Jun 26, 2009 7:00 pm US/Eastern
Rain Runoff Pollutes South Shore Beaches
QUINCY (WBZ) ―
Even though New England's June rain streak is nearly over, it is still putting a damper on the summer.
Runoff from the rain has sent bacteria count on South Shore beaches soaring, forcing some to close until test results come back normal.
Wollaston Beach closed when test results showed some of the highest bacteria counts in years.
"When you have as much rain as we've had it just overwhelms the storm drains," said Wendy Fox with the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Environmental Protection Agency officials say the past two years of drainage at Wollaston Beach has helped. But most of Quincy and parts of Milton feed into the drainage system, which sends bacteria to the beaches.
"They can suffer symptoms of gastrointestinal illnesses such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting," said Lynn Hamjian with the EPA.
Experts say there is animal waste in the runoff from the recent weeks of rain.
"We have about 2,200 registered dog owners in the city," said Quincy Health Commissioner Drew Scheele. "That's not counting the people who aren't registered. We have eight out fall pipes that discharge into Wollaston Bay."
Another problem is boaters dumping their holding tanks into the water.
Find out which
beaches are closed and check out test data for each beach
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