PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — If your favorite local beach is closed due to poop, you may have to get used to it.
According to Environment America, last year, 61% of the nation’s beaches had at least one day in which there was enough fecal matter in the water to make you sick. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is watching the preventable problem.
“Definitely, wastewater treatment plants and sewage overflow is a major component of pollution going into the [Chesapeake] Bay,” said Keisha Sedlacek, federal director with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “There’s been a lot of funds over the years that have gone into upgrading them. And so we’ve seen a decrease in the amount of pollution from this source into the Bay. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t continue to be a problem, especially as our population here in the region grows.”
Nearly two-thirds of US beaches saw fecal contamination last year: Report
Parts of the Bay in Hampton Roads were once dead zones…