East Sacrmento McKinley Park Pond Fails Health Test–Come to City’s Meeting to Help Pond

McKinley Park Pond is in crisis. Join other East Sacramento Preservation members at the City Parks & Recreation Commission meeting:

Thursday

February 6, 2014

7pm

City Hall

     We want to get immediate action on the public health issues at the pond. The City had the pond water tested in June and it was deemed a Human Health Hazard. McKinley was the only pond in Sacramento (of the four tested–North Laguna, William Land, SouthsIde) that tested as dangerous or close to dangerous to humans.

     The water was tested for coliform bacteria only. There was no testing for giardia, camphylobacter or hepatitis. The Coliform bacteria level was 8 times what is acceptable and 4 times above an action level.

     Children play in this water and sometimes fall in, fish caught are taken home to contaminate surfaces. Dogs drink the water and fetch their balls from it.

     ESP’s Judy McClaver has been trying to get Parks management and Councilman Cohn to do something to prevent people from contacting the pond water since she received this report.  No funding or action has come from the city.

     Enforcement of the no feeding human food to the water fowl, which would decrease the amount of excrement, is not being enforced. Funding (Capital Improvement Funds and Measure U)  has been diverted to other aesthetic and entertainment projects. McClaver has been cleaning up the pond of debris, which has included dirty diapers and syringes. She proposes that the current fence be extended around the pond, similar to Southside Pond.

     “Domestic waterfowl have been removed. Only wild ones remain. There is no way with the number of ducks that reside in the pond, the large number of geese that migrate through, and the number of turtles residing and breeding, that this pond can ever be cleaned up to a safe level. It needs the protection of a fence,” said McClaver.

     Please show the Commission that this is important to the neighborhood and come to the meeting. It will be the first item. Parking is not an issue after 6pm.