Researchers take more samples from Billy Creek in Fort Myers

The saga continues over water quality in a Fort Myers waterway.

People are concerned about what’s in Billy Creek, so once again, researchers went out Wednesday to take samples of the water.

“One of the pillars of our mission is to strive for swimmable water,” said John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper.

The Calusa Waterkeeper and an environmental consultant for the city dove in Wednesday.

“We want to find out what the source of that bacteria contamination is and so we’re doing some testing to try to determine where it’s coming from,” Cassani said.

The city said the bacteria in the creek are tied to birds and they haven’t found any fecal matter from humans or dogs in the creek.

However, Cassani said there are extremely high levels of fecal bacteria.

“We want to provide some additional evidence so there isn’t any uncertainty about what the source might be.”

Hopefully, testing in unison will help them get to the bottom of the creek’s contamination.

“We’re trying to work with them,” Cassani said.

The City of Fort Myers said they will be joined by Florida Gulf Coast University for a creek trash cleanup event Oct. 15 and 16.