HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has raised water quality advisors for a four mile stretch of the Susquehanna River in Central Pennsylvania, according to a new report.
The environmental agency lists the stretch of Susquehanna River from the mouth of the Conodoguinet Creek in West Fairview Township, Cumberland County, to the Yellow Breeches in New Cumberland, as "impaired for recreation."
The recreation impairment listing joins an impairment for fish consumption for the entirety of the 347-mile long waterway, though the listings are not related to small-mouth bass populations in the river.
"Recreational impairment doesn't mean you shouldn't swim there. It's merely more an advisory," says DEP spokesperson Neil Shader. "We have to note that there are elevated levels of bacteria in the water."
More than 1,600 miles of additional tributaries across the state, including the Conodoguinet, Swatara, and Conestoga Creeks are also listed as impaired for recreation.
The listing comes as part of the 2016 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report, which examines water quality for four main uses (water supply, aquatic life, recreation, and fish consumption) of all of Pennsylvania’s 86,000 miles of streams and rivers and 160,000 acres of lakes and ponds. Waterways that do not meet assessment criteria for any one of those four uses are considered impaired.
"These levels can be a risk to human health, but it doesn't mean if you touch the water you're going to get sick," Shader said.
The DEP report didn't appear to impact people taking part in outdoor activities along the river.
At Blue Mountain Outfitters in Marysville, Perry County, owner Douglas Gibson prepared to send a group out onto the river kayaking. When customers ask him about the report, he says he tells them it's necessary for the DEP to study the bacteria levels in the river, but it won't impact their experience.
"I think it was over-exaggerated," Gibson said of the report. "This happens every time there's a hot spell, or a dry spell, on the river. You get a little bacteria and everyone starts freaking out."
His company's kayaking trips typically stay north of the affected region, although some groups are taken down to the mouth of the Conodoguinet.
Others, like Harrisburg roommates Joseph Carlson and Adam Miller, spent their lunch hour cooling off in the river near City Island. The two say they swim in the river four to five times per week.
"It really doesn't bother me because I work in construction, getting filthy all day long," Carlson said. "Coming here is actually refreshing. It's just like swimming in the pool, and you ain't got the chlorine to mess with."
The DEP says it is actively searching for the source of the bacteria, mostly through the river's connecting tributaries. There is no timetable as to when the agency will find the bacterial source, or when the water will be clean enough to remove its "impaired" status.