FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2009
Contact: Robbie Wilbur
601/961-5277
MDEQ ISSUES BEACH ADVISORY FOR THREE LOCATIONS
(JACKSON, Miss.) -- The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ), through its Beach Monitoring Program, is working closely with local
officials to advise residents that the three following locations may have high
bacteria levels:
Hancock County
Station 4 which is located near St. Charles Street in Bay St. Louis;
Harrison County
Station 10A which is located near Courthouse Road in Gulfport;
Station 11 which is located near Cowan/Lorraine Road in Gulfport.
MDEQ strongly advises against swimming and other water contact in these
waters until water samples show a consistent safe level for human contact.
When water samples show that levels are safe for human contact, the
advisory will be lifted. Additionally, swimmers are reminded that the Beach
Task Force has a standing recommendation that swimming not occur during or
within 24 hours of a significant rainfall event.
The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, which performs water sampling of the
Mississippi Gulf Coast beaches for MDEQ, will notify the agency when the
area has returned to acceptable levels. For more information on the
Mississippi Beach Monitoring Program:
http://www.usm.edu/gcrl/msbeach/index.cgi.
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