Beaches and other areas on Kauai that smell like sewage may be showing signs of contamination, according to Hawaii health officials.
The Hawaii Department of Health hasn’t received any indications of disease outbreaks following the recent flooding, but people have reported rashes and irritated skin after spending time in the sand at Hanalei Bay on the island’s northern shore, The Garden Island reported .
“If an area smells like it is contaminated by sewage or other foul-smelling materials, it can be assumed to be contaminated,” said Anna Koethe, a department spokesperson.
The department advises people to consider putting a towel or blanket down if they plan to spend time on the area’s beaches.
“DOH recommendations to stay out of flood and storm waters also apply to areas that have been in contact with those potentially contaminated waters.” The department issued a brown water advisory for Hanalei Bay Friday following the additional rainfall Thursday.
Multiple dirty water advisories have remained in effect for parts of the island since the flooding.
State and local health agencies deployed a medical team to Haena last week.
The team has treated more than 200 residents for skin and wound infections, abrasions and other injuries common to flooding events, officials said.
Related: Want to stay up to date?
Get the latest insurance news sent straight to your inbox.

Tiscornia Beach, at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers near Discovery Park, recorded E. coli levels in February that were seven times the threshold set by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to new weekly testing by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.
"In the summer, there are always people in the water at Discovery Park."
Dr. Olivia Kasirye, Sacramento County’s public health officer, said that while there are more than 700 subspecies of E. coli formed from animal and human waste, "only a small number … cause disease in human beings."
However, water board officials said the elevated levels should serve as a caution for people who use the river.
Tests along the lower American River, roughly between Howe Avenue and the confluence of the Sacramento River, in recent years have found average levels of E. coli that were higher than the EPA standard, "beyond which the water body is not recommended for recreation."
Beginning this summer, the water board, along with the Sacramento Area Sewer District and Sacramento County, will launch a yearlong study using DNA testing to determine the sources of E. coli bacteria.
Meanwhile, the water board said it was sharing the weekly E. coli data with Sacramento County health officials and park managers, who are in a position to post warnings and restrict access to waterways.
"Yes, there are elevated levels, so it is important to get that message out and tell people … ‘If you do choose to swim, these are the things you need to do to make sure that you minimize the risk and take care of yourself.’"
Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Coalition to End Homelessness, said he thought a lack of public restrooms could be a major contributor to high E. coli levels.
Many of those people camp along the American River.

The council today received its test results after a wastewater overflow last weekend and this afternoon, announced the beach had been given the all-clear.
However, shortly after the announcement, the council said one of the five samples taken from Pilot Bay had returned with high levels of bacteria.
Authorities did not know how much wastewater entered Pilot Bay after a pipe blockage caused by wet wipes resulted in an overflow.
Council pollution prevention officer Radleigh Cairns said the incoming high tide would have helped to block the discharge from the stormwater pipe and keep it in the pipeline.
The blockage was in a wastewater pipe, which caused the flow to come through a manhole, into the gutter, and down a stormwater drain.
Water samples were sent for testing and results were returned today.
Wet wipes, including "flushable" wipes, were a growing issue for wastewater networks across New Zealand and had been the cause of blockages around Tauranga, in residential areas as well as areas where there is a high percentage of visitors.
"Blockages like the one [over the weekend] cause the flow to build up in manholes that then overflow into the street and enter the stormwater network via drains."
"These could include CCTV and modifications to the pipeline if there is, for example, a bend that is too sharp, or a flaw in the pipe that enables a build-up to take hold."
The weekend’s blockage had nothing to do with the visiting cruise ships, Cairns said, as they all have their own facilities to contain and treat wastewater.

