Town of Halifax - Monponsett Pond Update - July 11, 2014

From Cathy Drinan, Board of Health Agent:

This week was fine for E.coli.

The closure of the Halifax Beach Association is due to the group's decision to not pay for the testing. Swimming is not allowed without that mandated testing.

The closure of the Town beach at 4th Ave continues, with 190,000 cells of algae this week (70,000 being the safety threshold), as sampled by the MA Department of Public Health.  It will remain closed for two weeks of "acceptable" or "clean" samples. That has not happened yet.

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is also watching our ponds also, and sampling the water for algae counts and types at the State Boat Ramp, and the route 36 boat ramp and Ocean Ave in Hanson. DEP's samples confirmed what DPH found, cyanobacteria at about 190,000 cells/mL.