Re: [Paddlewise] E. coli: do you paddle in it?

Driving out the Apostles this last week, NPR had an interesting piece on the
closing of Wisconsin Beaches due to e-coli.  One of the questions was: "Why
are there so many more beach closings now than 30 years ago before we had
spent so much money cleaning up the water?"  The answer - "30 years ago we
didn't test for it."  He also reported that a significant portion of the
e-coli was from birds.  They have had several e-coli beach closings this
summer when there had been no known sewage releases.

In many cases public health warnings are to protect the most frail, and ward
off law suits.  It is worthwhile to dig a little deeper into why the beach
closings.  Was there an actual sewage release in the immediate area?   If
not the risk probably is not that much higher than everyday paddling for
people with normal immune systems.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert J. Matter" <rjmatter_at_prodigy.net>
To: "Paddlewise" <paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2002 9:20 PM
Subject: [Paddlewise] E. coli: do you paddle in it?


> Indiana Dunes beaches have been closed for four days in a row because of
high E. coli levels.  See
>
http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/07-02-02_z1_news_4.html.
What do you think about paddling in it?


***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************