A boil advisory that had been issued for the Carolina Beach Road-Shipyard Blvd.
area has been rescinded, according to CFPUA officials.
The advisory had affected customers in the 500, 600 and 700 blocks of Shipyard, and at 2518 and 2543 Carolina Beach Road.
"Bacteriological analysis results of drinking water samples collected recently from this system show no coliform bacteria present.
The system has resumed normal operation," CFPUA said in a release.
Several lanes on Shipyard Boulevard and Carolina Beach Road were shut down for almost 24 hours while crews completed work to fix a water main that broke Tuesday evening.
According to a news release from Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, crews had to make emergency repairs to a 12-inch water main.
Crews eventually restored water pressure to customers around 11:20 a.m. Wednesday and reopened lanes just before 5 p.m.
Copyright 2018 WECT.
All rights reserved.

Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Torti said the beach closures were not only bad for locals trying to beat this week’s heat — he said the alerts send a bad message to tourists thinking of visiting the state.
More waterways than Lake Champlain have experienced the toxic cyanobacteria blooms that have closed the beaches, Torti said.
In Lake Carmi, about 85 percent of the phosphorus pollution comes from Franklin County farms.
Vermont farms aren’t the only sources of Lake Champlain’s excess phosphorus. But Vermont farms in particular eclipse all other sources in the state, and contribute more phosphorus to Lake Champlain than all sources — agricultural and otherwise — in the entire state of New York.
It’s not just the cyanobacteria outbreaks that’re the problem, however, Lyons said.
Lyons said this is not the time to shy away from the issue, and Lt Gov.
“It’s unfortunately becoming more common,” Moreau said.
South Hero would have needed another few days of warm weather to experience outbreaks similar to those elsewhere in the state, he said.

Los Angeles Beaches Among State’s Best and Worst for Water Pollution.
Heal the Bay, a local environmental nonprofit group for clean water, released its annual California Beach Report Card in June.
The list measures water pollution at beaches around the state, tracking progress over time and also looking at pre- and post-drought conditions.
The Santa Monica Pier area and Marina del Rey’s Mother’s Beach both received “D” grades on the report card, as the sixth- and ninth-dirtiest beaches, respectively.
Four beaches received “F’ grades, including the San Clemente Pier in Orange County.
The news wasn’t all bad for LA, however.
Four more county beaches also managed to receive “A+” grades.
In Malibu, El Matador State Beach and Malibu Point were included on the list’s honor roll.
Palos Verdes Estates’ Bluff Cove and Rancho Palos Verdes’s Portuguese Bend Cove also received high marks.
Summer dry weather (April through October) scores have been trending upward in LA County from 2011 to 2016, as 93 percent of Los Angeles beaches received an “A” score this time around — much higher than the average of 76 percent over the entire time frame.

In the annual “Beach Bummer” report card issued Thursday morning by Southern California environmental nonprofit watchdog group Heal The Bay, the Santa Cruz attraction, a favorite among tourists and locals alike, slipped to the third most contaminated beach statewide.
It had held the No.
1 position for the three previous years, and remained at least in the top two slots for seven years.
The report uses weekly bacterial pollution reports to assign A-to-F grades for 416 beaches.
Above Santa Cruz on the list were Humboldt County’s Clam Beach County Park in McKinleyville and Orange County’s San Clemente Pier in San Clemente.
Neighboring Capitola Beach has moved up into the No.
I’m very thankful for the contributions of the Cowell Beach Working Group and that of our Wastewater and Wharf staff to put measures into place that will improve water quality.” In response to Cowell’s continuously poor showing, the city of Santa Cruz formed the Cowell Beach Working Group, with representatives from the city, Santa Cruz County, Save the Waves, Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation, two years ago.
The working group believed that bird droppings collected in the stagnant area may have resulted in increased bacteria counts.
The nonprofit cites the increase in polluted runoff headed funneling in storm drains and out to the state’s coastline.
Creation of a new technical advisory committee is in the works to analyze the data and refine recommendations, and city workers will increase its efforts to move birds off the wharf near the shoreline, according a release by Deputy City Manager Scott Collins.

