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06.30.11

Bacteria Pollution at Larrabee Park, Washington

The Northwest Straits Chapter has been working with the Washington State Department of Ecology's BEACH Program to sample and test area beaches.  High bacteria levels persist at the popular beach at Larrabee Park, eventhough failing septic systems in the watershed were located and fixed.  See previous BWTF Blog posting

The Chapter has been collaborating with the State to try to find and address the additional sources of bacterial pollution, but have been unsuccessful thus far.  They have now arranged for 5 Huxley Environmental Science interns to complete 1500 hours of education, outreach, and research into the pollution at Larrabee Park, but with the high bacteria hits already coming in, they fear that a permanent closure may be issued at the beach before the source of the polltuion is identified and addressed.  This water quality concern may soon become a public access issue. 

Read local media coverage of this pollution problem, or visit these websites to learn more about the Washington BEACH program and the NW Straits Blue Water Task Force.