A beach in Otisfield on Pleasant Lake has been closed because of the presence of E. coli bacteria in the water.
There were several reports of children getting sick after swimming in the lake.
A town administrator was informed by residents that children were getting ill once they got out of the water.
She said the they took a sample of the water, sent it to a lab for testing, and the results show the limit for E. coli is more than double than what it’s supposed to be.
As a result, the town beach on Pleasant Lake has been closed because of contaminated water.
The administrator told the Sun Journal she’s heard of high bacteria levels in lakes around the state and it could be because of geese and ducks.
She says the safe limit is 235 parts per hundred milliliter, and the results showed more than 500 parts.
However, she says they were unaware the sample they sent in was suggested to be refrigerated and is hoping that played a role in the numbers being so high.
Surrounding towns and the nearby Seeds of Peace camp have been notified.
The town will be testing every day to see if the number decrease and look to get results back Friday.
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