Federally funded water quality monitoring has ensured safer beaches in Connecticut, despite three victims of water-borne viruses reported since July 1st, according to state officials.
Regular testing is essential to keeping the beaches safe for swimmers, especially during this summer in which a lot of rain has caused overflow runoff from sewage treatment plants into Long Island Sound, said state Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani.
“Nobody would want to bathe in sewage so that is what we are testing for,” she said.
The state is also testing to ensure that local shellfish is safe to eat. “One of the people who died had eaten shellfish from outside of Connecticut," Juthani said. "That is a risk in other areas. Here in Connecticut what we worry about more is that you can get infected with an open wound.”
Juthani and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) announced that Connecticut will get $236,000 in federal funds to continue water quality monitoring at state beaches at Silver Sands State Park in Milford on Monday.
The funding comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act.
