City of Ames officials have devised a nine-part plan to tackle the cleanup of College Creek, which was discovered to have high levels of fecal coliform bacteria.

The problem was discovered in late March and brought to the attention of Ames and Department of Natural Resources officials.

The Crestview Mobile Home Park, 5615 W. Lincoln Way, Country Terrace LPM Mobile Home Park and Elwell’s Chef’s Inn Restaurant and Lounge, 6400 Lincoln Way, were found to be the main contributors to the excess waste that was drained into the creek.

City of Ames officials decided to formulate a plan of action after many Ames residents expressed their concerns with the DNR and the polluters, said Bob Kindred, assistant city manager.

“Within the last two months, we really became aware of how severe the pollution was,” he said.

The first step city officials are taking is filing a formal request with the DNR to force the mobile homes and restaurant exceeding drainage limitations to stop putting excess waste into the county-drain tile, Kindred said.

Once the excess waste is stopped, arrangements will be made to clean up the sludge in the creek, Kindred said. The sewage removed from the creek will be used in either the sewage treatment plant or applied to farm fields.

The plan, which will cost about $40,000, includes allowing the polluters to have their waste pumped out of the creek for free for the next six months, Kindred said.

Testing water samples from the creek is another part of the plan approved by the Ames City Council.

Currently, water from the creek is tested weekly or bi-weekly because of the contamination, but after the pollutants are removed, testing could be reduced to monthly or even every other month, said Tom Newman, director of Water and Pollution Control for the city of Ames.

Eliminating the bacteria from the creek will not stop until the pollution does, but even then some of the fecal coliform bacteria will remain, Newman said.

Boone County officials are also getting involved in the College Creek project because part of the creek is located in Boone County.

“Boone County and Story County are going around meeting property owners and having the owners show the sanitarians that they aren’t connected to the count- drain tile,” Kindred said.

Luke Nelson, Boone County sanitarian, said although some residents are in violation of draining excess waste, the majority of the problem is with area businesses.

“We’re investigating all systems under our control, trying to figure out whether or not their systems are approved,” Nelson said. “These [residential] problems might add up to about 5 percent of the problem.”

There are three residential systems violating waste procedures that did not even know they were leaking into the county-drain tile, and Nelson estimated four residences and one small business may be required to put in new septic tanks, he said.

If the residential systems are not approved, there is a one-year deadline to make the appropriate adjustments, Nelson said.

Other actions in the City Council’s plan include reclassifying College Creek and other city streams, having both Ames and Story County Board of Supervisors meet to develop strategies, conducting quarterly update meetings and discussing a voluntary annexation with the properties in the area of pollution. The annexed properties will be responsible for installing a new sewer system.