Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
Beaches up and down the East Coast will doubtless see plenty of visitors on this, the last long weekend of summer. Plenty of those beach-goers will doubtless want to take a dip in those sparkling Atlantic waters; I mean, isn't that one of the main reasons to go to the beach?
But beaches up and down the East Coast are being closed this weekend. Why? Fecal contamination in the water.
Eww.
Thousands of Americans will head to beaches for one last summer splash this Labor Day weekend, but taking a dip might be out of the question: Many of the beaches will caution against swimming because of unsafe levels of fecal contamination.
Beaches from Crystal River, Florida, to Ogunquit, Maine, have been under advisories warning about water quality this week because of elevated levels of bacteria associated with fecal waste. The advisories typically discourage beachgoers from going in the water because the bacteria can cause gastrointestinal illness, rashes and nausea.
Speaking as a biologist, some of the bugs one can catch from fecal material are no joke. One of the common bugs is Escherichia coli, a gram-negative bacterium that already lives in your gut - in all mammalian guts. But ingestion of E. coli can overwhelm your system, causing some nightmarish steatorrhea, cramps, and vomiting. I remember back in the day, when I was in college, in microbiology labs, we did some work with E. coli, and sure as there's poop in the Atlantic every semester, someone would somehow slip up in handling the stuff and would be out sick for a week or ten days.
That's just one bug of many possible.
The cause may be antiquated sewage systems. And it's not limited to the East Coast; the Gulf of America and the West Coast may also be affected.
It’s a longstanding and widespread problem. Nearly two-thirds of beaches tested nationwide in 2024 experienced at least one day in which indicators of fecal contamination reached potentially unsafe levels, conservation group Environment America said in a report issued this summer.
The group reviewed beaches on the coasts and Great Lakes and found that 84% of Gulf Coast beaches exceeded the standard at least once. The number was 79% for West Coast beaches, 54% for East Coast beaches and 71% for Great Lakes beaches.
The report also said more than 450 beaches were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least 25 percent of the days tested. A key reason is outdated water and sewer systems that allows contamination from sewage to reach the places where people swim, said John Rumpler, clean water director and senior attorney with Environment America.
“These beaches are a treasure for families across New England and across the country. They are a shared resource,” said Rumpler, who is based in Boston. “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.”
Some people may ignore the warnings and take a dip anyway. You pay your way and you take your chances, as my grandfather used to say.
Read More: Labor Day Road Trip! Trump's Policies Win Again, This Time at the Gas Pump.
Low Gas Prices and Labor Day Road Trips: RedStaters' Ideal Road Trip and What They're Listening To
Well, folks, enjoy your long holiday weekend - and if you're thinking of going for a swim, may I recommend a nicely chlorinated swimming pool?
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