By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
Water quality advisories issued Monday in all three Downbeach towns were lifted Wednesday after subsequent samples collected by the Atlantic County Health Department revealed bacteria counts have returned to safe levels.
The NJ Department of Environmental Protection noted six locations in Ventnor, Margate and Longport that had high levels of fecal bacteria, called enterococci, in samples collected Monday, prompting the health agency to issue a swimming advisory to alert swimmers of potentially unhealthy water conditions.
Longport Mayor Nicholas Russo said the borough received results from the county and all three beaches cited in the previous advisory are now within the acceptable range.
All beaches in Longport are open without any water quality concerns, he said late Wednesday.
High levels of bacteria can be caused by stormwater runoff from a rainstorm. Swimming with high levels of bacteria can cause gastrointestinal upset, nausea, sore throat, earaches, fever and chills.
Margate posted a notice on its social media stating that the beaches were permitted to stay open and that additional samples taken mid-afternoon Wednesday at each location and one block on each side of the location showed an acceptable range and the advisories were lifted.
Ventnor Mayor Lance Landgraf said one location will have its advisory lifted on Thursday.
We only had one beach with an issue, he said.
The affected locations were 13th, 19th and 26th avenues in Longport; Washington and Osborne avenues in Margate; and Washington Avenue in Ventnor.
For more information about ocean water quality, see https://njbeaches.org
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