Beaches warn of fecal contamination ahead of Labor Day weekend

Thousands of Americans heading to beaches for the Labor Day holiday this weekend have been warned by health and environmental officials to avoid swimming at dozens of shorelines from Crystal River, Florida, to Ogunquit, Maine after tests this week showed elevated levels of bacteria associated with fecal contamination. Local authorities issued advisories and some closures at popular sites including Keyes Memorial Beach in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Benjamins Beach in Bay Shore, New York, a portion of Imperial Beach near San Diego, and Kahaluu Beach Park on Hawaii’s Big Island, officials said.

The warnings come as a summer-long pattern of contamination persists. A report issued this summer by the conservation group Environment America found that nearly two thirds of beaches tested in 2024 registered at least one day in which indicators of fecal contamination reached potentially unsafe levels. The review, which covered coasts and the Great Lakes, found 84 Gulf Coast beaches, 79 West Coast beaches, 54 East Coast beaches and 71 Great Lakes beaches exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard at least once. The report also said more than 450 beaches were potentially unsafe...