No complaints, no action: MDEQ says no sewage violations on Pascagoula River

Justin Glowacki • June 16, 2025

VANCLEAVE — Despite public concern and warnings from the state’s marine resources department director, officials at Mississippi’s top environmental agency said they hasn’t received a single complaint in the past five years about houseboat sewage on the Pascagoula River and have taken no enforcement action as a result.

Man in a black blazer sits beneath the Great Seal of the State of Mississippi. — Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s Executive Director Chris Wells during an interview at the agency’s office. He says the department frequently does ambient and quality monitoring and tests to make sure the water quality in any area hasn’t been affected. (RHCJC News)

That’s according to information obtained by the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center through a public records request filed with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

Enforcement depends on public complaints

The department’s complaint tracking system shows no reports of sewage dumping from houseboats on the river since at least 2020. Without a complaint or documented violation, agency staff confirmed they have issued no warnings, citations or penalties.

“We take complaints. We investigate complaints,” said MDEQ Executive Director Chris Wells. “If we have a specific situation that’s brought to our attention that might fall within our jurisdiction, we’ll go investigate that complaint and take action, if there’s some sort of violation of our regulations or statutes.

“But as far as having someone riding around and that would see it firsthand … we’re not structured that way,” he added.

In a follow-up statement, MDEQ officials said their enforcement process depends on “specific facts” and typically begins with a formal complaint: “We have not received any such complaints in recent years, and our ambient water quality monitoring in the region continues to show results within acceptable ranges.”

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality declined a follow-up interview, saying its enforcement role is limited to complaints and specific violations under state law. (RHCJC News)

Staff members also clarified that they do not routinely inspect houseboats, patrol river communities or issue permits for individual sewage systems — even when those systems are voluntarily installed by boaters.

What the water testing shows

As part of an ambient monitoring program, MDEQ officials released testing results from a long-term site near Vancleave. The program tracks E. coli and other bacteria that could indicate sewage contamination. Sampling at the site has taken place regularly from September 2016 through July 2024.

The agency separates the year into a “contact season” (May through October) — when recreational water use is most common — and a “noncontact season” (November through April).

To decide if a river or lake is safe for swimming and recreation, agency staff consider bacteria levels over a five-year period. If the average amount of bacteria in the water goes above federal safety limits — about 126 tiny bacteria in half a cup of water — the water is considered unsafe for recreational purposes.

According to officials, an individual spike in E. coli is not enough to declare a problem: “MDEQ does not base water quality assessments on single samples. We use multiple sampling events to evaluate long-term recreational use.”

At the Vancleave site, while some samples showed elevated E. coli levels, the readings were not frequent enough to exceed state criteria, according to MDEQ — meaning no official impairment was declared.

Agency’s perspective on investigations

The newly released records reflect what agency leaders have stated publicly: enforcement on the Pascagoula River is initiated by formal complaints.

According to them, the agency does not have staff dedicated to patrolling houseboat areas or inspecting onboard treatment systems, and while some communities have their own rules requiring boaters to install and maintain treatment systems, those rules are not enforced by the state.

To better understand the agency’s approach, journalism center staff requested a follow-up interview with Wells.

Questions would have focused on whether the lack of complaints reflected a true lack of violations or whether difficulties in observing and reporting illegal dumping in remote areas may have contributed to underreporting. Reporters also asked what additional tools, resources or policy changes might enable the agency to respond more proactively to concerns raised by the state marine resource officials.

In a follow-up email to MDEQ, Gulf Coast reporter Justin Glowacki asked whether the state’s complaint-based enforcement system is effective — and whether the lack of reports might reflect underreporting in remote areas rather than a lack of sewage violations. (RHCJC News)

A spokesperson for Wells declined the interview request, writing: “We don’t believe an additional interview is necessary as we feel we’ve already addressed these questions. MDEQ’s role in matters involving houseboat sewage is governed by general provisions in state law, and enforcement actions depend on specific facts and often whether a formal complaint has been made. As previously noted, we have not received any such complaints in recent years, and our ambient water quality monitoring in the region continues to show results within acceptable ranges. While we understand there may be concerns from other agencies, MDEQ’s authority and response are guided by our statutory role and any actionable reports we receive.”

Screenshot of an email from MDEQ stating the agency has not received complaints about houseboat sewage in recent years and that water quality results remain within acceptable ranges. — In an email response to the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center, MDEQ spokesperson Jan Schaefer said the agency has not received any formal complaints about houseboat sewage in recent years and that water quality monitoring continues to show acceptable results. (RHCJC News)

The agency’s statement outlines the limits of its current process: Without a complaint, it does not investigate. Without an investigation, enforcement action is unlikely, regardless of potential environmental impacts.