The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has issued swimming advisories at soundside areas in two coastal counties after waters at those sites were found to exceed federal recreational water quality standards.
The department announced Friday morning that test results of water samples collected in Beaufort County at the Pantego Creek public access, located at the intersection of East Main and Tooley streets in Belhaven, indicate a running monthly average of 37 enterococci per 100 milliliters of water.
That average exceeds the state’s and Environmental Protection Agency’s standards of a running monthly average of 35 enterococci per 100 milliliters based on five samples taken within 30 days, according to a DEQ release…