(BECQ) — Each week, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality analyzes water samples collected from Saipan’s west coast recreational beaches and storm drainages and the Grotto as well as samples collected from Tinian’s recreational beaches and storm water drainages.
Samples collected from the following Saipan locations contained excessive concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria or enterococci that exceeded CNMI marine water quality standards. These bacteria can indicate the presence of human and animal waste in the water.
However, studies have shown that storm water runoff in tropical environments may also contain these bacteria from the natural environment, which may not be directly associated with public health concerns.
Still, to adequately address public health concerns, BECQ has given the following Saipan locations a red flag and advises the public not to fish or swim within 300 feet of these locations for the next 48 hours or until otherwise notified:
Central Repair
Sea Plane Ramp
Garapan Fishing Dock
On Tinian, none of the samples collected contained excessive concentration of fecal indicator bacteria nor did they exceed CNMI marine water quality standards. Therefore, BECQ assigns all of the sampled beach sites on Tinian a green flag.
