Why is popular Lovers Key beach closed? All access points blocked for double red flag warning
Just in time to foul up some Labor Day weekend beachgoing plans, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has closed one of Southwest Florida's most popular beaches: Lovers Key State Park.
The agency, which oversees state parks, is turning people away at the beach access points. The park's boat ramp on the other side of Estero Boulevard remain open, said Ranger Mitch Bellock, but the beaches along the length of the park from Big Carlos Bay to New Pass are closed.
Officials issued the double red flag warning "In an abundance of caution (after) rangers observed some potential water quality concerns during their routine beach survey yesterday ," said agency spokeswoman Alexandra Kuchta in an email, and it will remain in effect until the Florida Department of Health can sample the water for contaminants, she said.
The Healthy Beaches Program regularly samples beach water for what are known as fecal indicator bacteria - single-celled organisms found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. These bacteria signal fecal, AKA poop, contamination. Best known for causing gastrointestinal woes, they also can also cause upper respiratory illness, fever, eye infection, rashes, earaches and infected cuts, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Kuchta said when samples were last taken at the park Monday the results indicated bacteria levels were within safe parameters. The Healthy Beaches website hasn't been updated to reflect the concerns or the closure.
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According to the Healthy Beaches website, the only place of concern is Bowman's Beach on Sanibel, which had a "moderate" enteric bacteria sampling result Monday. The site shows all of Collier's beaches have a "good" rating.
The complete public shut-out also answers what had been a lingering question about how and when government agencies can close beaches. In the past the Florida Department of Health had said it could warn beachgoers about poor water conditions, but had no authority to actually keep people off the sand or out of the water. Health department officials have said local beach managers wield that authority.
But when this happened, DEP took the reins and shut it all down.
That differs from the health department's approach. ”The Healthy Beaches program has never issued a closure although some local beach managers will close their beach areas based on Department advisories," wrote Gangul Gabadage, deputy legislative affairs director in an email earlier this year. "That action is done on their own initiative though, and not required by the Department. A beach would only be closed by the Department if there is a known health risk such as a sewage spill.” Whether that's what happened in this case remains unclear. Neither the state nor the Lee County office of the Florida Department of health immediately responded to calls and emails about the closure.
Ranger Bellock can't say when the beach will reopen, but so far, the public has been polite – if disappointed – by news of the closure on this high-traffic weekend, he said. "Most people have been pretty pleasant, though some are a little hurt because everywhere else has been so crowded, and we are a hidden gem."
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Why is Lovers Key beach closed? Red flag warning shuts access points
