Tribal officials say Spring River is polluted

WYANDOTTE, Okla. (AP) -- Tribal officials have notified environmental agencies that raw sewage has polluted the Spring River in far northeastern Oklahoma.

Quapaw and Wyandotte officials say they have seen chunks of raw sewage, algae, fish with sores, foam, green bubbles and orange-colored water.

"The water here is absolutely horrid, and nothing is ever done about it," said Barbara Kayser-Collier, an environmental specialist for the Wyandotte Nation.

Tribal officials said that they notified state environmental agencies in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, but that help has been slow in coming.

Spring River flows through the three states with a watershed of 2,271 miles. It originates along the Barry-Lawrence County line, flows southwest into Kansas and finally into Grand Lake in Oklahoma.

The Wyandotte Nation retains watershed rights.

Tabitha Worley, a Quapaw environmental specialist, said she noticed foam on the water earlier this month. Following the foam upstream, she spotted green bubbles coming from a discharge pipe operated by the city of Baxter Springs, Kan., she said.

Testing done by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Quapaw Nation revealed levels of coliform, E. coli and streptococci 10 times higher than state standards, Worley said.

Kayser-Collier said no single agency has accepted jurisdiction.

The state Department of Environmental Quality wrote the tribe in a letter received Jan. 24 that the pipe emitting sewage was not within the agency's jurisdiction, but that the agency would act as a "service to you."

"The city of Baxter Springs has admitted bypassing wastewater into Spring River," said Michael Dean, a spokesman for the Oklahoma DEQ. Because the source is in another state, the case falls within the jurisdiction of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, he said.

The Kansas agency has yet to receive results of samples taken by Oklahoma, agency spokesman Mike Heideman said.

Heideman said a recent Baxter Springs construction project should have taken care of the problem.