Swimmable ShoreRivers Program Returns, Expands Access to Results

Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards shows off one of ShoreRivers’ new informational signs at Morgnec Landing on Morgan Creek. Located at 14 sites (and counting) across the Eastern Shore, these signs provide information on bacteria in our waterways and the Swimmable ShoreRivers program, in addition to and showing users where to find weekly test results in both English and Spanish.

ShoreRivers is pleased to announce that not only will its Swimmable ShoreRivers bacteria testing program begin Thursday, May 25, but that weekly results from this annual program will be available this year in both English and Spanish.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacteria levels at popular swimming and boating sites to provide important human health risk information to the public. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers in-house labs. The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples and makes public the results of that testing to let people know about current bacteria levels as they make their plans for recreating in our waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on both the organization’s and its individual Riverkeepers’ social media pages.

Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta holds water quality samples. This summer, ShoreRivers and a team of volunteer SwimTesters will monitor bacteria levels at sites around the region, providing a critical public health service for communities and identifying pollution hotspots for future restoration efforts.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, has been set up to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community, and 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and show users where to find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs were made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working throughout the season with local county officials to install more. Want to see one at your favorite local landing? Reach out to your Riverkeeper about adding a site, and talk to your county officials about installing one of these free and informative signs.

Weekly results are also shared on theswimguide.org, where descriptions of testing sites have also been added in both languages.

“At ShoreRivers, we believe that access to clean water is an essential right for all of our communities,” said Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards. “It was important to us to be able to offer informational access to more of our community, and we hope to continue expanding this access in the future.”

This public service provided by ShoreRivers truly is a community effort: this summer, 61 SwimTesters will monitor 46 sites on the Choptank, Miles, Wye, Chester, and Sassafras rivers; Eastern Bay; and the Bayside Creeks. Special thanks go to our generous site sponsors, who include towns, marinas, homeowner’s associations, and families.

Bacteria levels in our rivers and tributaries vary based on location, land use, and weather—making systematic, scientific analysis of local water quality vital. Major rain events are almost always connected to spikes in bacteria levels, and outgoing tides have a higher probability of carrying bacteria pollution. Potential chronic sources of bacteria include failing septic systems, overflows or leaks from wastewater treatment plants, waste from animal farms, or manure fertilizer.

Also returning for the 2023 season is ShoreRivers’ Pumpout Boat, which begins running during Memorial Day weekend. The Pumpout Boat is a free service offered on the Miles and Wye rivers, that docks at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels and operates from May to mid-October. With your help, this boat will help prevent more than 20,000 gallons of concentrated marine waste from entering our waters annually. To schedule a pump-out, contact Captain Jim Freeman at 410-829-4352, on VHF Channel 9, email POBCaptJim@gmail.com, or by using the form at shorerivers.org/programs/pumpout-boat.

Forever Chemicals Found in Eastern Shore Waterways

Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta collects water samples from La Trappe Creek in 2021 that were included in a study on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination in U.S. surface waters and showed concerning levels of the manmade “forever chemicals.” Photo by Dave Harp.

ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers are calling for increased testing by the state after the results of a recently released study on PFAS contamination in U.S. surface waters showed concerning levels of the “forever chemical” in some Eastern Shore waterways. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are manmade chemicals that persist in the environment and can be highly toxic with continued exposure.

The study, conducted by Waterkeeper Alliance, assessed PFAS levels in 114 watersheds around the country, including 16 within the Chesapeake Bay region. Maryland had the highest total number of detections and the highest number of different PFAS compounds detected in waterways nationwide. La Trappe Creek, a tributary of the Choptank River, had the second highest number of detections in the state for three of the five most prevalent compounds.

“The results of this study clearly demonstrate the need to urgently increase monitoring for these chemicals in our rivers,” said Matt Pluta, ShoreRivers’ Choptank Riverkeeper and Director of Riverkeeper Programs. “Once we begin detecting PFAS in local waterways and on our land, it’s only a matter of time before we begin to detect them in the fish, crabs, oysters, and even venison that we eat.”

PFAS are a family of manmade chemicals used for decades to create things like water-repellant clothing, non-stick cookware, firefighting foam, textile treatments like Scotchgard, stain resistant fabrics, personal care products, and food contact materials like microwave popcorn bags and fast-food wrappers. They are are biopersistent, meaning they remain in organisms indefinitely without breaking down, and are bioaccumulative, meaning that over time, they build up in ever increasing amounts in people, wildlife, aquatic life, and the environment.

