MDEQ lifts beach closure following sewage spill

by MBJ Staff

Published: October 19,2012

Tags: beach, beach closure, disease, fish, fishing, health, illness, outdoors, public health, pump station, reopen, safety, sewage, sewage spill, sewer, sickness, state agency, swim, swimmer, swimming

BILOXI — The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), through its Beach Monitoring Program, has lifted a beach closure issued Oct. 13 in Biloxi.

The closure extended for a section of beach from Mockingbird Lane on the west to Edgewater Drive on the east and included Beach Station 11A-Edgewater Beach.

Last Saturday, the City of Biloxi reported a sewage bypass at U.S. 90 and Gateway Boulevard and a pump station problem, according to MDEQ. Samples taken found no contamination in the area of Station 11A, and the city made repairs to the pump station within two or three hours of the reported bypass. In addition, the city took remedial actions, which limited the amount of wastewater that may have reached the Mississippi Sound.

Sampling has indicated no water contamination remains, MDEQ reports.