By Clarence Cromwell
An investigation of bacteria in Saratoga Creek requested by environmentalists last fall will soon be under way.
The Saratoga City Council on Jan. 9 awarded a contract for the work to San Jose State University Professor Rhea Williamson, who estimated the study would cost $10,826.
The Friends of Santa Clara County Creeks asked for an investigation in October, after a consultant hired by the group tested creek water and found what the Friends believed to be dangerously high levels of bacteria. The Friends also have a legal case pending against the city that charges that it is responsible for reportedly high levels of pollution in Saratoga Creek.
Williamson's investigation will not include retesting the levels of bacteria in the water. The proposal she wrote to the City Council states that she will examine reports on file with the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the city, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and other sources. She will determine whether the levels of coliform bacteria in the creek are higher than those of other creeks and, if necessary, where the bacteria are coming from.
When West Valley Sanitation District workers checked Saratoga storm drains after the Friends of the Creeks' request in October, they found no signs that sewage had spilled into the storm drain system, one possible source of the bacteria.
City Manager Harry Peacock said then that the city would perform the study requested by the Friends, but he was skeptical of the reports about bacteria, saying the levels are not dangerously high.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, Wednesday, January 24, 1996.
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