oklahoma River water caused triathletes' illness, health department says

By The Associated Press
Published: June 10, 2009

Contamination in the Oklahoma River was to blame for sickening dozens of participants in an international triathlon held last month, the state health officials said Wednesday.
At least 45 participants in the Boathouse International Triathlon in Oklahoma City became sick with gastrointestinal problems after the event held May 16-17.
The Oklahoma Department of Health said the illness was related to exposure to water during swimming practice sessions or during the swim portion of the event.
"Laboratory analyses of stool specimens from a few ill athletes were positive for different gastrointestinal agents, including norovirus, and a couple of different kinds of bacteria and parasites, all of which are compatible with this gastrointestinal outbreak and which could be associated with exposure to water contaminated with human or animal waste," the department said in a statement.
Athletes swam 1.5 kilometers in the downtown river as part of the triathlon. After the event, some of the participants reported diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramping and fever.
The river has tested high for bacteria, particularly after high runoff from storms.
There were 367 participants in the triathlon. A total of 218 responded to a health department survey and of that number, 45 reported symptoms.
"The amount of time spent swimming in the river during the practice sessions and during the event is the only significant exposure associated with the development of diarrheal illness among participants," said Lauri Smithee, chief of the health department's acute disease service.
Mike Knopp, director of the OKC Boathouse Foundation, which helped organize the event, said the disease outbreak was unfortunate.
"This is a one-time incident that is specific to triathlon, and event organizers will take every precaution to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said.
The state Department of Health said a working group of several agencies will study the event to learn how such problems can be avoided in the future.

http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-river...ad_story_title

[Pete]

Wow, is this a PR nightmare.

No matter what the city does now, the river will always be viewed as unclean and nasty... Just as hundreds of millions are being poured into civic and private investment.

I simply don't understand how the organizers could have let this happen. As I've stated before, I've swam in all types of open water and a lot of it was considered by most to be somewhat dirty. And I've never heard of this sort of thing happening at a triathlon.

The water mush have been pretty darn bad to cause so many illnesses. The swimmers simply aren't in the water that long and generally don't ingest much of it. Did they not test it before hand? Seems like the said they did but decided to go on anyway?

I can't imagine they'll ever be able to hold another tri in that river no matter how much work is put into cleaning it up. And forever on, even rowers may be reluctant to compete there.

[progressiveboy]

I see in the Tulsa World they are commenting on "How Embarrasing for OKC". It seems OKC is always taking 2 steps forward and 100 steps back. This is such an embarrasment for OKC. If I were an investor on the river or "ditch" as Tulsa calls it, I would not sink a dime into that area. Such bad karma for OKC but then again, OKC better sink or swim, or should I say s_ _ t and swim, lol.

[LordGerald]

Wow, is this a PR nightmare.

No matter what the city does now, the river will always be viewed as unclean and nasty... Just as hundreds of millions are being poured into civic and private investment.

I simply don't understand how the organizers could have let this happen. As I've stated before, I've swam in all types of open water and a lot of it was considered by most to be somewhat dirty. And I've never heard of this sort of thing happening at a triathlon.

The water mush have been pretty darn bad to cause so many illnesses. The swimmers simply aren't in the water that long and generally don't ingest much of it. Did they not test it before hand? Seems like the said they did but decided to go on anyway?

I can't imagine they'll ever be able to hold another tri in that river no matter how much work is put into cleaning it up. And forever on, even rowers may be reluctant to compete there.

The river has always been nasty. The pathogen (TMDL) report conducted in 2006 said as much. City leadership tried to censure the report as "alarmist," but the fact that the river was toxic should not have been a secret to anyone in the know.

[soonerguru]

This really worries me about Core to Shore. It could be a massive boondoggle.

The city leaders had better wake up to the fact that the citizens of OKC want transit first. Period.

I will go so far as to say that if meaningful transit upgrades are left out of MAPS I will definitely vote -- and possibly campaign -- against it.

Regarding the storm drain runoff: What Einstein was in charge of turning all of our natural creeks and channels into concrete drainage ditches? It is a disgusting eyesore and surely contributes to the pollution of the river.

[Pete]

BTW, there are plenty of similar dammed rivers where triathlons are routinely held.

In fact, they do Ironman Arizona in Tempe Town Lake, which is very similar to the OK River. Yet, no one ever gets sick there or gives a second thought to swimming in that water. The swim portion of the NYC triathlon is held in the Hudson, they have them in Lake Erie, etc. etc.

Triathlons or not, someone in the city government better figure out how to get that water cleaned up and this should have been addressed long before now.

If someone can't be in a body of water for less than a half an hour (in a full wetsuit!) without become violently ill, then we should stop and deal with this problem before much else is done in or around there.

