DEP says Maine beaches are safe, despite organization’s report

Environment Maine released a report on July 5 based on DEP data from 2022. The organization alleged as many as 36 beaches along the entire coast of Maine were “Beaches with potentially unsafe levels of fecal indicator bacteria on at least one testing day in 2022.” The Maine DEP has determined as of this week that only three beaches are showing problems. At issue is a value called the Most Probable Number, or MPN, based on the amount of bacteria found in samples taken in a certain area. DEP does not consider any MPN value below 104 to be unsafe, a standard set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. But Environment Maine is basing its assessment on the idea that any MPN value above 60 is dangerous.