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Organization behind 'unsafe to swim' study targeting dozens of Maine beaches pulls report

Environment America says it is 'revisiting' after data was 'called into question.'

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — The national organization behind a report that listed 39 beaches in Maine as 'potentially unsafe for swimming' is now treading water after facing backlash from several states.

It claimed bacteria levels at those beaches were not satisfactory.

The nonprofit Environment America pulled the study from its website this week.

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"Since we released the beaches report, some of our data has been called into question," the organization said in a statement. "To ensure the utmost accuracy, we are revisiting all the data and we will make our findings public as soon as possible."

Officials in Maine immediately criticized the data in the report when it was first publicized last week.

"What they did was they isolated the most problematic beaches with no context as to man's overall water quality," Meagan Sims with Maine Healthy Beaches said.

Maine Healthy Beaches, that operates under the Department of Environmental Protection, conducts routine studies of beaches across the state.

Sims said 93-percent of their water samples collected last year were below the necessary threshold and therefore meet safety requirements.

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"I was concerned when I first read about it," beach-goer Louise Bugeau said.

Bugeau and her young granddaughter were spending the day at Willard Beach in South Portland--one of the beaches named in the report. 

"When I thought more about it, I figured it was probably something that was maybe a little overblown," Bugeau said. 

Sims and her team test the water at Willard Beach as often as twice a week.

She said it is an area of concern because of its proximity to residential areas and storm water runoff. 

Sims recommends waiting 24 hours after rain before visiting beaches like Willard if you want to avoid higher levels of bacteria.

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