Bird Creek County Park’s beach, located within the city limits of Huron County’s Port Austin, has been closed due to high levels of E. coli bacteria found during recent testing at the site.
Announcing its closure yesterday, Tuesday, June 13, the Huron County Health Department shared that recent testing done on Monday, June 12, found the water exceeded acceptable levels of E. coli by almost twice over.
When testing, three water samples are taken from locations in three to six feet of water, with the composite of the samples not allowed to exceed more than 300 E. Coli colonies per 100 ml. During Monday’s test, 727 bacterial colonies were found in the sample, thus prompting the shutdown.
This is the beach’s first shutdown of the year, with it being closed twice last August due to similar results. While it is unclear when the health department will reopen the beach, past cases at the beach have seen it being reopened in one to two days after initial closure.
