The Arkansas Department of Health announced Monday that people and pets should avoid contact with Mississippi River water in an area near Greenville until further notice.
The state agency said it recommends avoiding activities such as swimming, wading, fishing, and eating fish or anything else taken from the river.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality updated a water contact advisory that it issued last year for a section of the Mississippi River, near Greenville. The advisory includes a section of the river beginning near coordinates N33.354134 W91.129622 and ending at US-82/US-278 Greenville Bridge over the Mississippi River. The Mississippi advisory goes from the point of discharge to the Arkansas-Mississippi state line. The Arkansas Health Department advisory starts at the state line and goes to the bridge.
The advisory was initially issued "due to operational issues" at the City of Greenville's wastewater treatment plant, resulting in the the discharge of minimally treated wastewater into the river, according to an Arkansas Health Department news release. Greenville is repairing its wastewater treatment system, which will result in a planned discharge of minimally treated wastewater into the river, the agency said.