Nashville, Tenn. – (RealEstateRama) — The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has issued a temporary Water Contact Advisory for McKellar Lake and the lower portion of Cypress Creek in Memphis following new E. coli results from a broken sewer line.
The new results indicate an extremely high level of E. coli in all sample locations, which encompasses a significant portion of McKellar Lake, more specifically east, south and west of Treasure Island. Results indicate levels of E. coli up to 300 times the recreational criteria for streams and up to 580 times the recreational criteria for lakes.
“This is a very serious situation and any bodily contact to the water is dangerous,” said TDEC Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Environment Shari Meghreblian, PhD. “We have been working closely with the City of Memphis Public Works, Shelby County Health Department, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and many more to not only get the release re-routed and cleaned up, but to also inform the public that there is a major concern.”
TDEC was first notified of the release last Thursday, which was within the City of Memphis’ notification range. The Division of Water Resources within TDEC has been on site and several actions are being taken at this point in time, including:
Performing water quality monitoring to help determine risk and impacts;
Providing oversight in support of corrective action; and
Communicating with local and state authorities.
As of yesterday, more than ten thousand dead fish have been documented, which includes 15 different species. The TWRA has been out daily counting the number of dead fish, as well as identifying the species.
A press conference will be held this afternoon at 5 p.m. at the Shelby County Office of Preparedness, 1075 Mullins Station Rd. Building C
