High bacteria counts in stormwater are prompting concerns, as volunteer citizen scientists walk Anacortes and Bellingham shores to help track outfall water quality.
During a routine sampling session in Bellingham Bay last month, a team of citizen scientists came across a stream of brown, frothy and poop-smelling water flowing from the Olive Street stormwater outfall, located just north of Boulevard Park.
Upon analyzing the sample, researchers found E. coli bacteria levels so high that they exceeded the safety threshold by over 50 times, RE Sources shared in an Instagram post.
Kirsten McDade, a pollution expert who leads four stormwater teams for the nonprofit, said the city is currently conducting a DNA test to identify the source.
Every month, groups of volunteer citizen scientists walk the shores of Bellingham and Anacortes to collect samples of untreated water from outfalls and creek mouths with the goal of keeping track of any changes in water quality.
This work is part of a growing effort known as the Stormwater Monitoring Program, an initiative of Friends of the Salish Sea. The environmental nonprofit, based in Anacortes, has been taking samples from eight cities in the region that are covered by a Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit, which regulates the discharge of stormwater from moderately sized cities.
The findings are then shared with the cities, which will work to investigate and mitigate the contamination, though contaminated stormwater is one of the most difficult forms of pollution to prevent.
“We’re trying to be the first boots on the ground,” Shannon Valderas, the Stormwater Monitoring Program’s project coordinator, said about the nonprofits.
As stated in RE Sources’ report, stormwater also represents the greatest source of pollution in the sea, where it introduces bacteria, chemicals and sediment.
These contaminants — which can come from unscooped pet poop, leaked motor oil, fertilizer and other substances — get swept by the rains and fast-tracked from hard surfaces like streets, roofs and even lawns, where soil and plants can’t act as natural filters; they are then flushed through storm drains, pipes and the outfalls, finally reaching natural bodies of water.
While experts agree that there is no reason to panic or avoid going to the beach completely, they acknowledge that swimming in urban waters without taking the right precautions can come with risks, though evidence of locals getting sick from water exposure has been anecdotal rather than reported to health authorities.
“I think people need to just understand the risks and make those decisions themselves based on their comfort level and also health status,” McDade said.
As scientists further dive in to find more answers, awareness and small changes in daily habits can help beachgoers stay safe and protect their aquatic neighbors.
Monitoring in Bellingham
RE Sources joined forces with Friends of the Salish Sea in 2020 and has since been releasing a yearly stormwater report detailing the contamination affecting four creeks and six outfalls.
The latest report, released this spring, shows that the contamination levels for water discharged into Bellingham Bay consistently exceed quality standards set by the state.
While 2024 saw 294 exceedances to 2023’s 167, RE Sources believes this increase might be because volunteers were given clearer directions on how to assess water quality, and they collected more data.
McDade said that while the contamination doesn’t seem to be getting worse, the lack of improvement still represents a decline.
The sites can receive one of three ratings: “good,” “watch” or “threat.” In 2024, all six of the outfalls and three out of four creeks were rated as “threat” as they frequently violated quality standards or had a high likelihood of human exposure, according to the report. Just as in the previous year, none of the creeks or outfalls were “good,” RE Sources found.
Some of the sites, like the Broadway outfall and the C Street outfall, show obvious signs of pollution, such as a yellowish color, a sulfur smell and a white mat of microbes on the surface, as detailed in the report. Other signs volunteers and scientists look for include algae, warm water temperatures, turbidity, the smell of fossil fuels, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, E. coli bacteria and other pathogens.
Yet ironically, one of the spots with the worst bacteria counts happens to be rather inconspicuous — and somewhat visually charming. Despite looking like a “pizza oven” with a clean-looking, rarely smelling rivulet of water coming out of it, as McDade said, the Bennett Street outfall has frequently shown “very high” bacteria exceedances, the report shows.
The outfall drains the hillside south of Boulevard Park and can be seen from Taylor Dock, discharging in front of the Chrysalis hotel.
Three quarters of the samples collected from this location in 2024 presented high bacteria counts, often exceeding limits by three to 15 times and showing similar levels to those detected in 2021 and 2022, the report states.
