High bacteria levels close another Bellevue beach

The swimming area of Newcastle Beach Park was closed Thursday due to high bacteria levels in the water, according to the city of Bellevue.

The closure of the swimming area on Lake Washington Boulevard Southeast comes after the county’s routine testing of water quality at freshwater swimming beaches throughout the area found high levels of bacteria.

The city did not specify which bacteria was found at Newcastle. But last week, after the swimming area at Meydenbauer Bay Park was closed, Public Health – Seattle & King County said the county does test for E. coli.

Most strains of E. coli are normal gut organisms. However, the presence of the bacteria at high levels indicates that other pathogens could be present.

The swimming area will be reopened when testing indicates that bacteria counts return to a low-risk level.

Although the swim areas at Newcastle and Meydenbauer Bay Park are closed to swimming, the parks remains open, the city said.