SEQUIM — High concentrations of bacteria continue in waters off Cline Spit County Park, keeping the beach closed for swimming and wading at least until Thursday.
That’s when the results of new tests will be available to Clallam County Health and Human Services.
Cline Spit beach comprises about 240 feet of tidelands a half-mile west of Dungeness Landing County Park. It was closed Friday morning, and the results of new tests came in Tuesday.
The boat launch remains open, and the closure does not affect fishing or crabbing.
Testing of water samples from the beach revealed high concentrations of enterococcus, a bacteria found in the feces of warm-blooded creatures, including humans.
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.
Children and elderly people may be more susceptible to water-borne illnesses, health officials said.
For updates on the closure, call Clallam County Health and Human Services, Environmental Health Section, at 360-417-2415.
