About 75 people attended last week's public information meeting on the proposed clean water district. The purpose of the meeting was to answer community questions about the where, why and necessity of the proposed district.
State law requires a district be established after a shellfish bed is closed by pollution.
Nearly 400 acres of Dungeness Bay is now closed to shellfish harvesting. Fecal coliform is a naturally occurring bacteria that is not harmful to humans by itself. Its presence, however, indicates that other, more harmful bacteria may also be in the water. The other bacteria, notorious E. coli is the most well known, have been linked to several deaths in the last decade. The proposed boundaries of the district mirror those established as a focus area by the Dungeness River Management Team, from Bagley Creek on the west to Sequim Bay on the east.