Long Island beaches closed to bathing due to high bacteria levels

Health department officials in Nassau and Suffolk counties are advising against bathing at numerous beaches in their jurisdictions out of concerns over high bacteria levels.

In Nassau County, health department officials issued an advisory Tuesday against bathing at beaches because of runoff from heavy rainfall. The water could contain elevated bacteria levels above New York State standards for bathing quality, the department said in a release.

The advisory is issued as a precautionary measure, department officials said.

On the North Shore the affected beaches are: Centre Island Sound, Bayville; Creek Club, Lattingtown; Lattingtown Beach, Lattingtown; Laurel Hollow Beach, Laurel Hollow; Morgan Sound, Glen Cove; North Hempstead Beach Park, Port Washington; Piping Rock Beach Club, Locust Valley; Pryibil Beach, Glen Cove; Ransom Beach, Bayville; Theodore Roosevelt Beach, Oyster Bay; Sea Cliff Village Beach, Sea Cliff; Soundside Beach, Bayville; Stehli Beach, Bayville and Tappen Beach, Glenwood Landing.

On the South Shore, affected beaches are the Biltmore Beach Club and Philip Healey Beach, both in Massapequa; Hewlett Point Beach, East Rockaway and Island Park Beach.

The advisory will be lifted at 7 a.m. Thursday, unless there is additional heavy rainfall, or water samples reveal elevated bacterial levels, department officials said.

In Suffolk County, health department officials Tuesday closed Prices Bend Beach in Eatons Neck and the Town of Islip Ronkonkoma Beach to bathing after finding bacteria at levels in excess of acceptable criteria, Suffolk County Health Department officials said in a news release.

Valley Grove Beach in Eatons Neck and Tanner Park Beach in Copiague remained closed after previous detections of high bacteria levels.

The beaches will reopen when further testing reveals that the bacteria have subsided to acceptable levels, Suffolk health department officials said in a news release.