Summer of soot and sewage: Erie experiences air, beach water pollution problems
Erie's summer was plagued at times by a record amount of soot in its air and bacteria in its swimming water, a double whammy of pollution that left local health and environmental officials concerned and perplexed.
The worst occurred during the first few weeks of summer, when levels of E. coli bacteria rose high enough to restrict swimming at several Presque Isle State Park beaches from late June until mid-July.
At about the same time, weather patterns brought smoke and soot from Canadian wildfires into the northeastern U.S., including Erie County. The pollution, which sometimes smelled like burnt plastic, was thick enough on certain days to block the sun.
"Almost every man and woman with lung disease experienced symptoms due to the Canadian wildfires," said Dr. Jeffrey McGovern, a Saint Vincent Hospital pulmonologist. "I'd say it was almost 100% of my patients with lung diseases, like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and probably one-third of those without lung diseases."
Recent sampling of Erie's air and Lake Erie's beach water have shown the pollution levels, for the most part, have returned to the healthy ranges. But questions remain and there is no guarantee that record levels of pollution won't occur again next summer.
Erie County reported three 'unhealthy' air quality days this summer
Erie County's air quality improved steadily over the past two decades, until this summer.
Its number of air quality alert days, when there was at least enough pollution to be considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, declined from 39 days between 1997-99 to zero days between 2018-22, according to the American Lung Association State of the Air Report.
But 2023 has told a different story.
Erie reported nine alert days between June 1 and July 17, including three days in which the air was considered unhealthy even for people who didn't have lung issues. Local outdoor events were canceled, and people were cautioned to wear face masks and not to exercise outdoors.
Canadian wildfires, like the ones in the western United States, occur each year. What was different this summer was the size and number of fires, and the air currents that brought their smoke and soot into the Great Lakes region and East Coast.
"Not only did the smoke and soot from the Canadian wildfires reach into the northeastern U.S., it didn't blow away," said Alice Chow, air quality analysis branch chief for the Environmental Protection Agency. "It hovered for days before weather patterns changed to blow it off the East Coast."
Will it happen again next summer? Chow said that she can't predict what the weather patterns will be like in 2024, or how extensive the wildfires will be.
However, she said people need to prepare, since large wildfires are happening more regularly with global warming.
"Conditions for much of the western U.S. and Canada are getting hotter and drier, so any little thing can spark a wildfire," Chow said.
More: Erie sees worst air quality in decades; lung doctors recommend these precautions
McGovern advises people with lung diseases and other breathing issues to track air quality through the Airnow.gov website and app. Airnow.gov is a partnership of the EPA and other federal, state and local government agencies.
Users can go there to check their area's air quality, which is updated every hour.
"What I tell patients is that if the Air Quality Index is 100 or higher, staying indoors is good advice," McGovern said.
Presque Isle State Park reported 87 swimming restriction days
Erie's issues this summer with beach water pollution were more difficult to see, but they might have made a larger local impact.
Lake Erie waters at Presque Isle State Park beaches, and at Freeport Beach in North East Township, are tested twice a week for E. coli, a bacterium that is a strong indicator of sewage or animal waste. It can cause gastrointestinal illness in humans and is an indicator of the presence of other harmful bacteria.
Levels of E. coli high enough to cause swimming advisories or restrictions occur every summer at Presque Isle, but not to the extent they were found this year.
Here is a look at the park's total number of swimming advisory days and swimming restriction days for each of the past three seasons:
2021: 5 advisory days, no restriction days
2022: 1 advisory day, 1 restriction day
2023 (through Sept. 11): 30 advisory days, 87 restriction days
"We haven't seen numbers like this in five years, maybe 10 years," said Breanna Adams, director of environmental health services for the Erie County Department of Health. "I can't say if we ever have had that many."
Some of the high E. coli levels also didn't follow the typical pattern of occurring after a heavy rainstorm, with the levels rising first at Beach 1, then in a northeasterly direction to the other beaches.
Beach 8 was the first beach to see its E. coli level spike, posting a most probable number of 1,939.8 E. coli particles per 100 milliliters of water, followed by Beach 6 (1,900.9) on June 27 and Beach 1 (1,126.9) on June 28. Any level of 1,000 or more forces park officials to restrict swimming at that particular beach.
