Update,  June  10:

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has lifted swim advisories at three popular swimming areas in Baldwin County, as of Wednesday June 10, after high levels of bacteria were found in the water during routine testing late last week.

Resampling of the areas occurred on Monday, June 8, and met the EPA’s threshold for health and safety for recreational waters according to a data set on the agency’s website.

When tested last week, both the Orange Street Pier in Fairhope and Gulf State Park Pavilion Beach in Gulf Shores recorded the highest levels of enterococcus, a fecal matter indicating bacteria, in more than 20 years, while Fairhope Municipal Park recorded its highest levels of the bacteria since April of 2025.

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ADEM, in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), has been monitoring public recreation sites along the Alabama Gulf Coast since 1999 and now tests 25 sites in Baldwin and Mobile counties. Publicly available testing data on the agency’s website goes back to January 2006.

The Environmental Protection Agency considers water safe for swimming in coastal areas when the bacteria count is below 104 most probable number of bacteria per 100 mL of water (<104 MPN/100 mL). Cassie Bates, staff scientist with environmental nonprofit Mobile Baykeeper, whose guidelines are in line with the EPA, has told GCM in the past that for freshwater sites, an acceptable number can be closer to 235 MPN/100 mL.

While it’s not uncommon for test results to fluctuate week to week, especially following heavy rains, according to Bates – reporting this week by GCM showed last month was the rainiest May in National Weather Service recording history – ADEM warns on its website that people who swim in waters contaminated with such bacterial pollution are at an increased risk of becoming ill.

On June 3, Orange Street Pier recorded a reading of 4,352 MPN/100 mL, and Fairhope Municipal Park recorded 2,400 MPN/100 mL on June 3. Gulf State Park Pavilion Beach recorded 594 MPN/100 mL on June 2.

Resampling at the three sites on June 4 saw each of these levels drop, in some cases dramatically, but high enough levels to warrant swim advisories persisted.

ADEM’s site selection and testing frequency are determined using a “risk-based evaluation and ranking process,” according to the agency’s website. Depending on the site, samples are collected either twice, once or every other week from June through September during peak swimming season and then once per month during the late fall and winter.

If a site tests high, repeat samples are taken in the following days to confirm and monitor more closely.

Repeat testing at each of these sites is scheduled for today.

Baykeeper has operated its own SWIM Guide since 2017, combining ADEM’s data with its own supplemental water testing program in other popular swim areas in an interactive map on their site, but the program is currently paused due to a lack of funding, which the nonprofit is pursuing.