On Saturday, the Surfrider Foundation’s Eastern Long Island chapter, which partners with Concerned Citizens of Montauk and the Peconic Baykeeper in sampling and analyzing local waters, canceled an International Surfing Day meetup that was to happen that day at Ditch Plain Beach, citing alarmingly high levels of Enterococcus bacteria in the water. The count, the group wrote on social media, was seven times higher than New York State’s safe swimming standard.
Conditions have since improved at the ocean site, according to measurements taken on Monday and issued by C.C.O.M. on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re pleased to share that all of our recreational ocean sites tested clean this week, with low or undetectable levels of Enterococcus bacteria,” Rebecca Holloway, C.C.O.M.’s manager of environmental advocacy, wrote. “This includes a return to safe conditions” at Ditch Plain and Surfside Place.
According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, recreational waters are considered unsafe if Enterococcus levels exceed 104 colony-forming units, or C.F.U., per 100 milliliters for marine water, and 61 C.F.U. per 100 milliliters for fresh water. On Monday, at the Ditch Plain test site east of the jetty, the reading was fewer than 10 C.F.U./100 mL. At the Surfside Place beach site, the result was the same.
“Last week had many days of rain,” Ms. Holloway noted. “That often can contribute, with runoff bringing in waste to water bodies. We know that’s an indicator, but I would make clear to everyone, our tests cannot determine the drivers or cause of high bacteria. They can only detect if it’s there, and how much.”
“There was patchy but some heavy rainfall across Long Island last week, particularly Monday to Thursday,” Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences wrote in an email Tuesday morning, “so that would contribute for sure. The high levels on the ocean (Ditch Plain) are surprising, but looking at historic data, it looks like this happens there annually.” He cited a graph depicting regular summertime spikes in Enterococcus from 2013 to the present.
“With the absence of rain, it looks like the Enterococcus was undetectable on the ocean beaches this week,” Dr. Gobler agreed in a subsequent email.
Nevertheless, as of last weekend 50 percent of test sites showed elevated levels of Enterococcus. “This includes six of our Lake Montauk sites and both of our Fort Pond sites,” said Ms. Holloway. “Additionally, this week’s testing shows elevated bacteria at Fresh Pond and Accabonac Harbor [in Springs], with results falling within the medium to high range.”
The highest reading was a staggering 8,664 C.F.U./100 mL at Lake Montauk’s East Creek. At the Benson Drive culvert, another Lake Montauk site, the reading was 4,611 C.F.U./100 mL.
In Springs, the reading at Louse Point Beach was 369 C.F.U./100 mL. No other test site saw a reading above 148 C.F.U./100 mL, as was measured at another Lake Montauk site, Little Reed Pond Creek. High bacteria were also measured in Montauk at the harbor (110), Stepping Stones at Lake Montauk (146), and Fort Pond’s Industrial Road (145) and boat ramp (110) sites.
Measurements between 36 and 104 C.F.U./100 mL fall in the medium range. Medium bacteria measurements were taken at Lake Montauk’s West Creek (95 C.F.U./100 mL), the beach at Fresh Pond (97), and, in Springs, at Accabonac Harbor, Landing Lane (75), and the shipyard ramp (52).
Tuesday’s updated report showed readings at Lake Montauk’s East Creek of 2,143 C.F.U./100 mL, by far the highest reading of the sites tested in Montauk, Amagansett, and East Hampton. The West Creek sample measured 426 C.F.U./100 mL.
C.C.O.M. has notified the Suffolk County Health Department and the town’s Natural Resources Department of all readings, Ms. Holloway said. The county, which is to conduct its own tests today, advises that exposure to pathogen-contaminated water can cause symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, and fever. Illnesses of the upper respiratory tract, and minor skin, eye, nose, and throat infections, have also been associated with pathogen exposure.
