Some beaches closed across Massachusetts due to high bacteria levels, Boston beach reopens
A beach in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood has reopened to swimmers while many more beaches and ponds remain closed across the state due to high bacteria levels.
On a hot summer day, nothing beats going for a nice and cool swim.
"The water's cold, it's very salty, so that means there's a lot of water from the deep ocean," explained Chad Curll.
High bacteria levels close beach to swimming
On Thursday afternoon, he was just one of many people swimming at Malibu Beach in Dorchester, despite the fact that the state's Department of Public Health closed the beach due to high levels of bacteria.
"When it gets rather hot, I do go in the water," Anne Farrell, was another one.
For more than 50 years, a Boston resident named Rinaldo told WBZ-TV he's been going to Malibu Beach for a swim.
"I swim an hour every day without missing it. From sometime in May til October 10," he said. "It sustains my spirit for that period of time every year when I can come and swim."
He says nothing can stop the tradition, not even bacteria in the water.
"They come, they take the samples down close to the shore where it's the dirtiest, but they don't go out on a boat and take the samples. I swim in it. It's clean. It's clean out there," he said.
Malibu Beach is now reopened. However, Farrell said, "Yes, I see that it's polluted. I see all kinds of stuff in it."
Dangers of swimming in contaminated water
John Rumpler, the Clean Water Director at Environment Massachusetts said it's quite common for swimmers to just ignore signs of pollution.
"Public health experts estimate that there are 57 million cases of illness every year from people swimming in contaminated water," Rumpler said.
He advises against swimming in unsafe water as health officials said it could lead to the following illnesses:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Respiratory symptoms
- Eye irritation, earaches
- Fever and chills
"This is not the kind of day that Massachusetts families want at the beach," Rumpler said. "So, it's better to make sure that the beach is safe for swimming."
The Department of Public Health updates its hourly to inform the public of which beaches are open and safe to swim at and which ones should be avoided.
