• COA’s Staff Scientist Swarna Muthukrishnan evaluated twelve new possible water quality testing locations along the Navesink River, using the IDEXX method. This is a simpler screening method to help track down sources of Enterococcus bacteria (poo-llution). COA established a testing lab thanks to a grant from the US EPA Citizen Science Program. Following this evaluation, eight feasible locations were selected, as part of the ongoing COA-DEP study.
• In Deal Lake, wet-weather sampling took place in July that will be used to determine the impacts of stormwater runoff on bacteria concentrations. The samples were collected by COA staff, interns, and COA-trained citizen scientist volunteers from the Deal Lake Watershed Alliance. Samples were shipped to Environmental Canine Services (ECS) in Maine for “ship and sniff” testing. This innovative method uses canines trained to detect the presence or absence of potential bacteria from sewage contamination. This initiative is in partnership with the Deal Lake Commission.
• Testing is anticipated to be expanded to the Barnegat Bay, thanks to a grant from the NJDEP
to identify and reduce sources of pathogen pollution from sewage bacteria.
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