Study: Lakeview Beach often contaminated with E. Coli

LORAIN — Lakeview Beach had a higher percentage of days with concerning amounts of fecal bacteria than any other beach in Ohio last year. According to a study carried out by Environment America, a nonprofit federation of state environmental advocacy groups, the water at Lakeview Beach was contaminated with a "potentially unsafe" amount of E. coli bacteria on 64 percent of days tested. E. coli is a bacteria that is used as a "fecal indicator" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to indicate waste contamination in recreational waters. Beaches in Ohio are tested for E. coli by measuring the amount of colony-forming units, or CFUs, in 100 milliliters, or just under a half a cup, of water taken from just offshore. Each CFU is a single viable bacterium, which can form a colony and grow. The federal EPA's Beach Action Value, or BAV, threshold is 190 CFU/100 mL. At that level of E. coli contamination, water is expected to make 32 out of 1,000 people who swim in it sick. Ohio's EPA, along with the majority of states in the country, does not issue beach advisories warning against swimming until the concentration of E. coli bacteria has surpassed 235 CFU/100 mL. At that point, it is expected that 36 people out of 1,000 will become sick after swimming. Environment America based its conclusions off the more conservative 190 CFU/100 mL threshold and used the data provided by the Ohio EPA on its Ohio Beach Guard webpage. "They are both indicators of the same kind of risk, they are just numerically different," John Rumpler, clean water director of Environment Ohio, said. "It's not that (contamination) is more confirmed or more solid, they (the Ohio EPA) are making a choice on which benchmark to use." After Lakeview, the beaches with the highest percentage of days with over 190 CFU/100 mL were Bay View West and Bay View East near Sandusky. Those Erie County beaches hit the same potentially unsafe number on 59 percent and 50 percent of tested days, respectively. Villa Angela Beach in Cleveland had the highest number of days over the threshold, with 42 potentially unsafe days to Lakeview's 37. However, Villa Angela was tested more than twice as many times as Lakeview in 2024, only surpassing 190 CFU/100 mL on 35 percent of tested days. "I think what these numbers show is that all too often, Lake Erie beaches are not as safe as we would like them to be," Rumpler said. According to the study, 70 Ohio beaches on Lake Erie, 92 percent of the total, tested for an unsafe amount of fecal indicator bacteria on at least one day in 2024. Of those 70 beaches, 27 were above 190 CFU/100 mL on at least one quarter of tested days. Across the Great Lakes, 71 percent of beaches had at least one day on which their water exceeded the Beach Action Value threshold. Recreational water contamination testing in the county is carried out by Lorain County Public Health, which then forwards its findings to the Ohio EPA. From Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, LCPH staff and interns collect water samples several times a week to test for E. coli, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus levels, which can lead to harmful algal blooms. "E. coli is a bacteria that obviously can get you very sick — for anyone that's ever heard the news about Jack in the Box, it could potentially kill you," Mike Jindra, LCPH program manager said, referencing an E. coli outbreak in the early 1990s at the fast food chain that infected more than 700 people and killed four children across four states. "There are natural levels of E. coli that's present, but the numbers that we are seeing are definitely enhanced by man-made activities," he said. Those man-made activities are, in large part, wastewater overflow. Sewage treatment systems in the county discharge about 3 million gallons per day into the watershed, which all makes its way to Lake Erie. For Lakeview Beach, the largest public beach in the county, the bacteria found in its waters are not just from Lorain, Environmental Health Supervisor Ryan Tristano said, but rather from septic systems farther downstream and other cities with combined storm and sanitary sewers. Storm surges can push untreated sewage out into the Black River or the lake, causing higher E. coli levels after rains, according to LCPH. Farm runoff and waterfowl swimming in the area can also increase E. coli levels. Environment America said that the U.S. sees more than 75,000 incidents of sewage overflow per year, and these overflows can cause huge spikes in E. coli presence. The organization also said that development can cause more contaminated water to enter lakes and waterways, as dirty water which was once absorbed into the permeable ground now flows over and off of impermeable surfaces like streets and parking lots. Once in the water, E. coli colonies can grow and further boost the number of CFUs naturally. "Under the right circumstances, it (E. coli) does really well and the one thing you consider is the time we go into the lake is when it's the warmest and that's when bacteria are at their most — the bacteria that affect us thrive in 98.6 degrees. … As that water gets closer to 90 degrees, they can really start to breed rapidly and become more of a problem," Jindra said. The industry standard set by the Ohio Department of Health and the state EPA for E. coli levels is below 235 CFU/100 mL, Jindra said. Drinking water, for example, has zero CFU/100 mL, while anything above 10,000 CFU/100 mL could be extremely detrimental to a person's health. Data from the Ohio EPA for last year showed only four days when Lakeview Beach was even worse, coming close to reaching 2,500 CFU/100 mL — two days in June, once in July and once in August. The beach averaged about 539 CFU/100 mL per day for the testing period. The risk level for swimming in potentially unsafe water varies, Jindra said. A healthy adult could ingest water with 500 CFU/100 mL and be fine, while a child or elderly person could ingest water with 50 CFU/100mL and become violently ill. "There's tons of other bacteria out there that we can't test for that could get you sick," Jindra said. "That's where education is part of it … We can't test for everything and it's a natural body of water. You can't stop Mother Nature, you just have to live with some of this stuff." Lakeview Beach, Century Beach and other public access points are natural waterways, Jindra and Tristano said. It is not like a backyard pool a homeowner can shock with chlorine, but that does not mean there is nothing to be done to make the waterways safer. Some cities are starting to separate old combined sanitary and storm sewers, while others have built reservoirs to collect sanitary overflows during storms to mitigate how much contaminated water makes it into their local rivers and, eventually, the lake, Jindra said. For rural parts of the county reliant on septic systems, maintaining those systems so they are not leaking into the ground or nearby rivers and streams is a priority for LCPH, Tristano said. The Ohio EPA has 2024 testing results for three other Lorain County beaches in addition to Lakeview. Based on the 190 CFU/100 mL benchmark, Century Beach in Lorain was potentially unsafe on 24.13 percent of days tested last year. In Sheffield Lake, Community Park Beach tested above the BAV on 17 of 58 days tested, or 29.13 percent, while Lakewood Beach tested above 190 CFU/100 mL on 16 test days, or 27.58 percent. Rumpler said that many municipalities and regions are increasingly conscious of fecal bacteria counts and their causes, and significant progress has been made in some places. "We know that when we invest in repairing and improving our sewage infrastructure, as Cleveland has done to some degree, we can see significant reductions in the flow of fecal bacteria into our waters," he said. "That's great, but clearly there is more progress that needs to be made. Whether it is sewage pollution or storm water runoff, we just shouldn't have nasty bacteria where people are going to swim and splash in the waves and just enjoy the beautiful, wonderful place that Lake Erie is." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com. Contact Carissa Woyach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.