The swimming advisory at Edgewater Beach has been lifted after samples taken from locations around the beach show bacteria levels below the recreational threshold set by the Ohio EPA.
Two days after about 130,000 gallons of sewage overflowed into Lake Erie, crews from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District are predicting “Good” water quality at Edgewater Beach for Thursday, according to a news release from the organization. Samples were taken from 10 locations near Edgewater Beach Wednesday morning.
The advisories were in place Wednesday for Edgewater Beach, Huntington Beach, Villa Angela Beach and Wallace Lake Beach. They have since been lifted at all beached except Villa Angela Beach. Sewer District crews are still predicting “poor” water quality at there Thursday. Beach visitors, particularly children, the elderly and those in ill health, are advised to avoid contact with water and debris.
After the sewer overflow Tuesday morning at Edgewater, Sewer District crews increased sampling and frequency locations, the news release states.
RELATED: New tunnel project will begin protecting Lake Erie from untreated discharges
"In addition to our standard sampling at Edgewater, we have added four additional shoreline sites and five off-shore. We increased monitoring at these site [sic] to twice daily and are also monitoring lake currents and meteorological data," said Scott Broski, Superintendent of Environmental Services at the Sewer District. "This intensive sampling plan allows the Sewer District’s environmental staff to thoroughly assess the water quality across the entire face of the beach."
Up-to-date beach status information can be found on the Cleveland Metropark's website.