East Coast beaches hit with ‘fecal contamination’ warnings ahead of Labor Day weekend

Labor Day vacationers across the East Coast are facing “fecal contamination” warnings at their beaches this holiday weekend.

Water quality warnings have struck costal areas from Maine to Florida this week, with advisories saying high levels of bacteria could cause nausea or rashes. 

There have been closures this week at some of the country’s most popular beach destinations, including Keyes Memorial Beach in the Cape Cod village of Hyannis in Barnstable, Massachusetts, and Benjamin’s Beach on Long Island in Bay Shore, New York.

A report from Environment America assessed beach safety by examining whether fecal bacteria levels exceeded standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that trigger an alert to avoid the water. Fecal bacteria at those levels can cause illness in 32 out of every 1,000 swimmers.

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John Rumpler, clean water director and senior attorney with Environment America, said aging sewer systems are to blame for much of the contamination.

“These beaches are a treasure for families across New England and across the country. They are a shared resource,” said Rumpler. “We need to make the investment to make sure that literally our own human waste doesn’t wind up in the places where we are swimming.”

Nevertheless, many people plan to enjoy the ocean anyway this weekend. Despite a two-day warning of elevated fecal indicator bacteria last month at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, beachgoer Yaromyr Oryshkevych was not concerned.

“I really don’t expect to be in any kind of danger of fecal contamination,” Oryshkevych, a retired dentist, told the Associated Press. 

He said he didn’t think Rehoboth was close enough to notable pollution to be concerned, and he expected the ocean’s natural currents to take care of any problems with contamination in the area.

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In North Carolina, five beaches were under advisories in late August because of elevated levels of fecal bacteria. The beaches are open, but swimmers are advised that going in the water could be risky, said Erin Bryan-Millush, environmental program supervisor with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

Bryan-Millush said that heavy rain from storms like the recent Hurricane Erin exacerbated the issue in parts of the East Coast, noting that “storm drains carry everything” out onto costal beaches.

“It could be really bad for someone who is immune compromised,” Bryan-Millush said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.