No-body contact advisory in effect for Grand River

Sat, Jul 5, 2008

Health officials in Ottawa and Kent counties have jointly issued an advisory to keep out of the Grand River until further notice.

The city of Grand Rapids notified public health officials that a combined sewer overflow was released into the Grand River at several locations on Wednesday. The combined amount of the discharges is estimated at approximately 70 million gallons of sewage.

As a result, the two county health departments issued a no-body contact advisory for the entire length of the Grand River from Grand Rapids downstream to where the river empties into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven.

Health officials from the two counties said Thursday that they will be collecting water samples for E. coli analysis on Monday morning.

The advisory went into effect Thursday afternoon and will remain in effect until further notice, health officials said.

For more information about surface water exposure and the no-contact advisory, visit the Ottawa County Web site: www.miottawa.org/HealthComm/Health/.