E. coli contaminated creek not eligible for warning signs

By Mike Owens

KSDK -- A handful of concerned residents turned out to learn more about pollution in Kiefer Creek, a tributary to the Meramec River that runs through Castlewood State Park.

Kiefer Creek, according to years of scientific data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, is heavily polluted with E. coli, bacteria from the stomachs of mammals. The bacteria can cause diarrhea and vomiting and other ills, if humans ingest too much of it.

Steve Seyer runs in Castlewood Park with his dog, Dolphus, and two years ago, Dolphus became ill with boils and a heavy discharge from his eyes. This happened after Dolphus spent a lot of time in the creek after rains.

Eventually, Seyer kept the dog out of the water, and his condition improved. That's when Seyer started researching the creek, and found years of data about water quality on the internet. The data collected by the government to monitor the quality of the creek water.

The creek, according to the data, carries huge amounts of E. coli after rains, and Seyer says someone in government should do more to protect children and others wading and swimming in the creek at the park.

However, the state park department says the creek is not considered a swimming creek, and doesn't require any warning signs.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District monitors the creek now, but a spokesman says the creek is among the cleanest in St. Louis County, attributing E. coli contamination to agricultural runoff.

However, a scientist at Washington University, Bob Criss, who has helped analyze some data with Seyer, says the contamination most likely is coming from old septic systems that were in use before MSD took over sewer service in the region, in 1955.

However, Criss has no hard evidence of that, but thinks government agencies could prove it if they wanted to take the time and spend the money on surveys. Criss says the only way to clean the creek is to find out where the pollution is coming from.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is aware of the contamination, but has no plans to change their current policy with regard to Kiefer Creek. That policy says Kiefer is an "unclassified" creek, and as such, is not considered fishable or swimmable, and not eligible for warning signs.