Editor’s Note: This story has been updated, due to inaccuracies in the original reporting. Fairfield and Norwalk use the same protocols as Westport; Greenwich and Stamford use their own labs; third samples, if necessary, would be taken on Fridays.
By Gretchen Webster
WESTPORT–Parks and Rec. Director Eric Barbieri is considering testing water quality at the town’s beaches more often, and using a different lab, to get the results more quickly. That would result in fewer and shorter beach closures, Barbieri said on Wednesday. Compo Beach was reopened Wednesday after a five-day closure.
“Beach closures are happening too often,” he said.
Polayes speaks up
Barbieri was responding to a question from Jon Polayes, a former head lifeguard at Compo Beach, at a Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. Westport isn’t testing often enough, Polayes said.
“What can be done to test more often?” he asked.
Barbieri’s plan
Barbieri said he met with First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker on Tuesday, to discuss how the beach water testing process could be improved.
Currently, according to Aspetuck Health District Health Director Luci Bango, the Aspetuck Health District takes a water sample and delivers it to the state testing facility in Rocky Hill on Monday. If the Monday sample shows an elevated bacteria level, the AHD takes another sample and makes another delivery on Wednesday. The state does not charge the AHD for this service.
Barbieri proposes that, if the Wednesday test fails, the town will take a third sample, on Friday, and have it tested in Stamford or Greenwich, at Westport’s expense.
Barbieri added that Connecticut’s protocols for when a beach should be closed to swimming are the same for all towns, “but they are not mandates.”
The beaches at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport are tested by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP). Those results are posted on the CTPARKS website. That website also posts beach closures for Silver Sands Park in Milford, Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, and Rocky Neck State Park in Niantic.
Westport Journal’s recent articles on Compo Beach
- Compo swimming OK’d
- Compo swimming closed at least until late Tuesday
- No swimming at Compo this weekend
- Y’s Point to Point swim race July 20
Gretchen Webster
Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, has reported for the daily Greenwich Time and Norwalk Hour, the weekly Westport News, Fairfield Citizen and Weston Forum. She was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman for ten years. She has won numerous journalism awards over the years, and taught journalism at New York University and Southern Connecticut State University.
This action by the town Parks and Rec Department is a good development! It is also a great idea to post the town’s testing results to the town website.
I do not know if this is possible, but it would be great for citizens to know the cause/source of the contamination at the beaches. For example, was there a breach of sewage anywhere? Was there some type of spill in the Sound? Is it strictly the result of runoff in the Sound due to rainfall? Knowing the source of the pollution can help us all understand the ecological dynamics of our most beloved resource: our waterways.
There has been a lot of repair activity at the Grace K Salmon pumping station over the past month, and early this morning several electrical repair trucks from Newington, Ct were there. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that there had been a leak into the river related to that pumping station.