Connoquenessing Creek has not been used as a source of water this year, according to the borough. Too much nitrate reduces the capacity of blood to carry oxygen, turning skin blue, causing shortness of breath, and depriving the brain of oxygen, which impairs metabolism, thinking and other bodily functions. These symptoms can develop rapidly in infants. That's the same as 10 parts per million. These discharges have increased dramatically in recent years as AK Steel increased production of stainless steel in Butler.
Nitrates are a waste byproduct of the pickling liquor used to scour finished steel.
Discharges into the creek rose from an average 8,000 pounds per day to 24,000 pounds per day from 1995 to 2000. EPA's order affects more than 1,400 households in the Zelienople water system, which includes 4,150 people in Zelienople and 250 in Marion Township, which purchases drinking water from the borough water system. Besides providing water to Zelienople Borough, the creek recharges groundwater for private wells at homes and summer camps along its banks. Two camps, Camp Spencer and Camp Redwing, permit children to canoe but not swim, due to pollution concerns.