Town closes Fresh Pond to swimming
Supervisor Jim Dougherty said today that the town will officially ban swimming at Fresh Pond.
Mr. Dougherty noted that “elevated phosphorus levels at Fresh Pond recently reported in the Watershed Study Report” and high “September coliforms” brought the action. Coliforms are a form of bacteria that can be found in the feces of warm-blooded animals. According to Mr. Dougherty, the high levels of coliforms may be due to “seasonal reasons.”
The high levels of contaminants found in the pond placed it on New York State’s “impaired waters” list, which means the pond is too polluted to meet the water quality standards set by the state. (See the Reporter, September 26, “Fresh Pond polluted.”
“Between now and next spring the town and its committees plan to strategize ways to improve the water quality at Fresh Pond and consider possible regulatory measures to better protect these waters going forward,” Mr. Dougherty said.
