Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Beach safety website lists E coli advisories

By Nancy Allen
The state has launched another website to help the public stay safe while recreating in state waters.
The Ohio Department of Health's new beach safety website (www.odh.ohio.gov/healthybeaches) allows Ohioans to check for E. coli bacteria and/or harmful algal bloom advisories at the 62 monitored beaches at Lake Erie and state parks.
The site shows the state park campground beach and the east beach on Grand Lake has an algal bloom advisory and the lake's west beach has an E. coli advisory. Six other public beaches in Ohio, four of them on Lake Erie and two on Buckeye Lake, have active advisories.
Brian Miller, manager at Grand Lake St. Marys State Park, said E. coli levels fluctuate widely and daily. High readings are typically found where there are lots of geese, he said. The bacteria is found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms and in their waste.
"Our west beach is the place where we see the largest amount of waterfowl consistently and it's a pretty enclosed area," he said.
Miller said state park officials erected E. coli advisory signs in late May when the west beach produced high readings and kept the signs up even though levels are now below acceptable levels. He said people are already steering clear of the lake because of the algae toxin advisory.
"If we didn't have the microcystin we would be watching the beaches more closely for E. coli and posting as needed," he said.
Miller sees the site as another tool to help people stay safe.
  The new website was developed with funding from a federal EPA grant and is a part of ODH's expanded bathing beach monitoring communications efforts.
Each year between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the state samples selected public beaches for E. coli. The bacteria in water is a good indicator of pollution that could be potentially harmful to swimmers. The bacteria may cause diarrhea and abdominal cramps or additional health problems in humans. Symptoms generally appear three to four days after exposure but can take as long as nine days.
The state also does monitoring for harmful blue-green algae blooms (cyanobacteria). Once a harmful algal bloom advisory is posted, the state will periodically sample until the toxins produced by the bloom are below acceptable thresholds or the end of the beach season.
Earlier this month, the Ohio departments of health and natural resources and the Ohio EPA launched its own website (www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/HAB.aspx) to provide a list of harmful algal bloom advisories in state waters. It's also a clearing house for information on toxic blue-green algae.
Additional online story on this date
COLDWATER - A local company has paid more than $81,000 in employee backpay for obstructing workers' attempts to unionize last year.
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Subscriber and paid stories on this date
CELINA - Several polling locations in Mercer County may be moved from schools to other places before the November general election, according to board of elections deputy director Laura Bruns.
CELINA - New, three-year contracts have been approved for the city's four employee unions.
However, an effort to pass the legislation on emergency failed to garner enough votes.
MINSTER - Ohio Gov. John Kasich visited The Dannon Company Tuesday to laud officials for their expansion efforts that translate into an $88 million company investment, the creation of 100 new jobs and increased production.
COLDWATER - The public use of the fitness center within the Coldwater Exempted Village School facility may be coming to an end due to liability concerns.
MINSTER - Local board of education members met in special session Tuesday night to discuss strategic plans that will take Minster Local Schools through the next three years.
COLDWATER - Paced by solid pitching from Christian Schramm and a big fourth inning by the offense, Coldwater secured the top seed for the Mercer County ACME sectional tournament this weekend with an 11-1 win over a struggling Celina squad in five innings on Tuesday at Veterans Field.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry

  A late rally by Grand Lake fell short as the Mariners dropped their second straight game, 8-7, to Lake Erie in Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League action on Tuesday night at Ned Skeldon Stadium.