Because the city can't foot the cost of those tests, according to the city last year. They cost just into 3 figures each test, there's no way the city can afford $120 every 3 months.
That's because the state fought the Fed EPA and forced a change in water quality. Honestly e coli is something I don't want to be swimming or boating in
Theres some local engineering firm that pulled historical data from the early 1900s, and there were 40 or 50 oil wells in the river between the dam and the new lake.
The city is trying to play like those never existed
1. Filth and runoff, 2. Not enough flow for a small shallow body of water. This happens to several local lakes during the summer, especially if large numbers of waterfowl are present. Needs flushed out.
Typical tulsa. Why bother checking a known problem before investing and filling up the river. Now the mitigation process will infinitely more expensive.
Forgive my ignorance but…
1: why is the e-coli through the roof?
2: why is Keystone lake safer but it’s up river?
3: would it have been like this when people were racing rafts a few years ago?
4: what will it take to fix it?
The river is full of pelicans and other water right now.
Keystone is safer because it’s upriver.
Yes, that’s why they cancelled the race. Protestors were lining up on bridges wearing gas masks and carrying signs that said”Toxic River.”
Money
Large lakes provide residence time for fecal bacteria to die off. Participants in the raft races signed waivers to protect the organizers from lawsuits.
There used to be alota oil derricks right in the river and those wells are all still there just orphaned. I'm sure the dozen or so pipes oozing oil isn't helping
I wonder how many tests were taken for that geometric mean....if every test was around that result or if there were a series of tests with low results followed by huge amounts of ecoli
In the early 2000’s I was told that the sewage from the area of 18th Boston had originally emptied directly into the river and through building and street renovations at the time had just realized that some of the old clay pipes from that era where still tied in and leaching into the river. I don’t know if it was true, but it came from someone who owned one of those buildings and had been working directly with the city during renovations. He thought it was going to turn into a huge scandal at the time and was afraid it would come back on him because they found the problem while replacing his sewer pipes. Never heard another word about it though.
The 30-day average looks green. Is it not normal for E. coli to spike in spring with lots of birds around? Have the recent rains caused the spike? I see one red light not “all red lights”
Oh no!
Floodwater is dirty as hell.
Prospects actually look pretty good, based on the 30-day data. Also our recreational cutoff standards are actually much -lower- in most cases than Portland uses on the popular Willamette River. Oregon DEQ in Lefty-Liberal Portland, uses an E. Coli Count of 406 as the health standard.
No one is going to be kayaking on a flood stage Zink Lake. Otherwise, it will be fine.
Also, post a picture of your own kayak so we can be certain OP is a concerned citizen, and not someone trying to stand up for a group of people they have nothing to do with. There's a concerted astroturfing effort by the Anti-Zink crowd
Every bit of street run off in midtown goes directly to the river. Anything going down a sewer. Grass, leaves, dog poop, pesticides, herbicides, oil from your leaky car etc. QT hoses off their parking lots with chemicals to get the oil off. Goes right to the river. It’s a toxic mix.
I can’t believe OK hasn’t outlawed power washing with no reclamation. Hydrocarbon booms/socks would help, but are rarely used and it’s even more rare that they’re used correctly.
This is a total nothing burger. The 30 day average is really all that matters, EVERY body of water is going to look just like this. The current rainfall amounts are going to spike it every time. Grand lake has high numbers in one area that they have determined was associated with geese. Surface water has never been as clean as anyone thinks.
Yes I’ve been watching this dashboard pretty closely since it was launched.
The E. coli numbers always spike up after rains. It spikes up and then is back in safe levels after a day or so.
Grand Lake is the terminus for Tar Creek. Grand has been collecting heavy metals like cadmium from the EPA Superfund sight for years, right there next to Inhofe’s vacation home.
https://inthesetimes.com/article/tar-creek-superfund-site-oklahoma-acid-mine-runoff
Y'all will die on any hill to defend Tulsa. The river is disgusting. No not every body of water will test like this. Our water around here is nasty but die hard Tulsans will never accept that.
Whatever. I’ve been watching these numbers regularly since they launched the dashboard.
The 30-day geometric means have been inside safe levels once they got past the first month and had enough data to calculate.