PFAS can also enter wastewater treatment systems after being absorbed by humans who consume contaminated meat and fish and then discharged into waterways or applied to farm fields in the form of biosolids fertilizer. Continued exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse health effects including cancers and other diseases of the thyroid, liver, and kidney, and developmental issues in fetuses and infants.

Of the eight water samples that ShoreRivers collected for the study, PFAS were detected in five. In addition to La Trappe Creek, where the sample was collected at the point of discharge from the Trappe wastewater treatment plant, concerning levels of PFAS were also detected in Mill Creek on the Wye East River, Morgan Creek’s Urieville Lake on the Chester River, and Mill Creek in the Sassafras River watershed.

“The Eastern Shore has a number of wastewater spray irrigation permits and smaller wastewater treatment plants that are aging and failing to meet treatment standards,” Pluta said. “The PFAS results from La Trappe Creek at the point where the Town of Trappe’s wastewater treatment plant discharges underscore the need to upgrade and modernize the treatment technology at these older systems before contamination levels get worse.”

The study organized by Waterkeeper Alliance comes on the heels of an effort from the Maryland Department of the Environment to sample fish tissues for PFAS in 2020. The department reported that samples from the Eastern Shore showed no levels of concern, but issued its first-ever fish consumption advisory based on PFAS levels in Piscataway Creek in Prince George’s County, and a first of its kind wastewater discharge permit for the Naval Support Facility Indian Head requiring monitoring for PFAS in wastewater and biosolids.

To learn more about the report from Waterkeeper Alliance, a nonprofit focused on clean water that connects and mobilizes more than 300 local waterkeeper groups like ShoreRivers worldwide, and to read the study’s results in full, visit waterkeeper.org/pfas. ShoreRivers believes that more testing is needed to present a clearer picture of the presence of these chemicals and their effects on Eastern Shore waterways. To support those efforts, or to learn more about the work ShoreRivers is currently doing to monitor local rivers, visit shorerivers.org or contact your local riverkeeper.

Statement on the Approval of the Trappe East Wastewater Treatment Plant Permit

ShoreRivers is disappointed but not surprised by the approval of the Trappe East wastewater discharge permit by the Maryland Department of the Environment. As we told MDE in our initial comments, spray irrigation is not an adequate means of disposing wastewater without polluting the river. The intention of these permits is for wastewater sprayed onto fields to be absorbed by crops, but much of the nutrients end up percolating into our groundwater instead. Showing the inadequacies of these types of spray irrigation systems, data from inspection reports on the Eastern Shore compiled by Chesapeake Legal Alliance for the years 2016–2020 proved that 54% of permit inspections ended in noncompliance. Multiple scientific studies show that 70% of the nitrogen flowing into our Eastern Shore rivers comes from groundwater. We have to protect our groundwater and our rivers by denying spray irrigation permits like this.

However, there are small gains to celebrate here as well. An unprecedented amount of public comment was submitted on this permit that sent the message—loud and clear—to the state of Maryland that we won't allow for blanket approvals that prioritize the wants of developers and companies over the needs of our citizens and the environment. And thanks to these comments and incredible participation by the public, the final permit does include more water quality protections than the original by limiting the wastewater discharge to 100,000 gallons, nearly one sixth of the proposed amount, and reducing the size of the development from nearly 2,500 buildings to 400. We hope that the permit, as approved, will stand and that further needs for the planned development will not include the dumping of massive amounts of wastewater on our land

Members of the public, scientists, lawyers, and experts earned these achievements by engaging in the process and putting forth legitimate concerns about how their fundamental right to clean water would be impacted by the original proposal. ShoreRivers will remain vigilant in our monitoring of this development in order to protect our precious natural resources. Thank you for stepping up in the public process and helping us advocate for clean water.

Matt Pluta
Director of Riverkeeper Programs

Mitigating Nutrient Loading on the Choptank

Environmental Monitor
Application and Technology News for Environmental Professionals
by Cindy Cooper
May 21, 2018

Watershed Scientist Tim Rosen near a wood chip bioreactor installed on a local farm in Maryland.

PIONEERING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL METHODS
ShoreRivers is focusing on outreach efforts with the local agricultural community to bolster water quality improvement efforts in Maryland’s Choptank River.

CLICK HERE to read entire article.