E. coli may close Cary beach

The Killarney Acres West beach in Cary was at risk of being closed Friday due to high E. coli levels, county health department officials said.

Officials are basing the advisory on Thursday water samples, which showed there were 921 colony forming units of E. coli per 100 milliliters of shallow water, said Deborah Quackenbush, a health department spokeswoman.

In the deep end, there were just four.

The department closes the beaches after they get a reading of at least 235 units for two consecutive days.

"For people who are looking for weekend visits to the beach, we want to make sure they are aware of those situations," Quackenbush said.

Authorities intend to take another sample of the water Friday and will release the results Saturday, Quackenbush said.

"Hopefully they will have washed away," she said. "Nature has a way of resolving those issues on its own."

Results will be posted on the health department's website at www.mcdh.info. Click on environmental health.