Beaches closed for swimming across New England due to high levels of bacteria

Potentially unhealthy levels of human waste in water, public health officials warned

Beaches have been closed for swimming in parts of New England due to high levels of bacteria in the water, according to public health authorities.

Environmental officials reported numerous incidences of “bacterial exceedance”, potentially caused by human fecal matter ending up in the ocean, lakes and reservoirs due to recent storms which have brought heavy downpours and flash floods across the Northeast.

The swimming bans at many popular beaches come at the height of tourist season and also while the Northeast is battling high heat and humidity.

In Massachusetts, 53 beaches have been listed as having unsafe water quality which could cause illnesses, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported.

Eighteen beaches have closed for periods of time in Rhode Island in the past six weeks, according to the health department. Four beaches were still closed on Monday. Officials in the state have tested for Enterocci bacteria in beach water samples. These bacteria live in humans’ intestinal tracts and can cause infections that are sometimes difficult to treat.

Swimmers were also told to stay out of the water at some beaches in New Hampshire. Five beaches on the Atlantic and at lakes had fecal bacteria advisories in place on Monday.

Nine lakes, reservoirs and ponds also had cyanobacteria alerts or advisories in place. Cyanobacteria, otherwise known as blue-green algae, can produce toxins that can make people and animals sick, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states.

The recent wave of summer storms has deluged swathes of the Northeast destroying homes, wiping out roads and causing bridges to collapse.

All that extra water can lead to failing or malfunctioning septic systems, and cause sewage systems to overflow before it reaches the treatment plant.

Discharges from sewer overflows contain a mixture of raw sewage, industrial wastewater and stormwater, and have resulted in beach closings, shellfish bed closings, and aesthetic problems, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported.

As the overload of greenhouse gases continues to cook the planet, more moisture is being held in the atmosphere, which means that storms bring the possibility of a lot more intense, and at times erratic, rainfall.