Beaches under orange warning flags

Photo by Chris Paschenko
The Daily News
Published June 23, 2011

Lifeguards flew orange flags Wednesday in response to environmental testing that showed high levels of indicator bacteria at eight of the 36 testing stations on Galveston beaches, officials said.

Results from Tuesday testing showed enterococcus bacteria counts above 104 colony forming units per 100 milliliters, prompting a beach advisory from the Galveston County Health District, Kurt Koopmann, a spokesman for the health district, said.

“When the counts are above this level, swimming is not recommended,” Koopmann said.

Enterococcus is an indicator bacteria for the presence of fecal matter in the water, and Tuesday testing exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standard, prompting the advisory.

The advisory means the water could cause someone to become sick, according to the Texas Beach Watch program.

Koopmann didn’t immediately know how high above the standard the bacteria counts registered or what caused the elevated counts.

Higher counts are seen more frequently after rainfall interrupts long periods of drought, Galveston Island Beach Patrol Chief Peter Davis said. The island saw a brief period of rain Tuesday morning and experienced a significant downpour Wednesday.

Most of the advisories are slightly above the 104 colony forming units per 100 milliliters, Davis said.

“The warnings are mainly for people with open sores or an immune deficiency,” Davis said. “It’s not a danger to a healthy person at the levels we’re talking about.”

The health district retested sites that showed high bacteria counts Wednesday and results from those tests were expected to be released this morning, Koopmann said.

“Usually, it’s clear the next day,” Davis said of his experience of follow-up tests.

Advisories posted on the heath district’s website were issued for 8 Mile Road, 57th Street, Beach Plaza Shopping Center, 39th Street, 35th Street, east of the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier, 14th and 15th streets and Stewart Beach.

(News Media: For more information contact Kurt Koopmann, GCHD Public Information Officer, 409-938-2211 or kkoopman@gchd.org)