Dangerously high levels of E. coli in Burnet Woods prompt closure of section of park

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Dangerously high levels of a bacteria that can cause vomiting, diarrhea and in rare cases, death, were detected in a public park near the University of Cincinnati.
Researchers discovered E. coli in both dry and wet soil samples from Burnet Woods, a 90-acre public park that extends into Corryville, CUF and Clifton. E. coli levels ranged between 18 to over 600 times the U.S. Environment Protection Agency's limit for allowing swimming in the Ohio River, said Bob Hyland, an associate professor-educator in the School of Environment and Sustainability at UC, who oversaw the student-led research.
On June 8, Cincy VegFest, a plant-based food festival, was hosted in Burnet Woods not far from where the E. coli was found. And three days later, on June 11, Cincinnati Parks staff cordoned off the area the researchers sampled, just a few dozen yards from parents dropping their kids off at summer camp and college students going on jogs.
"Based upon what we've found over the last week or two," said Hyland, "we're concerned that this could be a public health risk that has not been taken seriously enough.'
Sewer pipes that run under the wooded area of the park have led to periodic overflows during heavy rains, bringing bacteria such as E. coli, which is normally found in human feces, to the surface.
But the fact that his team was able to find E. coli in the absence of a sewer overflow is especially worrying, said Hyland, who said he wants to know the reason why there's so much E. coli in the park.
In a joint emailed statement issued with Cincinnati Parks, Deb Leonard, the spokesperson for the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, said the "limited" sampling "confirms" the presence of E. coli in the park.
The city has been in contact with the University of Cincinnati "to better understand the situation," said Leonard, and test the area. "The city manager's office, MSD, parks, and health will take immediate steps to conduct additional tests and investigate the source of potential contamination within the surrounding park," she said.
While the soil and standing water samples were compared to the EPA's limits for recreational water, which would not apply to the forested area, Leonard said, "the city encourages the public to continue to exercise caution when exploring the area and follow directions on park signage."
E. coli is a group of bacteria that usually lives in the gut of healthy people and animals. Normally, the kind in your gut doesn't harm you, but when ingested, some strains of the bacteria can make you sick with a gastrointestinal illness, pneumonia or a urinary tract infection.
The U.S. EPA considers E. coli an indicator organism, or a way for officials monitoring water quality to identify fecal contamination of freshwater and the presence of disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
Symptoms of an E. coli infection include abdominal pain, dehydration, watery diarrhea, vomiting and a fever.
And though they're rare, certain strains of E. coli can be life-threatening, according to Dr. Andrew Beck, a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's, due to the toxins they release – usually identifiable by bloody diarrhea.
Common ways of contracting E. coli include eating infected food, such as undercooked ground beef or unpasteurized milk, or from contact with another person, known as the "oral-fecal" route, where the bacteria travels from the feces of one person to the mouth of another, usually due to someone failing to wash their hands properly.
Beck's research shows that children may be contracting gastrointestinal illnesses from sewer overflows.
In 2017, he co-authored a study that found that sewer overflows in Cincinnati were associated with a 16% increase in Cincinnati Children's emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illnesses among children who lived within 500 meters of the sewer.
Researchers' primary hypothesis for how the children contracted the GI illnesses was that they were "playing in contaminated water" and dirtying their hands, said Beck.
Student researchers first found E. coli in Burnet Woods in the fall of 2024, according to Hyland. Similarly to the preliminary research released in June, they found elevated levels of E. coli despite there being no overflow of the sewer pipes.
"We were perplexed," said Hyland. "What we now are feeling more confident about, but want to do more research to build our confidence is that the pipe is probably compromised."
Hyland believes the pipes are leaking sewage to the surface of the park because of their aging infrastructure and the presence of sinkholes in Burnet Woods, which can be a sign that piping is damaged. The Enquirer confirmed that there are at least two sinkholes in the area near where the E. coli was found.
Leonard confirmed that some pipe segments running underneath Burnet Woods were installed in the late 1800s, while newer segments were installed in the 1990s.
"All the segments are inspected regularly and are in good condition with no structural issues," she said.
Government records and neighborhood meeting notes indicate that residents living near Burnet Woods were affected by a sewage overflow more than once in the past year.
Burnet Woods saw a sewage overflow once this year and twice in 2024 during heavy rains, according to Leonard. When that happens, she said that Cincinnati Parks, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Sewer District, installs signage notifying park visitors of the potential contamination.
The meeting minutes for the Corryville Community Council, a membership organization for residents of the neighborhood, mention sewer overflow or the smell of sewage at least four times between January 2024 and now.
The most recent finding of E. coli in Burnet Woods follows a sewage leak at Winton Lake in May, which resulted in officials suspending recreational activities at the lake.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Part of Cincinnati park roped off after E. coli found