BACTERIA SPIKES ACCOMPANY SUMMER STORMS
Dozens of visitors to Myrtle Beach, S.C. have reported contracting various illnesses due to unsafe spikes in bacteria levels in the water. Several have even been hospitalized as a result of their ailments, according to MyrtleBeachSC.com.
Runoff from summer thunderstorms have created “radically unsafe bacteria spikes,” according to the website.
This assertion has been confirmed via water monitoring tests conducted by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC). In fact one recent test showed bacteria readings peaking at more than forty times the recommended safe swimming level following a storm.
Scary stuff …
The battle over dirty water in Myrtle Beach, S.C. has been raging all year – pitting online watchdogs against tourism bureaucrats who receive millions of dollars a year from state and local taxpayers.
Myrtle Beach claims to have welcomed a record 17.2 million tourists in 2015 – besting the mark of 15 million set in 2007. For those of you keeping score at home, hotel capacity in the area is 20 million – although as we’ve noted previously Myrtle Beach’s over-reliance on a dying golf industry will make it increasingly hard for the city to hit that mark moving forward.