U.S. Water News Online
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Health officials want to use DNA tests to see if seagull droppings are polluting Lake Michigan with bacteria and forcing recent beach closures.
It's possible the birds are the source of elevated E. coli counts at some beaches, said Mark Pfister, a health department biologist in Lake County, north of Chicago.
``It's not very pleasant to talk about, but we want to take very fresh feces from the beach so we can incubate out the E. coli strands we find for the genetic testing,'' said Pfister, who attended a public meeting on the issue in Lake Forest.
The department will recommend ways to try to curtail the bird population if the gull droppings match E. coli in the water, he said.
The North Shore Sanitary District was blamed for some recent Lake County beach closures after sewage spilled into the lake.
District officials are eager to prove the spill wasn't to blame.
Farther south in Chicago, which is in Cook County, some beaches were beginning to reopen after being closed since because of E. coli bacteria in the water.
Researchers say weather -- heavy rains, high winds, warmth and hazy skies -- can also cause bacteria levels to increase.
Not everyone at the public meeting believed gulls were a major source of pollution.
``All of you should not come away from this meeting saying 'more gulls, more problems,''' said Donald Dann, a Sierra Club member. ``Testing has been done before, and there's still not unequivocal evidence that there is a link.''
At the Lake County beaches where the birds aren't as numerous, health officials acknowledge they can't easily be blamed for the pollution.
``It just can't be the gulls alone,'' said state Rep. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, who organized the meeting.
Health officials also cited raw sewage, stormwater runoff, aging sewer pipes and stagnant water caused by recent dry conditions as possible causes for the bacteria.
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