[Pete]

guru, the first phase of Core to Shore won't extend past the new I-40, so I'm not too worried about that.

Unless, of course, OCURA is put in charge... But that's a whole other Oprah.

[Pete]

Reading back through the articles, it said the race director had received results of water tests that showed the water was unsafe but felt the trend was heading in the right direction, and opted to go forward anyway.

Somebody in city government should stepped in... Of course the race organizer is not going to call a race, especially when they have people coming in from all over the country as part of a national circuit. And what does he know about water quality and risks anyway, especially since this was the first time this race had been conducted?

The people running the race merely decided to roll the dice and hope people didn't get sick and/or didn't make a big deal about it if they did.

But now all of OKC pays the price; especially those with considerable investment in the river and future developments. And it's at the very least quite embarrassing for the entire community.

[soonerguru]

The people who ran the race should have been more responsible to the people coming from around the country. Think about it. If they knew the river was unsafe and allowed the race to go on, they could be sued. Also, if they have any abiding interest in continuing to promote events at the river, they should have sounded the alarm. The race director majorly, majorly screwed up.

[Pete]

I've done tri's all over the country and as a racer, you totally rely on the race director to 1) know the conditions and 2) exercise good judgment.

In fact, in two different races I had the swim canceled, once while I was in my wetsuit waiting at the starting line. They merely waited as long as they could before determining the conditions just weren't safe. That is always disappointing, but it's part of the sport.

And the bottom line is that the people doing these races rely on the organizers to know what they are doing and to keep them safe. That obviously didn't happen this time around.

And worse yet, it's not just that this event got some bad PR, it makes the whole city and specifically the river look bad.

When you are talking about 25% of those surveyed reporting illness, that's pretty outrageous.

[proud2Bsooner]

I've done tri's all over the country and as a racer, you totally rely on the race director to 1) know the conditions and 2) exercise good judgment.

In fact, in two different races I had the swim canceled, once while I was in my wetsuit waiting at the starting line. They merely waited as long as they could before determining the conditions just weren't safe. That is always disappointing, but it's part of the sport.

And the bottom line is that the people doing these races rely on the organizers to know what they are doing and to keep them safe. That obviously didn't happen this time around.

And worse yet, it's not just that this event got some bad PR, it makes the whole city and specifically the river look bad.

When you are talking about 25% of those surveyed reporting illness, that's pretty outrageous.

25% is inaccurate. More like 12%. 45 out of 367.

I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about, other than it probably is not a good venue for a triathlon. The river can be gross, but it is drainage for a good chunk of the City. Additionally, if someone can come up with a good way to control geese, then the E. coli can be controlled. So what I am saying is that you can't control it. I have not rowed in other areas like Boston or Philly, but I have heard that the Oklahoma River is actually, in general, much cleaner than those venues. The problem generally only lasts for a period of time when there has been a lot of rain. I row and kayak regularly in the Oklahoma River, and there is a huge difference between the water quality of the Spring and now. In the Spring, trash, grass clippings and logs are aplenty. Now the water is nice with hardly any junk floating.

[Architect2010]

I thought the river was fine for the event, except that the runoff from the storm right before the event had significantly risen the level of harmful thingamajiigs in the water.

Of course, I'd say the real embarassment isn't our river quality, rather that we didn't ensure safety first when we decided to let people jump into it.

[kevinpate]

I suspect there's more than one politico sitting around, slapping a forehead and wondering why dinna we just leave the damned name thingy alone, cause then it'd be sick folks in the North Canadian river.

I keed. No politico ever rethinks a position. it makes their lil' heads hurt too much.

Maybe we can rename the stretch the Okiescansurepoopsie Swamp

[soonerguru]

I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about

Please. You think it's good for OKC to get international press that its river has sickened people with fecal matter? You don't think there should be such a "fuss" about contestants from around the nation becoming sickened at an event sanctioned in our city, with the expectation that the water was safe enough to host the event?

Additionally, if someone can come up with a good way to control geese

Surely you aren't suggesting that the bacterial problem is strictly the result of goose guano, are you?

I have heard that the Oklahoma River is actually, in general, much cleaner than those venues

Oh really? Please let us know the source. Fellow rowers? Employees of Chesapeake? The city's public affairs department?

Now the water is nice with hardly any junk floating

Great, so we don't have visible piles of floating garbage in the river right now. Wonderful. But are you suggesting the river is OK to swim in?

I'm really not trying to pick on you, but your post seems breezy and not very thought through.

Personally, I think it would be in the best interest of the city to try to reduce pollution in the river, whether or not it's used by triathletes.

[soonerguru]

Strange. The Oklahoman has completely pulled the story from the website that was formerly titled "Oklahoma City Officials Take Proactive Measure for River Health" or something like that. It was an unintentionally hilarious headline, but the story has been completely vaporized. Perhaps Steve knows some insider info on it.

