DOH: Richardson, Honolii flagged for high bacteria levels

High bacteria counts have been detected at two East Hawaii beaches, according to the state Department of Health.

The DOH on Tuesday issued high bacteria count advisories for beaches at Richardson Beach Park in Keaukaha and Honolii Beach Park north of Hilo.

According to the notifications, routine beach monitoring found abnormally high bacteria levels during routine beach monitoring at both locations. However, DOH is not certain about how representative those initial samples are and will retest the sites.

Both beaches are described as having historically met acceptable bacterial thresholds, and neither have any known source of fecal contamination.

DOH will update the advisories based on the results of retesting.