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On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal Mississippi with 150 mile-per-hour winds and a storm surge in excess of 20 feet. Katrina moved inland and wreaked destruction on a broad swath of eastern Mississippi. Some eastern Mississippi counties were left without power and water and some major roads were impassable for weeks. The possibility of disease transmission from contaminated water and contamination caused by chemical spills were major concerns. As part of a multi-agency response to the disaster, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), established a network of sampling locations to determine the effects of the storm on surface-water quality along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Water samples were collected weekly at 31 estuarine tributary sites and 13 beach monitoring sites in coastal Mississippi Counties – Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson – for a period of 5 weeks beginning September 19, 2005. Samples were collected by MDEQ and USGS, were transported to a temporary laboratory established at a USGS facility at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, MS, and were analyzed within 6 hours of collection. USGS analyzed the samples primarily for enterococci, which is the standard fecal indicator bacteria for brackish waters and can be used as a fecal indicator for freshwater. Enterococci densities were determined by the most probable value method. About 14 percent of the enterococci densities were less than the detection limit, and 81 percent were lower than U.S. Environmental Agency criteria for the protection of public health. Densities at several of the bacteriological sites increased during the second week of sampling possibly due to runoff associated with Hurricane Rita rainfall that occurred September 23-24, 2005. Quality-control data were reviewed to ensure that methods performed as expected. USGS also collected 19 water-quality samples at 12 inland freshwater sites for a period of 2 weeks starting on September 19, 2005. Sampling sites were located near established USGS stream gages. Physical properties of the streams were measured on site. Waterquality samples were collected, processed, and preserved on site according to standard procedures and then shipped to the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory in Denver, CO, for analysis--except for biochemical oxygen demand samples, which were analyzed by the MDEQ laboratory in Pearl, MS. Each sample was analyzed for multiple constituents including nutrients, major ions, trace metals, modern-use and polar pesticides, wastewater compounds, volatile organic compounds, and degradate organic compounds. Most detections were below available State and Federal water-quality criteria for Mississippi streams. Overall, the results from the bacteriological and water-quality samples indicated no systematic contamination in the sampled streams in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina made landfall in coastal Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana on August 29, 2005. The local population in the three coastal Mississippi Counties – Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson – was concerned about water quality in streams, bays, and estuaries of the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of the hurricane because of damage caused by flooding, wind, and storm surge. Nearly all of the municipal wastewater treatment facilities in the three coastal counties, as well as many north of the affected counties, were out of operation for an extended period of time due to widespread power outages. Many of the industrial operations in the region, such as oil refineries, chemical production plants, and timber processing plants, were also without power for an extended period of time. As a result, there were concerns about potential contamination of the bays and estuaries that are used for commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing and shellfish harvesting along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. There were also concerns about the safety of workers involved in debris removal from these same estuarine locations. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) partnered with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to collect bacteriological samples at tributary locations to the estuaries and bays and at selected MDEQ beach monitoring sites in the three Mississippi Gulf Coast counties. Bacteriological samples were collected weekly for 5 consecutive weeks beginning September 19, 2005, and were analyzed primarily for enterococci, which is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standard for fecalindicator bacteria for brackish waters (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 and 2004a). Selected samples were also analyzed for Escherichia coli (E. Coli). The USGS also collected water-quality samples at current real-time stream gage or crest-stage gage locations on inland freshwater streams tributary to the coastal estuaries and bays. Water-quality samples were collected weekly for 2 weeks beginning September 19, 2005, and were analyzed for numerous constituents including nutrients, major ions, trace metals, modern-use and polar pesticides, wastewater compounds, volatile organic compounds, and degradate organic compounds. This report documents the site-selection criteria, sample-collection and analysis methods, quality-assurance procedures, and analysis results of the bacteriological and water-quality samples collected along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This information will be useful to agencies that continue to coordinate clean-up efforts, community leaders involved in industrial recovery, and natural resource managers leading environmental assessments and restoration.

Bacteriological and water-quality data collected at coastal Mississippi sites following Hurricane Katrina, September-October 2005