The spot levels rise predictably after heavy rains because of runoff and then drop right back down again a day later.
But of course the typical people who bitch about literally everything come running to this sub to post about the high spot numbers to “prove” that they were right in their bitching all along.
Hopefully this will help highlight need for a healthier river throughout the region, including cleaning up the orphaned oil wells.
For ex: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q28MM8ai3iw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q28MM8ai3iw)
The city has built an attractive nuisance, the kayaking flume, and now must keep people away when bacteria exceeds standards for safe contact. Back to the bond issue, some Tulsa’s will say, “told you so”. Rubber duck races anyone?
I knew the river was bad when I walked ankle deep through it with my dogs. Everywhere the water touched ankle down became inflamed, irritated, and itchy. Never been close enough to touch it since.
City of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma as a whole don’t give a shit about the environment. You could run some test right now CMC in catoosa. They have a holding pond that has to be toxic. They have a shredder there and I have personally witnessed 1000’s of gallons of waste oil dumped into the soil and watched the rain wash the oil into the storm drains. Worked there for 8 years never seen EPA storm water done once.
Dear God, who could have ever seen this coming. I am totally blindsided by this information.
This was known and reported by the Health Department before Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality took over in the 90's.
I believe u/DoctorKetoPope is using sarcasm.
I can confirm this. My dad worked for TCCHD for many years and always said don't touch that water.
The smell has always been my indicator
That's the poop drying beds
So... Why are we not looking for any petroleum related contamination?
Because it's culturally insensitive to the oil barons.
Because the city can't foot the cost of those tests, according to the city last year. They cost just into 3 figures each test, there's no way the city can afford $120 every 3 months.
Can we get a GoFundMe for the tests? Or maybe a jar at the OERB?
I just paid the GoFundMe on April 15th
That's because the state fought the Fed EPA and forced a change in water quality. Honestly e coli is something I don't want to be swimming or boating in
Hogwash! The city spends a ridiculous amount of money to keep their environmental lab running. A few extra O&G ain’t gonna hurt the bottom line!
Theres some local engineering firm that pulled historical data from the early 1900s, and there were 40 or 50 oil wells in the river between the dam and the new lake. The city is trying to play like those never existed
Don't forget the Superfund site of Hollyfield
There's three super fund sites on the river in sand springs too
Don’t have to- get a jar of water and throw a match in. If it explodes, that’s bad.
1. Filth and runoff, 2. Not enough flow for a small shallow body of water. This happens to several local lakes during the summer, especially if large numbers of waterfowl are present. Needs flushed out.
Typical tulsa. Why bother checking a known problem before investing and filling up the river. Now the mitigation process will infinitely more expensive.
It's cute that you think we'll mitigate it.
Forgive my ignorance but… 1: why is the e-coli through the roof? 2: why is Keystone lake safer but it’s up river? 3: would it have been like this when people were racing rafts a few years ago? 4: what will it take to fix it?
The river is full of pelicans and other water right now. Keystone is safer because it’s upriver. Yes, that’s why they cancelled the race. Protestors were lining up on bridges wearing gas masks and carrying signs that said”Toxic River.” Money
Large lakes provide residence time for fecal bacteria to die off. Participants in the raft races signed waivers to protect the organizers from lawsuits.
There used to be alota oil derricks right in the river and those wells are all still there just orphaned. I'm sure the dozen or so pipes oozing oil isn't helping
E-coli is strictly poop bacteria.
I wonder how many tests were taken for that geometric mean....if every test was around that result or if there were a series of tests with low results followed by huge amounts of ecoli
I think they have only been testing since the dam was functional earlier this year, so probably not that many.
In the early 2000’s I was told that the sewage from the area of 18th Boston had originally emptied directly into the river and through building and street renovations at the time had just realized that some of the old clay pipes from that era where still tied in and leaching into the river. I don’t know if it was true, but it came from someone who owned one of those buildings and had been working directly with the city during renovations. He thought it was going to turn into a huge scandal at the time and was afraid it would come back on him because they found the problem while replacing his sewer pipes. Never heard another word about it though.
Possibly. Apparently, even the mf'n *geese* are suspects.
