Officials: Expect Beach Bacteria Problems Every Rainfall

A bacteria advisory will be issued for North Hampton State Beach each time it rains for the foreseeable future, at least until officials can abate the issue or issues causing high levels of fecal matter to pour into the water during periods of rainfall.

North Hampton Town Administrator Paul Apple said it's disconcerting that North Hampton is back to seeing bacteria advisories nearly every week — sometimes more frequently, as was the case last week — despite the huge progress made since a similar outbreak of advisories in 2011. 

Numerous fecal bacteria "hotspots" were fixed as part of an ongoing multi-faceted, town-and grant-funded program that led to no bacteria advisories in 2012. Roughly half-a-dozen advisories have been issued since this June at the main beach and Bass Beach combined, though, and it's led officials to believe that there could be at least one new significant source of contamination.

"We just don't know where the source is coming from," said Apple. "Last year, we spent lot of time trying to find out how to make things better. The source is now an issue we'd like to get to the bottom of.

"There have been a fair number of advisories. Until we know what the source is, we can't fully understand what the scope of the problem is."

North Hampton could soon get some help on that front, as bacteria-sniffing dogs will arrive some time this week. Apple said Fire Chief and Public Health Officer Dennis Cote expects the dogs — which are funded by a grant — to be used along the Little River watershed, possibly with a focus on areas that could feed the main beach's left testing site because that area has had the highest bacteria concentrations this summer. 

It's unknown exactly how long the dogs will be in North Hampton, although Apple said he hopes they'll "be around long enough to find the source" of — or any contributing factor to — this season's bacteria issues.

"Any time there's an advisory on our beach, that's a big problem," said Apple, who said it's "impossible" at this point to know how many new hotspots there may be. "If we're one point over the limit and the advisory goes up, that's a problem."

Apple said there are a number of things residents and tourists can do to help, the "most obvious of which" would be to check on septic systems and pick up their dogs' and cats' waste.

He also recommended that beachgoers "pay careful attention to the nature" of the recommendations and precautions outlined on the yellow advisory signs posted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

The signs and any potential for bacteria problems shouldn't serve as complete deterrents for all ocean activities, as long as individuals are mindful of the warnings and any potential closures, according to Apple, who took his kids to the beach Saturday just one day after the latest bacteria advisory.

"I think we have a [tendency] to pay only a cursory glance at [these types of advisories]… but this is something that’s important," said Apple.