Some of the East Coast’s most popular beaches — from Long Island to Florida — will be off limits to swimmers this Labor Day weekend due to high levels of fecal contamination.
Earlier in the week, Suffolk County officials closed Benjamin’s Beach in Bay Shore to swimming after finding bacteria at levels above acceptable limits.
Swimming in bacteria-contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness, rashes and infections of the eyes, ears, nose and throat, according to Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott.
Benjamin’s Beach, a popular summer destination on Long Island’s South Shore off the Great South Bay, will only reopen after further testing shows bacteria levels have returned to “acceptable limits,” officials said.
But Long Island’s kid-friendly beach, which features a playground and marina facilities, isn’t the only one threatening to spoil swimmers’ last taste of summer.
Beaches from Crystal River, Fla., to Ogunquit, Maine, and Barnstable County in Cape Cod were also placed under advisories warning due to elevated levels of bacteria linked to fecal contamination.
According to the research and policy nonprofit Environment America, fecal contamination from sources such as urban runoff, sewage overflows and factory farms can carry pathogens that threaten swimmers’ health, triggering beach closures to protect the public.
In a recent report, the group said more than 60% of U.S. beaches had potentially unsafe contamination levels last year.
“In 2024, 1,930 of 3,187 beaches tested nationwide (61%) experienced at least one day when indicators of fecal contamination reached potentially unsafe levels — exceeding the EPA’s most protective ‘Beach Action Value,’ a conservative, precautionary tool states can use to issue beach advisories,” the report said.
In Vermont, nearly two dozen swimming spots are also under advisories for high levels of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, which can cause rashes, abdominal pain, vomiting, liver damage and dizziness, according to the state’s department of health.
With News Wire Services
