(1) Greater St. Louis: A Tale of Two Cities
The Northside of both St. Louis City & County have the highest levels of #COVID19 infection. This side is also predominantly African American and includes Ferguson.
West County and the Southside have been spared.
The Northside of both St. Louis City & County have the highest levels of #COVID19 infection. This side is also predominantly African American and includes Ferguson.
West County and the Southside have been spared.
(2) In the State of Missouri, African Americans are over 4X more likely to be infected by #COVID19 than Whites.
(3) The incidence of #COVID19 is not well correlated with Poverty in St. Louis City and County. There are many outlying zip codes. From the map view, its clear it correlates better with geography.
(4) In Chicago, I found a Super-Spreading zip-code cluster associated with Chicago's Combined Sewer/Stormwater System and its Combined Sewer Overflow outfalls.
(5) The other Super-Spreading zip-code was a Latino community with exceptionally high rates of building flooding incidents.
Both Sewer Overflow and Flooding pointed to Fecal-Aerosol and Fecal Oral transmissions routes.
Both Sewer Overflow and Flooding pointed to Fecal-Aerosol and Fecal Oral transmissions routes.
Greater St. Louis Metro is a Tale of Two Cities, when it comes to its Sewer Systems.
St. Louis City has a Combined Sewer and Stormwater System with Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) outfalls on the River Des Peres and Mississippi.
The county has segregated Sanitary Sewer Systems.
St. Louis City has a Combined Sewer and Stormwater System with Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) outfalls on the River Des Peres and Mississippi.
The county has segregated Sanitary Sewer Systems.
(7) The confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers also contains a lot of flood-prone areas (flood map from @stltoday, left).
Many areas on the map suggest poor stormwater management, which can back up sewers in the CSS region and expose residents to sewer gas & water.
Many areas on the map suggest poor stormwater management, which can back up sewers in the CSS region and expose residents to sewer gas & water.
(8) Fecal-Aerosol transmission via sewer gas has been proven to be a dangerous viral vector. The Amoy Gardens apartment building in Hong Kong was the location of their largest SARS-CoV-1 super-spreading incident, and this was the vector.
(9) The Mississippi watershed, downstream of St. Louis seems to be a #COVID19 Hot Spot suggesting a important transmission iector involve the river waters.
(10) A similar pattern of spread was seen in Northern Italy along the Po River watershed. Milan was devastated, while large cities outside the watershed were spared, including Rome and Naples.
(11) High minority communities in the Greater St. Louis metro area may at risk for Sewer Super-Spreading due to flooding as a result of poor stormwater management and Combined Sewer & Seawater systems.
In the short run, resources can be surged to resolve plumbing problems...
In the short run, resources can be surged to resolve plumbing problems...
(12) In the longer run, these sewer systems must be modernized to protect the public.
(13) Credits and References
Chris Prener does fantastic work for St. Louis and the State of Missouri. Follow him if you have relatives there.
@chrisprener
moenvironment.org
@nytimes
@stltoday
slu-opengis.github.io/covid_daily_vi…
Chris Prener does fantastic work for St. Louis and the State of Missouri. Follow him if you have relatives there.
@chrisprener
moenvironment.org
@nytimes
@stltoday
slu-opengis.github.io/covid_daily_vi…
(14) In St. Louis Count, there is onezip code that is not on the Northside, that has conspicuously higher #COVID19 infections.
It happens to fall in the Lower Meramac Watershed.
It happens to fall in the Lower Meramac Watershed.
(15) For those of you who know the area, it's out I-44 towards Six Flags Over Mid-America. It's zip code 63025 and contains Eureka and a place called Times Beach.
(16) The first news article of 2020 I found regarding Eureka had the headline "Eureka believes it has finally fixed the flooding problem".
I knew from past this was an area where the Meramec River floods, but recent years have been much wetter.
I knew from past this was an area where the Meramec River floods, but recent years have been much wetter.
(17) Summer Flash Flooding has struck Eureka hard the past few years. The Mayor blamed the problem on sediment and debris that they cleared with backhoes and dump trucks. No major stormwater improvements were performed.
(18) Eureka reported an outbreak 49 positive cases on April 22nd, of which 29 were associated with a nursing home.
With only 10,000 citizens, perhaps that was enough to put the zip code on the map.
With only 10,000 citizens, perhaps that was enough to put the zip code on the map.
(19) I was able to find precipitation data for April in Eureka.
There was rain on April 13th and 15th, but heavy rains didn't come until the 23rd and 24th, after the outbreak was reported.
There was rain on April 13th and 15th, but heavy rains didn't come until the 23rd and 24th, after the outbreak was reported.
(20) It appears this Hot Spot was the result of a Nursing Home Spreading Cluster.
Still, conditions at this site can't rule out a sewer flooding related complementary cause.
Still, conditions at this site can't rule out a sewer flooding related complementary cause.
(21) Then I noticed the Nursing Home was adjacent to a place I knew from my childhood, the infamous superfund side known as Times Beach.
A place once filled with trailer homes had been remediated by a Super Fund project and made into a State Park.
A place once filled with trailer homes had been remediated by a Super Fund project and made into a State Park.
(22) I'm veering off the #COVID19 path a bit here, but backhoes clearing debris near a notorious toxic waste site, and nursing homes being built adjacent to it, is setting off my spidey sense.
(23) Every Hot Spot has a story and though I don't believe I've gotten to the bottom of this one, there is plenty of evidence that the Nursing Home breakout fit a known pattern.
That dioxin and contaminated oil had all been dug up and incinerated, right?
truthstreammedia.com/2017/09/22/the…
That dioxin and contaminated oil had all been dug up and incinerated, right?
truthstreammedia.com/2017/09/22/the…
(24) For those of you interested in learning more about the suspicious circumstances surrounding Times Beach, I offer this video. The views expressed are the film makers and not mine. I just don't know.
(25) I dedicate this thread to my dear friend, Penny Capstick and her son Joey.
