Volume 51
Water Quality and Shellfisheries Closure in a Developing Coastal Region in North Carolina, USA: A Preliminary View
Authors
Nearhoof, J.E.; Cahoon, L.B. Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 1998
Pages: 441-450
Event: Proceedings of the Fifty First Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: St. Croix
Country: US Virgin Islands
Abstract
South Brunswick County, North Carolina, a rapidly developing coastal region, has suffered the closure of approximately 65% of it's shellfishing waters due to elevated numbers of fecal coliforms. Some of the fecal coliform contamination may come from malfunctioning sewage treatment plants and failing septic tanks that reach densities as high as 8 per acre in some districts. Fecal coliform counts exceed the State's standard for human contact and for shellfishing in most of our monitoring locations. Klebsiella pneumoniae has been isolated from surface waters in some monitoring locations.