Nevermind. Here's the cached version before it was totally nuked.

Triathlon: Oklahoma City takes proactive steps on river quality
Comments 40

BY BRIAN KIMBALL
Published: June 11, 2009
Contamination in the Oklahoma River, including from E. coli bacteria, caused nearly four dozen triathletes to become sick after a race in May, the state Health Department confirmed Wednesday.
Samples were taken of the water in the river in the days leading up to the Boathouse International Triathlon, and on the day of the event, but organizers said the levels of bacteria and parasites were within the acceptable range and went ahead with the triathlon.
"I’m not upset because it didn’t affect me, but you take a risk swimming in any public waterway,” said Chad Meiler of Shawnee, who took part in the triathlon but was not among the 45 athletes who fell ill. "It’s all in doing the events, and you take numerous risks in doing that stuff anyway.”
Health Department spokesman Laurence Burnsed said officials are setting up meetings with Oklahoma City officials, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Oklahoma City-County Health Department to develop recommendations on how to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Mike Knopp, executive director for the Chesapeake Boathouse, said the incident was specific to the triathlon and they would "take every precaution to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Oklahoma City spokeswoman Kristy Yager said a more aggressive approach to testing the tributaries that feed into the Oklahoma River is one of the changes that will be made. The additional testing is especially important when it rains, Yager said, because that increases the amount of bacteria, parasites and animal waste that leak into the water.
"We’re working on a plan right now to set up several different monitoring sites,” Yager said, adding there should be a more concrete plan in the next couple of weeks.

http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-city-...ad_story_photo

[Pete]

25% is inaccurate. More like 12%. 45 out of 367.

Only 218 responded to the survey and 45 reported illness.

[proud2Bsooner]

Only 218 responded to the survey and 45 reported illness.

Maybe the other 149 died. Ha. So then I guess you're saying we don't really know how many got sick. Between 12 and 25%. I'm betting if you got sick you reported. And if you didn't, you didn't report.

guru, I don't care if you're trying to pick on me. Are you suggesting that people are crapping in the river? What is your solution? I'm telling you, it's runoff from creeks, and geese poop. Geese are KNOWN carriers of E. coli. Geese are a big problem, and if you spend much time on the river, you know there are tons of geese, and you know the river runs much slower than normal because it is dammed up. The runoff is another problem. You have animal waste from all sorts of critters, and all sorts of other runoff like fertilizers and chemicals that go into creeks. The creeks drain to the river. How does this get corrected? Your guess is as good as mine. The river is a huge drainage ditch, and we have to accept it for what it is. The naysayers day its a dirty drainage ditch. The positive ones say its a great place to boat.

You are clearly in finger pointing mode, and it doesn't sound like you have put much thought into your thoughts.

Perhaps they should not have commenced the race. I don't know, nor do I care that much. The river is a premier venue for rowing, not triathlons. I'm sure Tulsans can get a kick out of this, but who cares. They are 15-20 years behind OKC in development. Tulsa has the Arkansas. It flows naturally, and is not a premier rowing venue. It is a premier barging venue.

[soonerguru]

Maybe the other 149 died. Ha. So then I guess you're saying we don't really know how many got sick. Between 12 and 25%. I'm betting if you got sick you reported. And if you didn't, you didn't report.

guru, I don't care if you're trying to pick on me. Are you suggesting that people are crapping in the river? What is your solution? I'm telling you, it's runoff from creeks, and geese poop. Geese are KNOWN carriers of E. coli. Geese are a big problem, and if you spend much time on the river, you know there are tons of geese, and you know the river runs much slower than normal because it is dammed up. The runoff is another problem. You have animal waste from all sorts of critters, and all sorts of other runoff like fertilizers and chemicals that go into creeks. The creeks drain to the river. How does this get corrected? Your guess is as good as mine. The river is a huge drainage ditch, and we have to accept it for what it is. The naysayers day its a dirty drainage ditch. The positive ones say its a great place to boat.

You are clearly in finger pointing mode, and it doesn't sound like you have put much thought into your thoughts.

Perhaps they should not have commenced the race. I don't know, nor do I care that much. The river is a premier venue for rowing, not triathlons. I'm sure Tulsans can get a kick out of this, but who cares. They are 15-20 years behind OKC in development. Tulsa has the Arkansas. It flows naturally, and is not a premier rowing venue. It is a premier barging venue.

As stated, I'm not trying to pick on you. To be clear, the North Canadian (aka Oklahoma) River is not a drainage ditch, and wasn't built to be a drainage ditch.

I don't profess to know how to fix it, as I'm not an expert on environmental cleanup. But it can be done. There are many urban rivers -- in cities far more "urban" than OKC -- that have successfully been cleaned up. Surely it's possible here.

