INSIDE

Maple Beach gets clean bill of health

By Meg Olson

The state has begun monitoring water quality at Maple Beach and swimmers can now check on the internet to see if the water is safe. While only one sample from the local beach has been analyzed, so far so good.

“ Swimming in polluted waters has made people sick and this program will give people a tool to protect themselves,” said Gary Fraser of the State Department of Health.

This is the first year Maple Beach has been included in the BEACH program and program coordinator Lynn Schneider said they hope to sample every week depending on the availability of volunteers to take a water sample and drive it to Bellingham. “It was good the last time we could check it in the last week in May,” Schneider said.

The BEACH program started in 2003 and this year will be monitoring six dozen swimming beaches for fecal coliform bacteria. Fecal bacteria, which come from warm-blooded animal waste, has been used as an indicator of the possible presence of pathogens that could causer gastrointestinal disorders from ingestion of contaminated surface water or raw shellfish. Contact with contaminated water can lead to ear or skin infections, and inhalation of contaminated water can cause respiratory diseases.

As more samples are taken results will be updated on the BEACH program website at www.doh.wa.gov/beach. While the recent sample met federal standards for water at swimming beaches, the federal environmental protection agency only considers results significant if there are five samples evenly spaced over a 30-day period. Schneider said to meet that goal they will need to sign up more volunteers in Point Roberts. For information about volunteering call Schneider at 360/407-6543.

BACK TO TOP