2 LBI Beaches No Longer Test High In Fecal Bacteria: DEP

LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, NJ — Two Long Beach Township beaches are no longer under an advisory after exceeding the state's limit in fecal bacteria count.

Samples of Enterococci bacteria — found in human and animal excrement — cannot exceed 104 colonies per 100 milliliters, according to state regulations.Beaches on Stockton Avenue and Bayview Avenue contained 450 and 160 colonies per 100 milliliters Tuesday, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection said.

NJDEP beach testing results are typically posted one day after tests on njbeaches.org. The high counts occurred during Monday tests and were revealed Tuesday.

The DEP reported the advisories were lifted Wednesday, following Tuesday re-samplings. The exact bacterial count in the re-tests were not immediately available.

The bacteria can cause sickness but is usually used to detect the presence of other disease-causing bacteria, viruses or protozoa, according to the DEP.

The higher presence becomes more likely after rainfall, which flushes pollutants including bacteria from bird, dog or other animal waste into rivers and streams. The bacteria soon ends up in bays and along ocean beaches.

If the fecal bacteria counts exceeded the state threshold a second time, officials must would've had to close the beach to swimming, wading and playing in the water until water samples drop back below the limit.

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