Partial body contact advisory in place for Mackinaw Beach 1
MACKINAW CITY — The Health Department of Northwest Michigan has issued a partial body contact advisory for Mackinaw Beach 1 in Mackinaw City.
The beach is located at 6000 E. Wilderness Park Dr. immediately south of the Headlands International Dark Sky Park in Emmet County.
Water sampling conducted on Tuesday, July 19 came back high at 325.5 E. coli per 100ml, resulting in the partial body contact advisory based on the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) water quality standards.
The partial body contact advisory has been posted at the beach. Contact with the water above the waist should be avoided. Activities like wading, fishing, and paddling are acceptable.
An advisory at this level is issued when E. coli are between 301 E. coli/100ml to 1000 E. coli/100ml, considered Level 2 on the water quality index table below. The table shows all of Tuesday’s sampling results.
“Follow-up samples were conducted (Wednesday) morning and results will be available tomorrow morning,” said Jeremy Fruk, the health department's director of environmental health.
Beach water samples are conducted by the health department throughout the week. If advisories are called for, news releases will be issued the day the results are known. If there are no advisories, the results will still be posted each Thursday on the agency’s website and Facebook page.
Through an EGLE supported web-based program, the public has real-time access to beach water quality results for beaches all over Michigan. Information can be found at www.egle.state.mi.us/beach.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Partial body contact advisory in place for Mackinaw Beach 1
