Three Michigan beaches have been closed, and three more are on contamination advisories, after high bacteria levels were found in the water.
Veterans Memorial Park beach in St. Clair Shores and Walled Lake’s Lakeshore Park beach are closed until further notice, according to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s website. Veterans Memorial Park Beach closed Tuesday and Lakeshore Park closed Wednesday.
And Chrysler Beach in Marysville is closed because of elevated E. coli levels, according to information from the St. Clair County Health Department.
Shannon Briggs, a toxicologist for the DEQ’s Water Resources Division, said each local health department collects water samples at least once a week. When a sample is tested for E. Coli and its found that the E. Coli exceeds 300 organisms per 100 milliliter of water, the health department can issue an advisory or closure.
“Each health department is approaching these issues on a local (standard) on how they want to manage their beaches,” Briggs said. “You need to know (the levels) and you need to be informed before you go swimming.”
Michiana Village and Lions Park beaches on Lake Michigan have been under contamination advisory due to high bacteria levels since Tuesday. Saginaw Bay’s Whites Beach has been under contamination advisory since June 5.
Sources of the high bacteria levels are still unknown, according to the website.
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