Vermillion River water making people sick

[DrownedDesertRat]

[b]Released:
Monday, July 26, 2004[/b]

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[b]Vermillion River water making people sick
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HASTINGS - Cooling off in the Vermillion River south of Hastings may not be such a good idea.


Record amounts of sewage are being dumped into the river, which is one of Minnesota's best trout streams. It's so bad some kayakers are even getting sick.


"Basically blew up my leg," said Lanny Freng, who got a leg infection after kayaking in the Vermillion River. "I was on crutches for 2 1/2 to three weeks."


Freng's infection was probably the result of fecal coliform contamination, which was likely caused by faulty septic tanks and farm runoff into the river. His doctor told Freng that he sees lots of patients from the Vermillion.


Watershed expert Daniel Huff, who works for the organization Friends of the Mississippi, told Dakota County residents in the Hastings area that their drinking water supply could also be threatened by fecal coliform.


Rapid development and other factors are contributing to contamination of underground water supplies.


"I'd be alarmed," Huff told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. "If someone has a private well they need to make sure they have it tested. Dakota County can help them in testing that."


Huff said people who get drinking water from public water supplies don't have as much to worry about because cities are required to test their water.


Dakota and Scott Counties are working on a joint, long-range plan to clean up the water in the Vermillion.
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