As of Monday afternoon, Aug. 1, it’s unclear what caused elevated fecal bacteria levels in the water along the Edmonds waterfront late last week, resulting in the closure of Brackett’s Landing North beaches located north and south of the rock jetty.

My Edmonds News reported Sunday night, July 31, that the Department of Ecology had closed the Underwater Park Beach (otherwise known as Brackett’s Landing North) to swimming last Thursday, July 28 due to high fecal bacteria levels in the water. The announcement was made on Ecology’s ECOconnect blog called “Fecal Matters,” but we didn’t learn about it until a reader alerted us around 10 p.m. Sunday.

Because the Ecology announcement mentioned that the City of Edmonds Public Works Department was conducting follow-up testing over the weekend, we sent emails requesting more details to City Public Works Director Phil Williams and Ecology’s Debby Sargeant, manager of BEACH (Beach Environmental Assessment, Communication and Health Program).

The June 28 Ecology announcement said the cause of the fecal contamination was unknown but “there are several potential ways for a beach to develop high levels of fecal bacteria,” the blog post said. “Possible sources for this beach include the accumulation of beach wrack (dead and decaying seaweed) that has piled up on the north side of the beach, as well as pet feces,” the post said.

On Monday morning, Ecology’s Sargeant posted another announcement on the ECOconnect blog that the beach north of the rock jetty at Brackett’s Landing North had reopened to swimming and water-contact recreation after “recent water sampling showed that bacteria levels were low and safe.” Phil Williams explained that the beach south of the rock jetty, the one closest to the Edmonds ferry terminal, reopened last Saturday afternoon, July 30, after city testing showed that the water quality was safe, and the beach north of the jetty was reopened Sunday afternoon, July 31.

Williams said he was notified of the beach closure when a link from the Department of Ecology blog was forwarded to him Friday by a city councilmember. After learning about the report, staff at the city’s wastewater treatment plant began taking their own samples for fecal contamination, which continued through the weekend.

Williams said that the city is not directly involved in the sampling of Edmonds’ saltwater beaches. That work is conducted by the BEACH program, a joint project of Ecology and the state Department of Health, which monitors saltwater/marine beaches from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Williams also said that the Snohomish County Public Health District is usually the agency that oversees the posting of a sign indicating a beach closure.

Kevin Plemel, an Environmental Health manager for the Snohomish County Health District, said Monday that the BEACH program notified the health district about the high fecal numbers seen during testing and posted a sign Thursday notifying the public of the beach closure. Williams said the city moved those signs from the south beach to the north beach Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m. and all signs were removed at 2 p.m. on Sunday after testing indicated it was safe to do so.

“As far as we can tell, this has nothing to do with the City of Edmonds sewage system,” Williams said. The city’s wastewater treatment plant is operating in full compliance with its discharge permit and has had no releases or spills of any kind. Likewise, the city’s primary sewage pump station on Sunset Avenue is operating normally, he said.

“Everything was rechecked on Friday to make certain that city facilities were not contributing to any water quality violations near the affected beaches” Williams said.

— By Teresa Wippel