Tag: Jessica Bonamusa

Raritan River Pathogens Results for 9.23.2021

Raritan River Pathogens Monitoring 2021 is a wrap!

HUGE gratitude to our amazing team, all our partners, and especially our volunteers. We could not do this without: Michele Bakacs & Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Jessica Bonamusa & Interstate Environmental Commission, Priscilla Oliveria & The Watershed Institute, Jason Acevedo, Frank Dahl, Dorina Cardinale, Andrew Gehman, Janet Kenny Sacklow, Julisa Collado and extra special thanks to our wonderful Spanish language outreach coordinator Jocelyn Palomino!!

Pathogens results for our final day of sampling, Thursday September 23 are as follows:

As always, if you choose to recreate on the water this weekend, stay safe, and be sure to wash your hands!  See here for more information on our pathogens monitoring program.

More flotsam/jetsam from Hurricane Ida. Here we see part of Piscatway’s runaway dock.
Other parts made it 5 miles downstream, and got lodged under the Route 1 Bridge! Photo credit: Monica Orso

We will miss our time in the field. Stay tuned for a results recap in December once we’ve had a chance to finish data entry and analysis.

Our wonderful Outreach Coordinator Jocelyn Palomino, and Rutgers CRSSA Steward Jason Acevedo were the backbone of our 2021 monitoring program. THANK YOU Jocelyn & Jason!!!

Pathogens Monitoring Results for 8.20.2020

Photos and article by LRWP Board President Heather Fenyk

The LRWP and EARTH Center of Middlesex County monitors for Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus at six non-swimming public beach access sites along the Lower Raritan during the warmer summer months. Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus are indicators of disease-causing bacteria in our waterways.

The EPA recommends that a single Enterococcus sample be less than 110 Colony Forming Units (CFU)/100mL for primary contact. Enterococci levels are used as indicators of the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria in recreational waters. Such pathogens may pose health risks to people fishing and swimming in a water body. Sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, stormwater runoff, leaking septic systems, animal carcasses, and runoff from manure storage areas. Enterococci levels are often high after heavy or consistent rainfall.

Briefly, our Sayreville, South Amboy and Perth Amboy sites are looking good this week! Please note that these results for August 20, 2020 are preliminary and awaiting Quality Control.

Field Notes

Yesterday was an exquisite day for sampling the Raritan!

Clear and gorgeous waters, and the re-purposing of a broom handle into our snazzy new sampling stick.
Thanks to Maya and NJ Watershed Ambassador Heather Miara for lending a hand in the field.
Thanks also to IEC’s wonderful Jessica Bonamusa for meeting us in the Elizabeth IKEA parking lot for the sample handoff.
This week we kick off our genetic source trackdown analysis – the larger sample bottle in the mix of pathogens sample bottles will go to a Rutgers lab for filtering and analysis. We’re looking forward to more definitively pinning our pathogens problems on human, beast or fowl.

Summer 2020 Lower Raritan Monitoring Sites

The New Jersey state Department of Environmental Protection and Middlesex County Health Departments typically monitor at sanctioned public swimming beach sites. They do not monitor the water quality for pathogens at public access non-swimming beach sites along the Raritan, despite regular use of these areas for primary contact (fishing and swimming) by members of our urban communities.

The LRWP works with in partnership with the Interstate Environmental Commission for lab analysis of our samples. We have a Quality Assurance Protocol Plan (QAPP) approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. We work to report our results as soon as lab analysis is completed.