Community Corner

Lake Open After Being Closed For High Bacteria Levels

Lake Management Committee Chairman Cliff Towner explains why the beach was closed from last Friday, July 26, to Wednesday.

For anyone who was wondering about last week’s closure of Lake Massapoag, it was due to high bacteria levels, according to Cliff Towner, Chairman of the Lake Management Committee.

Towner explained the reason the lake was closed from last Friday, July 26 to Wednesday, July 31. was because of duck and geese who leave their droppings behind on the beach.

“The town has created a big food palate for them with all that grass and vegetation,” he said, explaining that the birds go into the beach at night to feed and rest.

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“They’d be there at daylight, in the morning. The lifeguards and gate guards would chase them off, but they leave their droppings behind,” to be tracked into the water by kids, the birds themselves, or by any one of the many rain storms this summer. Now, a fence is being put up every night to keep the geese and ducks out.

The bacteria levels in the lake were over 500, far surpassing the 235 level required to shut a beach down, but levels are safe again, said Towner, who also pointed out that the lake is the second cleanest in Massachusetts, according to MassWildlife.

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“The visibility is 10 to 12 feet. [The lake] is extremely clean and healthy,” he said. “It’s just when you have geese molting in the summertime, they’re kind of grounded.”

Towner stressed that the credit for the response goes to the Board of Health, which “did all the right things. Thank God we’ve got a Board of Health doing their job, protecting the citizens and the kids.”


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