title: Impacts of a raw sewage spill on water and sediment quality in an urbanized estuary.
abstract: A sewer main serving a large municipal wastewater system ruptured, discharging approximately 3,000,000 gallons (11,355,000 L) of raw human sewage into a multi-branched tidal creek estuary along the US East Coast. The biochemical oxygen demand caused severe hypoxia in the system, causing a large fish kill. The sewage load led to high fecal coliform bacteria concentrations in the creek (maximum of 270,000 CFU 100ml(-1)), which declined in an approximate logarithmic manner over the first few days. The spill caused elevated sediment fecal coliform bacteria and enterococcus counts that declined much more gradually than water column counts. Persistence of relatively high concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria in sediments for several weeks after the spill suggests that sediment sampling should be included in response to major sewage spills. The high concentration of nutrients in the spilled sewage led to several algal blooms. However, nutrient concentrations in the water column declined rapidly, demonstrating the value of conserving marshes because of their pollutant filtration function.
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC 28409, USA. mallinm@uncw.edu
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mallin
authors.forename: Lawrence B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Cahoon
authors.forename: Byron R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Toothman
authors.forename: Douglas C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: McIver
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ortwine
authors.forename: Renee N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Harrington
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000032:analysis; D000077194:Chlorophyll A; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000254:growth & development; D005399:Fishes; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D009657:North Carolina; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000737:chemistry; D012623:Seawater; D012722:Sewage; D014505:Urban Population; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D002734:Chlorophyll; D010100:Oxygen; D000077194:Chlorophyll A