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Under MDPH regulations for beaches guidelines, beach operators must test all public ocean beaches for bacteria each week, using the enterococcus indicator organism. Under that guideline beach sampling will be weekly durning the swim season, June until Labor Day. Single-sample test results cannot exceed a specified number of bacteria colonies per 100/ml sample. If they do, the beach must be closed to swimming. The maximum contamination is 104 Enterococci/100 ml. for ocean waters. There are 6 recreational water bodies that we test: Black Rock Beach; Sandy Beach; Little Harbor; Sandy Cove; Bassing Beach: (two locations: Yacht Club and Sailing Club). Maximum Contamination Level: 104 (would result in beach closing) Method of Reference: EPA 1600 When a beach is closed in the Harbor the Harbormaster will post a Yellow Flag for CLOSED all other locations will have a sign posted. The Harbor is automatically closed after .5 inches of rain within 24 hours. To see Cohasset’s Lab Results and for Closure Information: http://mass.digitalhealthdepartment.com/public_21/beaches.cfm?btown=Cohasset http://www.mass.gov/dph/topics/beaches.htm Massachusetts Department of Public Health Beach Program US Environmental Protection Agencies Beaches web site. Includes information on Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 and more. Center for Disease Control (CDC) Healthy Swimming Web Site |