New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
The New Bedford Health Department has announced that East Beach located along East Rodney French Boulevard and West Beach located along West Rodney French Boulevard, as well as the beach inside Fort Taber Park have been closed to swimming today and tomorrow, Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
Significant rainfall over the last 24 hours has raised the threat of elevated bacteria levels at these locations. City officials have closed New Bedford’s beaches to swimming as a precautionary measure to protect public health.
The water at these beaches will be tested daily until acceptable water quality levels are obtained and swimming can resume. Testing will begin on Wednesday morning, August 28, 2013. If bacterial levels are within acceptable limits at that time, the beaches will reopen on Thursday, August 29, 2013. Further updates regarding openings and closures will be made as water quality results are received.
Additional information is available by calling the New Bedford Health Department at (508) 991-6199.
what does the rainfall have to do with the ocean water that has to close down beaches?
Because the waste water facility flushes its overflow into the ocean when its holding takes go over capacity….Human stupidity.
New Bedford has CSO (combined sewer overflow) pipes that are combined with sewer and gutter drain pipes. In heavy rain events, sewage gets mixed with rain water and these pipes overflow into the beach areas contaminating the water with fecal chloroform bacteria from raw untreated sewage. If your skin is exposed to it, you get a red itchy rash. Who wants to swim with sewage?
is the rain full of bacteria or has the flooding caused the sewers to be over capacity and flow into the beaches?