Bacteria closes Sequim’s Cline Spit waters to swimming, wading

Published 12:01 am Sunday, August 16, 2015

SEQUIM — High concentrations of enterococcus bacteria off Cline Spit County Park have prompted its closure for recreation.

Enterococcus is found in the feces of warm-blooded creatures, including humans.

Cline Spit Beach, about 240 feet of tidelands a half-mile west of Dungeness Landing County Park, was closed Friday morning by the Clallam County Department of Health and Human Services.

It will remain closed for swimming and wading at least until Tuesday, when new results from new samples are available.

Cline Spit’s boat launch remains open, although contact with the water is not advised.

The closure does not affect fishing or crabbing.

The closure came a week after Hollywood Beach in downtown Port Angeles reopened after its latest short closure for similar pollution.

As in the Hollywood Beach closures, Clallam County Health and Human Services could locate no source for the pollution at the park.

The park receives drainage from nearby farms and homes served by septic systems.

At Cline Spit, enterococcus counts of 624, 830 and 1,014 bacteria per 100 liters of water were found in separate samples taken from three distinct spots late last week, an average of 823 bacteria.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Washington BEACH program’s threshold level is an average of 276 bacteria per 100 of milliliters of water, above which a beach must be closed.

If levels subsequently fall below 104 bacteria per 100 milliliters of water, the beach may be reopened.

If levels fall between 104 and 276 bacteria per 100 milliliters of water, the beach is posted with a caution.

Contact with fecal-contaminated water — especially through a lesion in the skin — can cause skin rashes, gastroenteritis and upper respiratory infections.

Swallowing water with high levels of enterococcus can cause diarrhea or vomiting.

Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles was closed Aug. 6, just more than a month after it had been shut down for fecal bacteria-contaminated water over the Fourth of July weekend. Touch tanks at the Feiro Marine Life Center on City Pier also were closed.

In both Hollywood Beach closures, the origin of the bacteria was unknown.

For updates, call Clallam County Health and Human Services at 360-417-2415.