Maine environmental protection officials say the number of samples that tested positive for fecal bacteria at the state’s beaches rose slightly from 2012 to 2013.
Volunteers, municipal and state officials test samples from Maine beaches for enterococcus bacteria, which indicates fecal contamination from humans and animals. Officials say the number of times the limit was exceeded rose from 156 in 2012 to 176 in 2013. Nearly 85 percent of those instances happened after a rainfall.
Maine Healthy Beaches processed more than 2,150 samples at 148 monitoring locations.
Officials say 95 percent of 2013 beach days were free of beach advisories or closures.
To view monitoring results, click here.
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