Adams and park officials still don't know what caused the unusual spike. It wasn't traced to a recent rainstorm, beach improvement project or bird infestation — all known causes of E. coli surges.
"The plan is, after the summer, to do a thorough audit of our system," said Matt Greene, park operations manager. "We did use a new testing system this year, so we — along with the Regional Science Consortium and County Health Department — will go through that with a fine-toothed comb and make sure all of our procedures were up to snuff."
Other Great Lakes beaches have not reported similar occurrences, said Greg Kleinheinz, a board member of the Great Lakes Beach Association, which works to improve beach conditions across the Great Lakes.
Beach advisories and restrictions have happened more often the last few years in Wisconsin but they have followed the usual scenario, said Kleinheinz, who is also chair of the Department of Engineering & Engineering Technology at the University of Wisconsin — Oshkosh.
Erie's prevailing winds switched from northeastery to westerly in the days just before Beaches 6 and 8 reported E. coli spikes, according to the National Weather Service. Kleinheinz said wind direction could have been a contributing factor.
"Onshore wind does impact E. coli levels," Kleinheinz said. "It can resuspend things that were in the sediment and E. coli is found in sediment. Sampling is done in 24 inches of water, so it will pick up some of those materials."
Park officials looking for causes of E. coli spikes
Finding a cause for the E. coli surges is important in case it's due to something park officials can mitigate, Greene said.
One way is beach grooming, where the sand is turned over on a regular basis. Since E. coli is found in beach sand, exposing it to the sun through regular grooming helps kill the bacteria.
If a cause isn't found or if it's not correctable, then Greene and his staff need to create policies to accommodate visitors if swimming is restricted again at Beaches 6 and 8 for a significant period of time.
"These are two of our largest beaches and are set up to handle our biggest crowds," Greene said. "We need to develop other beaches, like Beach 1, Barracks Beach, and Beaches 9, 10 and 11 so they are able to handle the crowds, if needed."
Beach 11 has its own unique problem with E. coli. It has the shallowest and most stagnant waters among the park's guarded beaches, allowing E. coli to thrive more easily in late summer.
More: Presque Isle State Park extends swim season to Saturday and Sunday at Beach 8
High E. coli levels forced park officials to end swimming at Beach 11 on Aug. 15, the second time in five years swimming was restricted early at Beach 11.
"It was OK when the lake levels were a little higher but now that the levels have gone down a bit, it's a problem again," Greene said.
What is geometric mean and why does it cause longer restrictions?
The reason swimming was restricted for the rest of the season at Beach 11 and for three weeks at Beach 6, was a measurement called the geometric mean.
Swimming is restricted when the average of three daily samples exceeds 999 E. coli particles per 100 milliliters. But it also is restricted if a beach's geometric mean, a mathematical formula based on daily E. coli testing results from the previous 30 days, is more than 126 particles.
While an advisory or restriction based on daily sampling can end if the next sampling is within the safe limit, one based on geometic mean could take days, or even weeks, of good results to be rescinded.
"Using geometric mean is required by the state," Greene said. "We have to follow the rules."
Greene, Adams and others will learn more about the situation when the local E. coli Task Force meets this fall. Data from summer sampling will be studied and possible solutions will be discussed, Adams said.
More: Swimming banned at 4 Presque Isle beaches due to E. coli levels. What's the cause?
One topic is whether to use new technology to test samples for the source of E. coli, whether it comes from humans, animals or birds.
"I expect we will also discuss geometic means," Adams said. "Those snuck up on us this year. Next summer we need to be more proactive and work on ways to keep beaches open."
Keeping beaches open for swimming is vital when the park averages about 4 million visitors a year.
Kleinheinz, who has overseen beach improvement programs in Wisconsin, said there might be a better, more cost-effective solution.
"We have had success with spatial testing, collecting extra samples when high levels are found," Kleinheinz said. "You look at everything around the beach, any small tributaries, anything that might play a role in these higher levels."
Contact David Bruce at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @ETNBruce.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County sees high levels of air, beach water pollution
