MDEQ opens one Coast beach, lifts advisory on another

BILOXI and GULFPORT — The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), through its Beach Monitoring Program, has lifted a preemptive beach closure issued March 19 for a station in Biloxi:

• Station 11A — which extends from Eisenhower Drive westward to Debuys Road — and also continued west to Mockingbird Lane. The City of Biloxi has repaired the issue at the Edgewater pump station that caused an overflow at Beach Drive near Gateway Drive. MDEQ issued a preemptive closure as a precautionary measure; however, samples show the water is not contaminated.

A water contact advisory issued for March 16 in Gulfport is also lifted:

• Station 10 — Gulfport Central Beach at the Armed Forces Retirement Center near Oak Avenue. Water samples show the area has attained acceptable bacteria levels.
The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, which performs water sampling of the Mississippi Gulf Coast beaches for MDEQ, notifies the agency when an area returns to acceptable levels and safe conditions.