Latest high bacteria counts in Lake Newport blamed on weather

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Rainy weather and cloudy skies are being blamed for high levels of E. coli bacteria detected in the most recent samples of water taken from Mill Creek MetroPark's Lake Newport.
Samples taken from all nine locations on Wednesday had bacteria levels that exceeded the 576 per 100 milliliters of water considered unfit for recreational use.
Water tested at seven of those locations had more than four times the acceptable E. Coli levels.
Ryan Tekac, Director of Environmental Health for the Mahoning County District Board of Health, pointed out that the testing was conducted one day after a steady rain, which tends to send water from farmlands, failing septic systems and wildlife waste into the area waterways.
Tekac says cloudy skies can also have an effect on the E. coli levels since sunlight can destroy bacteria.
Recreational activities at all three lakes in the MetroParks have been suspended since early July following the appearance of many dead fish in the park waterways.
When the weekly testing of Lake Newport and the streams that flow into it concludes in mid-October, Tekac says the data will be analyzed in an attempt to pinpoint the cause or causes of the higher than acceptable E. coli levels.