'Huge' Beach Contamination Source Fixed

North Hampton officials believe most of the should be behind them now that work has been done to correct one of the major "" identified earlier in the testing process, according to a report by the Hampton Union.

"Shel-Al (Campground mobile home park) had a huge issue," Fire Chief and Public Health Officer Dennis Cote reportedly said Wednesday. "(Now that it is corrected) we think it will eliminate the majority of the issue."

A large, failing septic system at the Lafayette Road mobile home park was identified during the testing process as one of the root causes of the bacteria issues, which officials believe led to and at North Hampton State Beach last summer.

Cote told the Hampton Union he will present to the North Hampton Select Board, likely during an August meeting, a contract for using the for a two-part microbial source test along Little River. The first part of the test includes using specially-trained E. coli dogs from Exeter or Kittery, Maine, to determine whether the fecal matter in the water is animal or human, while the second part focuses on microbial tests.