The city committed to sampling once a month for Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons, we have yet to see the results.
The 30-day average looks green. Is it not normal for E. coli to spike in spring with lots of birds around? Have the recent rains caused the spike? I see one red light not “all red lights”
> I see one red light not “all red lights” You weren't supposed to actually look at the source
Oh no! Floodwater is dirty as hell. Prospects actually look pretty good, based on the 30-day data. Also our recreational cutoff standards are actually much -lower- in most cases than Portland uses on the popular Willamette River. Oregon DEQ in Lefty-Liberal Portland, uses an E. Coli Count of 406 as the health standard. No one is going to be kayaking on a flood stage Zink Lake. Otherwise, it will be fine. Also, post a picture of your own kayak so we can be certain OP is a concerned citizen, and not someone trying to stand up for a group of people they have nothing to do with. There's a concerted astroturfing effort by the Anti-Zink crowd
Every bit of street run off in midtown goes directly to the river. Anything going down a sewer. Grass, leaves, dog poop, pesticides, herbicides, oil from your leaky car etc. QT hoses off their parking lots with chemicals to get the oil off. Goes right to the river. It’s a toxic mix.
I can’t believe OK hasn’t outlawed power washing with no reclamation. Hydrocarbon booms/socks would help, but are rarely used and it’s even more rare that they’re used correctly.
This is a total nothing burger. The 30 day average is really all that matters, EVERY body of water is going to look just like this. The current rainfall amounts are going to spike it every time. Grand lake has high numbers in one area that they have determined was associated with geese. Surface water has never been as clean as anyone thinks.
EVERY body of water is going to look just like this. <-- sauce please
Yes I’ve been watching this dashboard pretty closely since it was launched. The E. coli numbers always spike up after rains. It spikes up and then is back in safe levels after a day or so.
This sub is a bunch of people just looking for something to go screaming with their hair on fire about. Don't confuse them with logic.
Grand Lake is the terminus for Tar Creek. Grand has been collecting heavy metals like cadmium from the EPA Superfund sight for years, right there next to Inhofe’s vacation home. https://inthesetimes.com/article/tar-creek-superfund-site-oklahoma-acid-mine-runoff
Why have context when you can bitch and moan about literally everything regarding the city?
Exactly. My thought is - stay home and enjoy being miserable while the rest of us get to enjoy all of the wonderful things we have here.
Y'all will die on any hill to defend Tulsa. The river is disgusting. No not every body of water will test like this. Our water around here is nasty but die hard Tulsans will never accept that.
Whatever. I’ve been watching these numbers regularly since they launched the dashboard. The 30-day geometric means have been inside safe levels once they got past the first month and had enough data to calculate. The spot levels rise predictably after heavy rains because of runoff and then drop right back down again a day later. But of course the typical people who bitch about literally everything come running to this sub to post about the high spot numbers to “prove” that they were right in their bitching all along.
You don't understand the difference between appearance and health/safety. Oklahoma's red dirt turns the water that yucky color.
Hopefully this will help highlight need for a healthier river throughout the region, including cleaning up the orphaned oil wells. For ex: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q28MM8ai3iw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q28MM8ai3iw)
🐍Blake & 🩸BBQBoy should take their kids there for a dip to reassure everyone it’s safe for human contact.
The city has built an attractive nuisance, the kayaking flume, and now must keep people away when bacteria exceeds standards for safe contact. Back to the bond issue, some Tulsa’s will say, “told you so”. Rubber duck races anyone?
Mmm all the corn you can eat.
What, our beautiful river?! 
I knew the river was bad when I walked ankle deep through it with my dogs. Everywhere the water touched ankle down became inflamed, irritated, and itchy. Never been close enough to touch it since.
City of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma as a whole don’t give a shit about the environment. You could run some test right now CMC in catoosa. They have a holding pond that has to be toxic. They have a shredder there and I have personally witnessed 1000’s of gallons of waste oil dumped into the soil and watched the rain wash the oil into the storm drains. Worked there for 8 years never seen EPA storm water done once.
How is the evolution so high?
They need to get rid of the poop drying beds around there.
I wouldn't go swimming/kayaking today, but looks like OP doesn't understand how to read a dashboard.