As your post also says, there are many other factors besides geese involved, as your earlier post seemed to imply.

I only objected to your "who cares" flippancy.

[Pete]

Maybe the other 149 died. Ha. So then I guess you're saying we don't really know how many got sick. Between 12 and 25%. I'm betting if you got sick you reported. And if you didn't, you didn't report.

That logic makes no sense since the large majority that responded to the survey did not report getting sick.

Anyway, you called out my post as being inaccurate when it clearly stated I was referencing the racers that completed the survey. I don't mind being corrected and will always admit when I was in the wrong. Others should do the same.

[gmwise]

You know theres a good reason why some want to blame wildlife for their guano filled lives.
The City should encourage a bat colony to control the insect pests, and geese.. good grief were you chased by one as a child?
The River just needs a professional in charged of its maintence and a safety director to ensure another forehead thump doesnt occur.
Seperate question did the boat event occur on the River, last time it was cancelled and the promoter didnt make good on refunds or retimed it.
I think having a River Czar who ensure safety maintaince and the use shows how serious the City is about not letting this happen again can keep the PR nightmare from happening again.

[onthestrip]

Yes, the water being full of bacteria is bad, but I dont think its as bad as most are making it to be. First, I dont think the river is that great of venue for a triathlon to begin with. Hefner might as well be OKC's unofficial triathlon host. The river is positioned to be a rowing river, not a swimming river. This is not the end of the world for the Oklahoma River. That said, Im still all for cleaning it up.

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

FYI for this "drainage ditch" talk, the drainage area of the North Canadian River is 13,200 square miles (only about 8,000 of which are actually contributing runoff, even less if you think about how much is held back by Canton Lake, Lake Overholser, and whatever is diverted to Hefner). True that city runoff ends up there, but please be aware that there are many factors that contribute bacteria to the stream. Would you swim in any raw stream in Oklahoma (barring the Illinois, and that's also subject of a lawsuit...). Probably not. Contact with any untreated water is dangerous, plain and simple.

If you want to look at some free and up-to-date water quality data, USGS has links to both real-time water quailty and samples that they take on a monthly basis. Closest site is just after Lake Overholser. Fecal Coliform samples are taken monthly. Here's the link for anyone interested:

USGS ** USGS 07241000 North Canadian River blw Lk Overholser nr OKC, OK

[LakeEffect]

Contact with any untreated water is dangerous, plain and simple.

I wouldn't say contact with any untreated water is dangerous... I swam in Lake Michigan every summer for 25 years (and still get to at least once a summer), and I never acquired an infection. But the combination of stagnant water, uncontrolled runoff within and outside City limits, and no stormwater treatment makes the River a dangerous spot.

[soonerguru]

Would you swim in any raw stream in Oklahoma

Yes, I would, and I have. Although most of them are in beautiful, remote areas of Northeastern, Southeastern and Southcentral Oklahoma. I've never had a problem.

Spring Creek, a tributary of the Illinois, is one of the cleanest streams in the US.

We do have clean, fresh water in this state, although chicken farming in NE Oklahoma has seriously screwed up that karst watershed.

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

Yes, I would, and I have. Although most of them are in beautiful, remote areas of Northeastern, Southeastern and Southcentral Oklahoma. I've never had a problem.

Spring Creek, a tributary of the Illinois, is one of the cleanest streams in the US.

We do have clean, fresh water in this state, although chicken farming in NE Oklahoma has seriously screwed up that karst watershed.

As I said, barring the Illinois...I swam in it too. And I'm fine. And as I said, and it appears that you're aware, its also the subject of an ongoing lawsuit due to non-point source pollution. Knowing what I know now I probably wouldn't swim in it, but I know too much...

Anyhow, that was not my intended point. I apologize. Perhaps a miscommunication. Let me rephrase: You should take caution when swimming in any untreated natural waters, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Florida, Oregon, anywhere. Every freshwater stream has different risks of pollution and bacterial contamination, and if you're not careful, sickness is easy. Doesn't matter how clean you think it is, or because you've always swam in it and you're fine and everyone you know has swam it in and they're fine. Doesn't matter if its beautiful and pristine and the trees are green and its sunny with birds chirping and even fish swimming around. You shouldn't be surprised if you swim in natural waters (including Spring Creek, and I swam/waded in Spring Creek too) and develop stomach illnesses, at any time in the future. Its risky. Bacterial pollution, although somewhat correlated to observable turbid conditions like occurs after a rain event, is "invisible".

And I happen to be pretty familiar with the water quality conditions on the North Canadian River and would never swim in it if I didn't have to. Not upstream/near OKC (where the athletes became ill), but certainly not downstream of the Veolia WWT plant (like near Harrah, etc).

Hope my point is now better stated. Thanks.