www.Boston.com
Beaches across New England are being closed or placed under an advisory because of high levels of contamination. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported that 78 public beaches were closed. In New Hampshire, nearly a dozen beaches and bodies of water were placed under some sort of advisory. In Maine, 8 beaches closed due to contamination. In Vermont, 10 State Parks did not allow swimming.
Heavy rainfall was linked to flooding, contamination, and agricultural runoff into lakes, ponds, and coastal waters. The contamination in most of the closures is from high levels of E. coli associated with waste; however, other closures were for algae blooms, which can be toxic. Exposure from swimming in contaminated waters can cause skin rashes, gastrointestinal and respiratory issues.
Massachusetts officials are being called on by environmental groups to take control of sewage overflows and pollution runoff. According to the Environmental Massachusetts Research & Policy Center, last year 274 Massachusetts beaches were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one testing day.