Swimming barred at beaches due to bacteria
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Swimming in the Hudson River at Kingston Point Beach has been temporarily banned due to high levels of bacteria found in the water, the city announced Friday. Swimming also has been banned at beaches in five other Ulster County communities, according to the county health department.
“Due to elevated levels of enterococci found in water samples collected by the Ulster County Department of Health on July 17th, some local Hudson River swimming areas, including Kingston Point Beach, have been ordered to be closed for swimming until additional testing can be conducted and reviewed,” Megan Weiss-Rowe, the city’s director of communications and community engagement, said in a statement emailed to local media. “It is anticipated that the new round of tests will be completed early next week.”
Weiss-Rowe said the playground, pavilion and boat launch at Kingston Point Beach will remain open.
The county health department said Friday that swimming also has been banned due to high levels of the bacteria at Ulster Landing Beach in the town of Ulster, Rifton Rec in the town of Esopus, the Rip Van Winkle Beach in Saugerties, the lake at the YMCA’s Camp Seewackamano in Shokan, and the Marbletown Beach.
County Health Commissioner Carol Smith said her department received test results Thursday. She said each of the sites where swimming has been banned had bacteria that exceeded state levels.
The Saugerties Village Beach on the Esopus Creek was closed for several days earlier this month due to high levels of fecal contamination. Village Parks and Buildings Supervisor George Terpening said at the time that the county health department inspects the beach at the base of Partition Street four times during the 10-week swimming season, which runs from July 1 through Sept. 1.