Florida Health Department rescinds health advisory for Carlin Park beaches

Carlin Park is once again safe for swimming.

After Monday’s samples revealed a high concentration of enterococci bacteria, the Florida Department of Health for Palm Beach has rescinded a healthy advisory for Carlin Park Friday after subsequent tests yielded positive results.

The beach was the only site assigned a poor rating after initial tests showed 120 enterococci colonies per 100 milliliters of marine water. This number far exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s criteria for poor, which begins at 71 colonies per 100 milliliters.

Subsequent samples collected on Wednesday, said the news release, indicated bacterial levels had dropped below 10 colonies per 100 milliliters. These results placed Carlin Park in the good range of below 36 colonies per 100 milliliters.

According to the health department, entercocci are commonly found on the intestinal tract of humans and birds. High levels of the bacteria in water can indicate possible fecal pollution. The cause of Monday’s extraordinarily high levels is still unclear.

“Generally poor ratings are associated with wildlife, heavy recreational usage, high surf from high winds and high tides or runoff following heavy rains,” said the health department’s statement. “The DOH-Palm Beach always encourages rinsing with fresh water after swimming in any natural body of water.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2019 at 1:22 PM.