Last month, samples showed more than 3,000 CFU — or “colony-forming unit” used to estimate the number of viable bacteria cells in a sample — equaling 10 times the bacteria safety threshold, according to the Instagram post.
The Bennett outfall is near the Taylor floating dock, a popular spot for swimmers.
Because of the risk of human exposure, the state Department of Ecology sampled the water in front of the outfall 10 times between May and August of last year as part of the Beach Environmental Assessment, Communication and Health Program — which monitors the quality of marine water to ensure it’s safe for recreation.
The water directly in front of the outfall exceeded safety limits for bacteria three out of 10 times, enough to prompt the two state agencies to install a sign warning beachgoers that contact with the water “may cause illness” and to “swim at (their) own risk.”
Swimming directly in front of the outfall is not recommended, but samples collected from surrounding waters suggest they are generally safe. Test results from Taylor dock in fact have not shown any exceedances — instead, they were lower than the safety threshold, McDade said.
When asked what distance swimmers should keep from a contaminated outfall in order to be safe, she did not have an answer. All that is known so far is that, somewhere between the dock and the outlet, the water becomes safe, and that the safety line’s location might depend on factors such as water temperature, tides, currents and the amount of bacteria flushed, she said.
Bryan Rust, executive director of the Community Boating Center, concurs that contaminants seem to dilute once they enter the water.
“The conditions near our facilities remain perfectly safe for recreation, certainly thanks in part to tidal flushing and open water circulation,” he said.
The boating center, which is located about 400 yards away from the Bennett outfall, has been supporting RE Sources’ monitoring efforts and testing the water at the Fairhaven boat launch and other nearby sites that were found to be safe. This summer, the boating center will recruit an intern to take samples on a weekly basis, he said.
While its recreational programs have been unaffected, Rust said the center will have a plan in place in the scenario that bacteria levels high enough to put people’s health at risk are found near its facilities, modifying programs rather than cancelling them altogether.
Forever chemicals
According to RE Sources, 75% of toxic chemicals in the Puget Sound were introduced by stormwater.
In 2024, RE Sources tested Squalicum Creek — rated as “threat” — for a second year to detect “forever chemicals” or PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which derive from household and industrial products and can have significant effects on the health of humans and wildlife “even in extremely low concentrations,” according to the nonprofit.
While the majority of the samples contained less than the typical 50 parts per trillion of PFAS for streams in Washington, four sites in Squalicum Creek had concentrations that exceeded this standard, reaching 393.3 parts per trillion just downstream of Hannegan Road.
According to RE Sources, this could mean that one or more sources are releasing the chemicals into the creek, with two suspects being a firefighting training facility that may have discharged firefighting foam – which contains PFAS – into the creek, or a truck wash station that discharged wastewater into the creek.
More tests are necessary to identify the source with certainty, but RE Sources recommends that people and pets avoid the creek.
First flush events
Valderas said that contamination tends to be worse in the summer, when after long periods of dry weather, all the bacteria and chemicals that have piled up over time are flushed at once after a rain in what she called a “first flush event.”
Yet, the high bacteria levels that were found recently at the Olive or Bennett outfalls were not preceded by rain, McDade said.
At Olive, despite the dry weather, volunteers noticed a stronger-than-expected water flow. Due to its brown color, foam and “disgusting” smell that left volunteers “disturbed,” McDade thinks it was the result of a sewage system leak, which the city said is likely due to the aging pipes.
While there was no extra water gushing out of the Bennett outfall, the city suggested the high bacteria counts could have originated from a breeding ground inside the stormwater pipes.
McDade said she’d like the City of Bellingham to do source tracing more frequently but understands that the city is facing staff and resource shortages.
According to RE Sources, the city “is not required to sample stormwater regularly to see if they’re within the limits of their pollution permits.”
Valderas suggested that Bellingham, despite conducting follow-up investigations, may be struggling to identify specific sources because the stormwater system seems to be more underground, meaning that the further down a sample is taken from a stream, the more sources may have contributed to the contamination.
