FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robbie Wilbur 601/961-5277
September 9, 2009
MDEQ ISSUES TEMPORARY ADVISORY FOR A PORTION OF THE MISSISSIPPI SOUND AND A
TRIBUTARY IN PASCAGOULA
(JACKSON, Miss.) – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ) issued a temporary advisory Wednesday for a portion of the
Mississippi Sound and a tributary canal due to a sewage line break near the
intersection of Parsley Avenue and 11th Street in Pascagoula. The leak is
located on the 11th Street canal that flows through a small park at Parsley
Avenue and 11th Street before entering the Mississippi Sound.
The advisory applies to the portion of the canal from Parsley Avenue
downstream to the Mississippi Sound at Beach Boulevard, and to the
Mississippi Sound from Pascagoula Street east to Grand Oaks. This advisory
also includes beach monitoring stations 19 and 20 at the Pascagoula Beach
Park and Recreation Area. MDEQ recommends that people avoid water contact
recreation such as swimming or water skiing in this area, and that people
not eat fish or seafood caught from this area until further notice.
Contractors are repairing the line, but apparently untreated sewage ran
into the canal for several hours. MDEQ staff is collecting samples from
the area to determine the severity and extent of the problem. The advisory
will be lifted when water sampling shows acceptable bacteria levels.
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