Great Barrington — The parked cars are lined up near the cornfields on either side of Route 23, abandoned for a jade-toned swimming hole tucked away and sparkling at the end of a lush path.
This jewel near the Route 23 bridge is one of several popular swimming and loafing spots on the Green River. But every summer, usually after a heavy rain, the town puts up notice after notice that the swimming hole is closed due to elevated levels of Escherichia Coli (E. coli) bacteria. The Great Barrington Health Department issued such a notice two weeks ago, but has since lifted it.
E. coli bacteria live harmoniously in the lower intestines of warm-blooded mammals, and are present in fecal matter. However, certain strains can cause illness — sometimes critical or fatal — in humans who ingest it.
The town’s Board of Health will continue to have the water tested once a week until swimming season is over.
“We’re not really shutting it down,” said town Health Agent, Jayne Smith. “It’s never been technically open.”
That’s because the swimming hole is on private property, she said. The town apparently tests it out of goodwill and public safety concerns. “Everyone is grateful that the landowner allows its use,” Smith added. She said future notices would be “advisories” rather than “closures.”
Self-declared “nomad” Bubz Dominguez shrugs off either. “I’ve been coming here all summer,” he said on his way down the path with three lovelies with whom he works at Catamount Ski Area.
This summer, he lives between two tents on two different mountains. He gestures to the east, and then to the west.
But not everyone is so mellow. Health Agent Smith said she’s gotten a few calls lately, some anonymous, asking her if she knows the source of E. coli. “I think there has been a lot of curiosity.”
The Health Department’s notice said the high bacteria count was “likely due to the recent heavy rains.” But Smith said that lots of things could wash into the popular swimming area. It could be agricultural runoff from the abutting cornfields and farmland; “wildlife droppings” or waste from nearby homes. There is even what appears to be a dog kennel right next to the bridge and adjacent to the river.
Smith said that there isn’t a lab in the region that could pinpoint the E. coli strain by type of animal, however. The value of E. coli testing, she said, is that it is an “indicator organism that there is feces present.”
That means other offending microbes could also be present, Smith noted.
Earlier in the day, several women sat on the small beach with a group of young girls who tanned and waded. They all declined to give their names, but they said they come here from Pittsfield every summer. They also knew about the closure, but were undeterred.
“I used to swim at Imperial Beach in Southern California on the Mexican border,” Bubz Dominguez said, explaining that because that beach is “near Tijuana,” all kinds of trash and heaven-knows-what was lurking within.
“Look how clear the water is,” he said. He then compared the Green River to the Housatonic River, noting its PCB-contaminated sediment.
“I don’t really want to swim in the Housatonic, though,” he added, before sauntering down the path for a dip.
