DoomsdaysCW<p>Warning has spread to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ScarboroughMaine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScarboroughMaine</span></a> as well...</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fecal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fecal</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/contamination" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>contamination</span></a> fears shut down <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/shellfish" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>shellfish</span></a> harvesting in Southern <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Maine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Maine</span></a> after rainfall</p><p>Maine Public | By Nick Song<br>Published August 5, 2024 </p><p>"Bryant Lewis, a scientist for Maine DMR, said heavy <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StormRunoff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StormRunoff</span></a> picks up feces from wildlife on land and washes them into parts of the ocean where shellfish feed.</p><p>"'The shellfish are going to accumulate that fecal contamination as their filter feeding, so people could potentially get sick off of eating,' Lewis said. 'So this is very different than waters dirty for swimming or for any other use. This is really specific to eating shellfish.'</p><p>"The closure lasts until the department lifts the order, which Lewis said should be in three or four days. The department automatically issues closures after a harvesting area experiences two or more inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period. Lewis said the department issued more than a dozen such flood closures last summer.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeportMaine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeportMaine</span></a> experienced 2.77 inches of rain from Saturday to Sunday according to the National Weather Service in Gray.</p><p>"'After you get that level of rainfall, that water will cause a lot of runoff,' Lewis said. "So those closures only last for a few days as a precaution because of that increased fecal contamination [risk]."</p><p><a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2024-08-05/fecal-contamination-fears-shut-down-shellfish-harvesting-in-southern-maine-after-rainfall" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">mainepublic.org/environment-an</span><span class="invisible">d-outdoors/2024-08-05/fecal-contamination-fears-shut-down-shellfish-harvesting-in-southern-maine-after-rainfall</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeWeather" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ExtremeWeather</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HeavyRains" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HeavyRains</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Maine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Maine</span></a></p>