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Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Natural Resources Specialist Jazmyn Milford presents during a meeting Feb. 28.
Courtney Pedersen/The Enterprise

Officials say high concentrations of fecal matter found upstream in Hillebrandt Bayou and Neches River Tidal could cause a health risk to people who swim or wade in the area.

As a result, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is working on a a plan to improve water quality and protect recreational use in the area.

The Commission presented a draft of that plan and heard public comments from community members at a public meeting late last month.

The Hillebrandt Bayou watershed is in the Gulf Coast region of Southeast Texas in the Neches-Trinity Coastal Basin and is mostly encompassed in the city of Beaumont. the commission's website states.

"The goal of this project is to improve water quality to protect recreational uses," the commission's site states. "Toward that goal, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and stakeholders are developing a total maximum daily load to reduce bacteria in Hillebrandt Bayou and a coordinated I-Plan for the Hillebrant Bayou and Neches River Tidal watersheds."

During the meeting, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Natural Resources Specialist Jazmyn Milford presented the project's "I-Plan for Five Total Maximum Daily Loads for Indicator Bacteria in Hillebrandt Bayou and Neches River Tidal" and heard public comments from community members.

"(A) total maximum daily load determines the maximum amount ... of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet the water quality standards and maintain its uses, and allocates this load to regulated (point) and unregulated (nonpoint) sources in the watershed," the presentation states.

Point sources include factories and wastewater treatment plants, while nonpoint sources are cropland, farmland, suburban developments, city streets and rural homes.

Milford said the three-part process used to restore an impaired water body includes establishing the total maximum daily load, developing the implementation plan and then carrying it out.

"Primary contact recreation activities are those involving a significant risk of ingestion of water, such as wading or swimming," Milford said during the presentation.

According to monitoring data, 29 samples of Hillebrandt Bayou in Jefferson County averaged 455.13 cfu/100 mL for E. coli -- more than three times acceptable freshwater limits.

The highest average of 24 samples from the Neches River Tidal in Orange County revealed 97.56 cfu/100 mL for Enterococci -- nearly three times acceptable saltwater limits.

A "cfu," or colony-forming unit, estimates the number of cells in a sample with the ability to multiply in certain conditions. Both bacteria listed indicate possible contamination of streams and rivers by fecal waste.

After the presentation, local residents shared their own concerns about the water.

"You have citizens getting feces in their water, in their homes," Beaumont resident Terry Roy said. "I don't think this is something that we need to keep kicking down the road and doing studies on because this is evidence that has been in people's homes and it's only going to get worse."

Beaumont resident Tricia Kern-Premo brought up an incident at her apartment in December, when a man from the Commission tested the water at her house.

"He was there because I was having sewer overflow issues with my apartment complex, and he tested the water that was coming out of my bathtub faucet," Kern-Premo said. "He told me there was sewer in (the water) and I screamed and said 'That's my tap water. What are you talking about?' He threw the water in the tub and left my house."

Kern-Premo said that the water for the entire complex was turned off about five minutes later.

"It's more than just a waterway for us," Kern-Premo said. "Our entire infrastructure is collapsing, if it hasn't already, and people here are suffering."

The commission is accepting public comment on the project until midnight on March 14 online or via fax to Nicole Reed at fax4808@tceq.texas.gov.

"The implementation of a plan will be monitored and hopefully show improved conditions," Milford said. "Lastly, there'll be annual meetings with stakeholders to discuss if sufficient progress has been made. If progress is not satisfactory to stakeholders, the implementation strategy can be adjusted."

*Terry Roy is running for Beaumont City Council member at-large.

courtney.pedersen@beaumontenterprise.com

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