EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Anyone looking to head to the shore over Fourth of July weekend may need to rethink their plans if they want to take a dip.
The Rhode Island Department of Health announced Thursday that it recommended several beaches close to swimming due to high bacteria levels in the water.
As of Friday evening, the following six beaches remained on the state’s closure list:
- Ginny B Campground (Foster)
- Peabody’s Beach (Middletown)
- Sandy Point Beach (Portsmouth)
- City Park (Warwick)
- Conimicut Beach (Warwick)
- Kent County YMCA (Warwick)
Scarborough South in Narragansett, Easton’s Beach in Newport, Third Beach in Middletown and Slacks Pond Beach in Smithfield were removed from the list after the water was retested and the bacteria counts were found to have returned to safe levels.
Wendelken said unless a beach is on state-owned property, it’s often up to the city or town to actually enforce the recommended swimming ban.
“It is up to the owner of the beach to actually prohibit swimming,” he said.
The Health Department monitors the water quality at all beaches throughout the summer. Check its website for updates, or call (401) 222-2751.
