STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
Phil Bryant, GOVERNOR
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Trudy D. Fisher, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Robbie Wilbur
April 27, 2013 601/961-5277
MDEQ Issues Water Contact Advisory in Hancock County
(JACKSON, Miss.) -- The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ), through its Beach Monitoring Program, issued a water contact
advisory Saturday for one sampling station in Bay St. Louis. This segment
of beach is not closed; however, there may be an increased risk of illness
associated with swimming in this area.
MDEQ is working closely with local officials to advise residents that the
water in the following location may have high bacteria levels:
● Station 4 -- Bay St. Louis -- from the box culvert east to Ballantine
Street.
When water samples show that levels are safe for human contact, the
advisory will be lifted. The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, which
performs water sampling of the Mississippi Gulf Coast beaches for MDEQ,
notifies the agency when an area has returned to acceptable levels.
Earlier Saturday, MDEQ lifted an advisory in Gulfport for Station 10B ?
East Courthouse Road Beach ? from Courthouse Road east to Teagarden Road.
Additionally, swimmers are reminded that the Beach Task Force has a
standing recommendation that swimming not occur during or within 24 hours
of a significant rainfall event.
More information on the Mississippi Beach Monitoring Program:
http://www.usm.edu/gcrl/msbeach/index.cgi.
To receive beach advisories directly, send an email to
rwilbur@deq.state.ms.us for inclusion in a public group email list, text
"beach" to 601-863-8082,
or follow MDEQ on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/MDEQ.
# # #
MDEQ has set up a texting group for media on the Gulf Coast. If you would
like to be on the list and receive info via text, then text "coastmedia" to
601-863-8082, or follow MDEQ on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/#!/MDEQ
Mr. Robbie Wilbur
Communications Director
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Post Office Box 2261
Jackson, Mississippi 39225
601/961-5277
601/421-5699 (c)
601/961-5715 (f)
rwilbur@deq.state.ms.us
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