Oneida Shores Beach Closed For High Levels of Bacteria

ANCHOR: Traces of E. coli bacteria have been found at a local beach. NCC News reporter Sydney Staples is live from where people are being told to go instead.

SYDNEY STAPLES: Andrew, I’m here at Jamesville Beach where there isn’t a cloud in the sky. I’m here because Onondaga County Parks are encouraging people to come here over Oneida Shores Beach. High levels of E. coli bacteria were found in the water there. I visited Oneida Shores Beach this morning where I was met with birds on the beach instead of people. Here at Jamesville Beach nanny Lauren Crandall knows of Oneida Shores Beach to have this issue more often.

LAUREN CRANDALL: I actually went online and saw that they have a water report and typically speaking E. coli is more present at Oneida Shores than it is here.

STAPLES: She brings the kids she nanny’s to Jamesville Beach because they live closer to it, but would not being going to Oneida Shores anyways because of its bacteria history. The Oneida Shores Beach will be closed until further notice and people can come here in the meantime. Reporting live from Jamesville Beach, I’m Sydney Staples, NCC News.

Jamesville Beach, N.Y. (NCC News) — Birds, instead of people, were found on the sands of Oneida Shores Beach this morning. The beach is now closed off to swimmers because high levels of E. coli have been sampled from its water.

E. coli is a bacteria that can invade an individual’s intestines. While mostly harmless, E. coli can cause infections.

Both waters of the Oneida Shores Beach and Jamesville Beach Park are sampled for E. coli by the Onondaga County Health Department about every two weeks during the summer.

According to the Onondaga County Parks Water Quality Testing website, the state standard for E. coli present in the waters must be equal to or below 235 E. coli colonies/100 ml. The beaches close when a test sample shows greater than that amount.

beach closed sign — A “beach closed” sign on the Oneida Shores Beach.

As of Aug. 1, E. coli levels were at 461 E. coli per 100 ml.

The Oneida Shores Beach water will be re-sampled daily and the beach will not re-open until E. coli levels decrease to the state standard level.

In the mean time, Onondaga County Parks is pushing people to go to the Jamesville Beach Park.

Lauren Crandall, a nanny who normally takes kids to the Jamesville Beach Park because its closest to them, is familiar with Oneida Shores Beach having this issue.

“I’ve heard that they typically have more of an E. coli presence than here,” Crandall said. “I actually went online and saw that they have a water report and typically speaking E. coli is more present at Oneida Shores than it is here.”

Crandall said she would not being going to the Oneida Shores Beach, if they lived closer to it, because of its bacteria history.

An empty lifeguard chair sitting on the Oneida Beach Shores sand. A sign that says ""beach closed" is chained to the back of it.
© 2022 Sydney Staples