Popular beach plagued with E. coli is closed AGAIN after unsafe bacteria found in water
A troubled beach in Michigan is closed once again after scientists detected an unhealthy level of E. coli in the water.
St. Clair Shores Memorial Beach Park Beach, which sits on Lake St. Clair in Macomb County, has been shuttered to the public since May 21 due to high bacteria levels from an unknown source, MLive reported.
Officials with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy last took samples of the water on Thursday.
This particular beach is frequently closed due to bacterial contaminations. Officials had to close it seven separate times last summer alone.
The longest stretch of time residents weren't allowed to set foot in the water was from late June to late July 2024, when the beach was closed for 26 days.
The Macomb County Health Department previously told WXYZ-TV that the shape of the beach is why pollution collects in its waters.
That Detroit-based television station interviewed frustrated residents in July 2024, many of whom pointed out that the beach was closed more often than it was open.
'We come here all the time. We don't like it that the beach is not open. It used to be a long time ago, but I don't know why it's not anymore,' Lori Nowicki said.
'Everyone wants to swim here, but they can't because of the pollution,' Ruth Higgins said.
Nancy Kilanowski admitted that she doesn't go to Lake St. Clair often, but said she's 'never seen the beach open'.
Residents said the area has a staggering number of geese, which experts have said could be the source of the routine contamination of Lake St. Clair.
Feces from geese, seagulls, ducks, dogs and deer are the sources of the elevated bacteria levels, said Tom Barnes, the division director of Macomb County's Environmental Health Services.
Barnes said rain and wind pushes the fecal matter in the water. If it lingers long enough, contamination problems become a real concern and lead to the closures.
Barnes said treating the water isn't a viable solution, rather suggesting raking the beach, moving the geese population elsewhere and keeping trash cans covered.
'As far as treatment of the water goes, I don't see anybody doing any additives or doing anything like that to it. That hasn't come up and just generally with good beach maintenance practices, you can generally get ahead of it pretty well,' he said.
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Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Popular beach plagued with E. coli is closed AGAIN after unsafe bacteria found in water
A troubled beach in Michigan is closed once again after scientists detected an unhealthy level of E. coli in the water. St. Clair Shores Memorial Beach Park Beach, which sits on Lake St. Clair in Macomb County, has been shuttered to the public since May 21 due to high bacteria levels from an unknown source, MLive reported. Officials with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy last took samples of the water on Thursday. This particular beach is frequently closed due to bacterial contaminations. Officials had to close it seven separate times last summer alone. The longest stretch of time residents weren't allowed to set foot in the water was from late June to late July 2024, when the beach was closed for 26 days. The Macomb County Health Department previously told WXYZ-TV that the shape of the beach is why pollution collects in its waters. That Detroit-based television station interviewed frustrated residents in July 2024, many of whom pointed out that the beach was closed more often than it was open. 'We come here all the time. We don't like it that the beach is not open. It used to be a long time ago, but I don't know why it's not anymore,' Lori Nowicki said. 'Everyone wants to swim here, but they can't because of the pollution,' Ruth Higgins said. Nancy Kilanowski admitted that she doesn't go to Lake St. Clair often, but said she's 'never seen the beach open'. Residents said the area has a staggering number of geese, which experts have said could be the source of the routine contamination of Lake St. Clair. Feces from geese, seagulls, ducks, dogs and deer are the sources of the elevated bacteria levels, said Tom Barnes, the division director of Macomb County's Environmental Health Services. Barnes said rain and wind pushes the fecal matter in the water. If it lingers long enough, contamination problems become a real concern and lead to the closures. Barnes said treating the water isn't a viable solution, rather suggesting raking the beach, moving the geese population elsewhere and keeping trash cans covered. 'As far as treatment of the water goes, I don't see anybody doing any additives or doing anything like that to it. That hasn't come up and just generally with good beach maintenance practices, you can generally get ahead of it pretty well,' he said.
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