Surveying in Anacortes
The Friends of the Salish Sea have also been surveying about 50 out of over 70 outfalls in Anacortes, according to Valderas.
The Friends work in partnership with the City of Anacortes, which then investigates the contamination and takes action to mitigate the issue.
In a recent accident, for example, a resident mistakenly hooked up their sewer line to the stormwater line, an issue the city resolved, she said, adding that this is a common occurrence.
Despite improvements, money and staff remain a challenge, according to Stormwater Manager Aaron Esterholt.
The city has retrofitted eight acres worth of drainage basin this year and is in the process of retrofitting the D Avenue area with more bioretention cells, he said. Next year, the city will remove a storm pond and add a modular wetland, a treatment system that filters out pollutants from runoff.
While pollution is a concern in the region, it also doesn’t affect Anacortes enough to warn people against partaking in recreational activities in the area, he said. To keep things from actually getting bad, however, would require some effort from people.
“Right now we don’t have an issue, we’re very lucky we don’t, but it doesn’t mean that tomorrow we won’t,” Esterholt said.
One small habit change at a time
Esterholt finds that many people hold the incorrect belief that stormwater goes into the sewage system and gets treated before being discharged into the sea. On the contrary, most stormwater doesn’t get treated at all.
While it might sound efficient to treat both in the same system, funneling wastewater and stormwater into the same pipes can overwhelm the system during heavy rains, leading to sewage being discharged into the waterways, Valderas said.
People also tend to be unaware of the many ways they’re contributing to stormwater pollution, she and Esterholt said.
Often, the pathogens found in stormwater are none other than the ghosts of the dog poop left unscooped around town. Though sparing someone from the mortifying experience of stepping on raw sewage should be common sense, some might be more compelled to clean after their pets if they knew they’d be preventing bacteria, viruses and parasites from being swept into the stormwater system and poisoning streams with poop water.
Washing cars at home rather than at a car wash — where water is captured and recycled — causes the soapy water to end up in streams and strip the natural slime coat that protects fish from diseases and parasites, he said.
Chemicals can affect water temperature and pH and kill microorganisms that are at the base of the food chain, he said. Washing paintbrushes outside, spraying fertilizer to a garden, applying moss killer onto roofs all contribute to contaminating our streams.
In the case of Squalicum Creek, the water gets too hot to support salmonids in the summer months, according to RE Sources.
Salmon also face other threats. According to Valderas, streams tend to show high levels of 6PPD — a chemical used to prevent tires from degrading — whenever they intersect with a roadway.
“It is so toxic to coho that you need the equivalent of a few drops in an Olympic-size swimming pool for it to kill them,” she said.
While the tire industry looks at finding a safer alternative, she recommends keeping tires properly inflated to minimize the release of the tire dust.
In the absence of appropriate sediment control, residue from construction sites, including dirt, can deposit on the riverbeds where salmon lay their eggs and spawn, Esterholt said. Even sediment from dead leaves can be harmful to fish habitat.
Protecting your health
Though there isn’t any data about people getting sick from being exposed to stormwater pollution in either city, McDade has heard people saying they got an infection right after swimming in Bellingham Bay, though these anecdotes have not been confirmed.
By reporting any sickness that is suspected to have been caused by swimming in the Puget Sound to their local health departments, community members can help researchers and jurisdictions better understand the impacts of pollution and keep people safe.
But if swim you must, the experts recommend not swimming in front of outfalls, waiting at least 48 hours after a rain event before swimming, showering after a swim, avoiding seafood harvested out of inner Bellingham Bay and staying away from the water if you are immunocompromised or have any open wound — recent piercings and tattoos included.
— By Luisa Loi
Also read in Salish Current:
• “Could selling sewage save the Salish Sea?” Sept. 29, 2023
• “Locals in small operation take on ‘tall order’ in marine ecosystem,” Sept. 22, 2023
• “Anacortes toxic city dump one of hundreds dotting the state,” Nov. 11, 2022
• “Holding the line on phosphorus in Lake Whatcom,” March 4, 2022