High bacteria levels that exceed health standards continue to afflict many waterways on the East End, according to the Eastern Long Island Blue Water Task Force, which issued its 2021 water quality report on Tuesday at Long Beach in Noyac.
The report lists several recreational sites that regularly test high for bacteria levels, including East Creek in Montauk, the Georgica Pond kayak launch site in Wainscott, and Sagg Pond in Sagaponack, each of which showed high bacteria levels in at least half of the samples taken last year.
While high bacteria levels are to be expected in creeks and outfalls that experience large volumes of stormwater runoff and smaller, stagnant water bodies with large bird populations, “the number of sites that show high bacteria levels on a consistent basis where people are recreating, however, is concerning,” according to the report.
The task force is the Surfrider Foundation’s volunteer science program. On the East End, the Surfrider Foundation’s Eastern Long Island chapter, Concerned Citizens of Montauk, and the Peconic Baykeeper jointly monitor water quality at more than 70 sites on the North and South Forks throughout the year. Water quality data generated by the task force augments that of the Suffolk County Health Department.
Staff and volunteers collected 1,625 samples in 2021, up from 1,313 in 2020. Sampling locations include ocean and bay beaches, estuaries, ponds, coastal ponds, and stormwater flows. Samples are tested for the presence of enterococcus, a fecal bacterium that indicates the presence of human or animal waste in the water, and other pathogens that can make people sick.
Results are compared to the health standard used by the county to make beach closure decisions, specifically 104 colony-forming units of enterococcus per a 100-milliliter sample, or 104 cfu/100mL.
Fourteen of 42 sites in East Hampton Town where the task force samples water tested high for enterococcus this month and in June. At the Benson Drive culvert, near the south end of Lake Montauk, a level of more than 24,196 cfu/100 mL was recorded on June 13. On the same day, water at the outfall pipe at Surfside Place in downtown Montauk was found to have 8,164 cfu/100 mL.
Bioswales in East Hampton Village, engineered to filter pollutants from water as it flows toward Hook Pond and the Atlantic Ocean, also saw high levels of enterococcus. On June 13, the sites at Methodist Lane and on the village green both saw 4,352 cfu/100 mL. On Monday at Lake Montauk’s East Creek, near the beach at South Lake Drive, a sample showed 2,489 cfu/100 mL. At the Cove Hollow access to Georgica Pond, 2,143 cfu/100 mL were recorded on Tuesday. At the Accabonac Harbor culvert east of Old Stone Highway, 1,553 cfu/100 mL were measured on Monday. A sample at Montauk Harbor showed 1,019 cfu/100 mL on June 13.
Six other sites — Tuthill Pond in Montauk, the culvert at Northwest Creek, the Dunemere Lane test site at Hook Pond in East Hampton Village, the Montauk Highway kayak launch site at Georgica Pond, the causeway at Lake Montauk, and the south drain on Fithian Lane in East Hampton Village — all recorded enterococcus levels greater than the county’s health standard, all but one of them based on samples taken this week.
High bacteria measurements can be attributed to stormwater runoff, which carries pollutants including animal waste, lawn fertilizers and pesticides, and car oil into waterways, and heavy rain, which can cause flooding and elevated groundwater levels, leading untreated wastewater to leach out of cesspools and septic systems and pollute both ground and surface waters.
Beachgoers have been advised to avoid swimming for 24 to 48 hours after heavy rain, especially in ponds and enclosed bay, creek, and harbor locations. Children and pets should be kept out of streams, creeks, and other obvious sources of stormwater runoff at the beach. All are advised to rinse with fresh water before leaving the beach.
Water quality test results are posted at bwtf.surfrider.org.
