Planning to spend a day at the beach this weekend?
If your local beach is not already closed due to Hurricane Erin, you'll want to avoid the beaches closed due to unsafe swimming water. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) states that swimming in the water at these closed beaches poses a threat of illness due to high levels of bacteria. Symptoms of water-borne illness can range from nausea and vomiting to a sore throat and fever, or even rashes and infections.
Heading into this weekend, 58 Massachusetts beaches are closed. Here's the full list.
What beaches in Massachusetts are currently closed due to bacteria?
The following MA beaches, listed by town, are closed as of Friday, Aug. 22:
Amesbury: Lake Gardner (Bacterial Exceedance)
Beverly: Woodbury (Bacterial Exceedance)
Billerica:
Micozzi Beach at North (Bacterial Exceedance)
Micozzi Beach at South (Bacterial Exceedance)
Braintree: Smith Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Chatham: Bucks Creek (Bacterial Exceedance)
Chicopee: Chicopee Beach (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Danvers: Sandy Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Dartmouth:
Hidden Bay (CSO/SSO Event)
Jones Town Beach North (CSO/SSO Event)
Jones Town Beach South (CSO/SSO Event)
Essex: Centennial Grove (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Framingham:
Learned Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Saxonville Beach (Other)
Franklin: Chilson Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Georgetown: American Legion Park (Bacterial Exceedance)
Harwich: Seymour Pond (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Holden: Eagle Lake (Bacterial Exceedance)
Holliston:
Pleasure Point (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Stoddard Park (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Mashpee:
Santuit Pond at Byrants Neck (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Santuit Pond at Town Landing (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Nantucket: Sesachacha Pond (Bacterial Exceedance)
Natick:
Cochituate State Park Beach (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Memorial Beach at Wading (Bacterial Exceedance)
New Marlborough: York Lake Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
North Andover:
Frye Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Stevens Pond (Bacterial Exceedance)
Oxford: Carbuncle Pond (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Quincy:
Merrymount (Bacterial Exceedance)
Wollaston at Channing Street (Bacterial Exceedance)
Wollaston at Milton Street (Bacterial Exceedance)
Wollaston at Rice Road (Bacterial Exceedance)
Wollaston at Sachem Street (Bacterial Exceedance)
Revere: Short (Bacterial Exceedance)
Salem:
Children's Island – Back (Bacterial Exceedance)
Children's Island – Wally (Bacterial Exceedance)
Ocean Avenue (Bacterial Exceedance)
Saugus: Pearce Lake at Breakheart Reservation (Bacterial Exceedance)
Sharon: Community Center Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Southwick: South Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Springfield:
Bass Pond (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Camp Wilder (Bacterial Exceedance)
Paddle Club (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Tisbury: Hilman's Point (Bacterial Exceedance)
Townsend: Pearl Hill Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Wareham: Shangri-La (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Webster:
Lakeside (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Memorial Beach at Location 1 (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Memorial Beach at Location 2 (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Wilmington:
Wilmington Town Beach at Center (Bacterial Exceedance)
Wilmington Town Beach at Right (Bacterial Exceedance)
Winchendon:
Lake Dennison State Park at Day Use Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Lake Dennison State Park at North Camp Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Winthrop:
Donovans (Bacterial Exceedance)
Halford (Bacterial Exceedance)
Winthrop Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
Most beaches are closed due to bacterial exceedance, meaning the levels of bacteria in the water are higher than the limits set by the MDPH.
Those in the "other" category can be closed due to a variety of chemical or physical hazards, such as riptides and poor visibility.
MA beaches: These 7 Massachusetts beaches were called the best to visit this summer, here's why
Walden Pond closed for the summer
Another popular beach is closed for the summer, but not due to bacteria.
According to an announcement from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) on May 30, the main beach at Walden Pond in Concord will be closed for the season as the site undergoes construction. Red Cross Beach, another beach at Walden Pond, will still be open for the summer, but with no lifeguards present and limited parking availability.
Over the summer, Walden Pond will be getting a new $6.1 million bathhouse, according to the DCR. The new single-story, 2,700 square-foot building will replace the current two-story bathhouse from 1947, which is not ADA compliant. This project will bring Walden Pond State Reservation's facility up to federal and state accessibility requirements.
More: Popular MA beach to stay closed all summer due to construction. Here's where
When will beaches in Massachusetts reopen?
According to the MDPH website, beaches can only re-open when their bacteria levels are back within the safe range, so there is no set amount of time for a closure.
The status of a closed beach can be checked on the website's water quality dashboard, which is updated hourly between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of beach season.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Which Massachusetts beaches are closed this weekend? Here's a list
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