Emerald Shiners in Niagara River

While water testing at the Ontario Street Boat Launch and North Squaw Island on Wednesday, March 21, fellow intern Chris Murawski and I observed massive schools of Emerald Shiners congregating near the surface of the river. A member of the minnow family, the emerald shiner grows to about three and a half inches long and has a distinctive emerald sheen on its back. They can be found in large, deep lakes and rivers from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and they generally travel in schools. Given their abundance, they are often used as bait fish. The shiners in this photograph are actually under a thin layer of ice in Black Rock Canal. There were hundreds of gulls in the area who looked like they really wanted to peck through that ice . . .

Erie County Water Authority supervisor falsifies positive E.coli reading

Today, Artvoice and Buffalo News reported that a supervisor at the Erie County Water Authority tampered with a water testing report to cover up a positive E.coli reading from a water sample taken at Dodge Elementary School in Amherst on January 16. Subsequent tests taken at the school and the surrounding area yielded negative results.

The ECWA uses the IDEXX quanti-tray/Colilert testing system for its E.coli testing. Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper also uses this testing system, in which a re-agent is added to a sample, sealed in a tray, and incubated for 24 hours. If E.coli is present, the tray appears phosphorescent under a UV light.

Was the sample incorrectly taken? Or was the presence of E.coli in Amherst's drinking water an anomaly? Either way, it is a felony to falsify a water quality report. According to the narrative published in Artvoice,

The job of monitoring water quality is not a difficult one but is an important matter of public trust. Citizens have the right to know the whole truth about the quality of their drinking water.

EPA is investigating the case, and the ECWA has announced that its board of commissioners will determine any disciplinary action for the supervisor.