Jimmy Blacketer, who owns Los Cabos and the Waterfront Grill in Jenks, says he lost "tens of thousands of dollars" when the Tulsa City-County Health Department shut down all Jenks restaurants because of a boil advisory on Friday. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
JENKS - The Tulsa City-County Health Department's order for restaurants to close on a busy Friday night last week was an effort to protect people from getting sick from E. coli.
But after water in Jenks tested safe less than 24 hours later, many are questioning whether the safety measure wasn't overkill.
Jimmy Blacketer had about 800 people in his riverfront restaurants - the Waterfront Grill and Los Cabos - when the Health Department said they had to close immediately.
"We never want anyone to get sick, but this was an overreaction on a major level," Blacketer said. "I lost tens of thousands of dollars, but I'm more concerned about all the servers and bartenders and people who have to pay their electric and water bills with that money.
"We understand they had a job to do, but this was a major overreaction. The whole city shut down."
Health Department spokeswoman Leanne Stephens said the agency was following food code protocol that was triggered when the state Department of Environmental Quality issued a boil advisory for customers with Jenks water about 6:30 p.m. Friday.
"We are obligated to protect the public health," Stephens said.
DEQ spokeswoman Erin Hatfield said a sample taken Wednesday, Aug. 7, tested positive for total coliform bacteria.
On Thursday, the site where the positive sample was taken was re-sampled and tested along with an upstream sample and a downstream sample. The tests take 18 to 24 hours to process.
The upstream sample tested positive for E. coli, a species of coliform bacteria, and the other two sites tested negative. Hatfield said a repeat of total coliform or E. coli constitutes a violation of the maximum contaminant level for total coliform.
"Due to the presence of E. coli, the water system was considered unsafe for human consumption, and all consumers of the Jenks water supply were advised to bring the water to a rolling boil for one minute, according to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommendations," she said. "With any water supply, we have to err on the side of caution. Bacteriological contamination has immediate health effects."
But city officials question why the DEQ wouldn't wait for a second positive test of E. coli before issuing the boil advisory.
Public Works Director Robert Carr said the purpose of resampling is to determine whether the bacteria is something that could affect customers or if it's confined to a single faucet.
City Manager Mike Tinker said he believes that a sampling error caused the positive tests and does not believe there was ever any E. coli in the water system. The contaminated sample came from an outside residential faucet, and an environmental factor, such as an animal making contact with the faucet, could have created the contamination, officials said.
Possible causes of the E. coli appearing in the sample include the manner in which the test was taken, authorities said.
Sometimes the positive samples can never be explained, Hatfield said, and Carr concurred that officials can't pinpoint the cause, or whether it was a sampling error or an animal contact.
A city employee takes the samples, which are tested at the Tulsa Mohawk Lab and sent to the DEQ.
City officials argued that in other jurisdictions, two positive E. coli samples - as opposed to one positive E. coli sample and one positive total coliform sample - would be needed to prompt a boil advisory that requires restaurants to close.
"Instead of waiting for that second test, DEQ sends out a press release and gets the Health Department involved in getting people shut down," said city attorney Stephen Oakley. "Our feeling is it caused a panic mode.
"We had a meeting with the Health Department expressing some of these concerns, and I think we came to the conclusion that we need to talk to DEQ about how the public is notified."
The DEQ lifted the boil advisory Saturday afternoon after follow-up tests showed no evidence of the bacteria.
Food establishments were then required to flush water systems, discard previous ice supplies, and wash, rinse and sanitize all equipment that comes into contact with food.
It was 4 p.m. Saturday before Blacketer could reopen his restaurants. He said he had to order more than 1,000 pounds of ice to replace what he had to throw out.
Someone should be held accountable, he said.
Jenks is giving its restaurants a promotional boost
The Jenks Chamber of Commerce is promoting a "Good for Thursday" event this Thursday to help restaurants recoup some of the losses they experienced last weekend when businesses were closed because of a boil advisory.
Chamber President Josh Driskell said businesses are encouraged to allow employees longer lunch breaks Thursday so workers can eat at local restaurants that day.
He also encouraged people to order take-out if they need to go home after work.
Driskell said it was difficult financially for restaurants to close Friday and Saturday, their busiest days of the week.
"This effort is just a simple way to tell our restaurants how much we appreciate them and that the chamber and the community stand by them," he said.
Mayor Lonnie Sims said he is excited to be a part of the promotion.
"Our businesses are great supporters of our community," he said. "Many owners stayed late after they were asked to close to answer their phones and do their part to alert our citizens and visitors of the Health Department order."
Sims and Driskell said they expect restaurants to be busy Thursday.
State Sen. Dan Newberry, R-Tulsa, whose district includes Jenks, noted that "these entrepreneurs are a vital part of our economy."
"This effort to help them out and make up for lost revenue from the weekend is the right thing to do, and it is the fun thing to do," he said.
Susan Hylton 918-581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Jenks boil advisory is called overkill
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