FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2011
Contact: Robbie Wilbur
601/961-5277
MDEQ ISSUES TEMPORARY ADVISORY FOR PEARL RIVER NEAR JACKSON
(JACKSON, Miss.) –The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued a temporary water contact advisory Thursday for the Pearl River in the Jackson area. This advisory applies to the Pearl River from the end of Westbrook Road in North Jackson, approximately 4 river miles upstream from Lakeland Drive, to the Florence-Byram Road Bridge in Byram.
MDEQ recommends that people avoid water contact recreation such as swimming or wading in these waters. In addition, people should avoid eating fish from these waters until further notice. This advisory does not apply to the spillway area below the Ross Barnett Reservoir dam.
This advisory is being issued due to the discharge of untreated wastewater in the vicinity of Hanging Moss Creek near the end of Northside Drive and Eubanks Creek near Lakeland Drive. These discharges resulted from recent heavy rainfall and are being aggravated by high waters on the Pearl River. MDEQ is working with city officials to ensure that the problems are corrected as soon as possible. MDEQ staff has begun to monitor bacteria levels and water quality in the river and will revise the advisory as needed.
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