Beach report: Spring Lake beach closed by bacteria.
Robert Allen/DFP A Spring Lake beach next to Wreck Pond was closed Thursday, following consecutive days of excessive bacteria in the water.
Two other beaches, both on the Bayshore and not open to swimmers, also registered unsafe levels in followup testing for a microbe that indicates the water is not safe for recreation.
No Ocean County beaches tested high for bacteria this week.
The results for those will be released Friday.
If Thursday’s samples prove to still be too high, then the beach would be closed on Friday and retested.
A state-of-the-art tunnel, which was finished in November, was designed to limit flooding in the area and improve water quality.
This kind of bacteria is considered a warning sign of dangerous pathogens.
Per NJbeaches.org, here are the beaches that tested above the safe swimming threshold on Wednesday, with today’s results in bold: Middletown, Ideal Beach, 440 cfu, 180 cfu Highlands, Miller Beach, 260 cfu, 310 cfu Sea Bright, public beach, 260 cfu, less than 10 cfu Ocean Grove, Spray Avenue, 160 cfu, 20 cfu Ocean Grove, Broadway Avenue, 220 cfu, less than 10 cfu Spring Lake, Brown Avenue, 330 cfu, 150 cfu Spring Lake, York Avenue, 110 cfu, less than 10 cfu Every Tuesday online, the Press and app.com will post water-quality test results from every Jersey Shore beach that exceeds federal safe swimming standards for fecal bacteria.
Watch this video to find out: EYE ON YOUR TAXES: Do you make more than an Ocean Co. municipal employee?

Whether your plans include going to a beach, visiting a national park, or just letting your kids play outside in the sprinklers, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plays an important role in making your summer healthier and safer – in ways you might not realize.
Here are four examples of how EPA improves summers for all Americans: Reducing deadly smog Smog comes from pollution emitted from cars, power plants, and other sources.
EPA has worked for decades to reduce smog, most recently when the agency issued new standards for smog in 2015.
Once they’re in effect, those standards will prevent 230,000 asthma attacks among children every year.
Additionally, President Trump’s proposed budget for 2018 cuts funding for the air monitoring that warns families about “Code Red” and “Code Orange” days – the days when air quality reaches unhealthy levels – by almost one third.
Here are a few examples of beach monitoring and cleanup grants distributed by EPA: Lakeview Beach Green Infrastructure Project in the Great Lakes.
President Trump’s proposed budget for EPA would eliminate the beach monitoring grants program, among many other things that could impact the health of our nation’s beaches.
According to the National Park Service, there were over 307 million visits to our national parks last year and those visitors spent $16.9 billion in surrounding communities.
EPA and other agencies monitor visibility at 155 national parks and wilderness areas across the country.
Reducing the pollution contributing to climate change Climate change affects virtually every facet of our lives and can exacerbate all of the problems listed above – more smoggy days, rising sea levels and more pathogens potentially spreading at beaches, and worse haze in our parks.

Drought could cause landslides, experts warn as cliffs on verge of collapse.
The threat to the nation’s cliff tops also extends to large parts of the east coast in Yorkshire and East Anglia.
"Movement on the coastline in this area is not unusual but the amount that fell on Tuesday evening is significant in its size – 20m long.
and tonnes of debris," she said.
It comes as the UK experienced the driest winter for 20 years and there are fears the UK could be in for a summer drought as the wettest inhabited place in England, Seathwaite, Cumbria, remains “bone dry”.
Experts have told the Telegraph that more slips could happen across the UK.
"After periods of really dry weather you get cracks forming in the cliffs and then if heavy rain comes it suddenly increases the weight at the top and you get landslides.
In 2015 a large section of the East Yorkshire coastline began collapsing after a large crack appeared in the cliffs at Mappleton beach East Riding Council has issued a warning for people using the beaches to be aware that coastal erosion can happen at any time.
"Whilst extended periods of dry or wet weather may contribute to incidents, the main driver for coastal erosion in the East Riding is wave action which is further exacerbated by storm conditions. "
In 2012 a tourist was crushed by a rock fall at Burton Bradstock, near West Bay, in Dorset, close to where the hit TV series Broadchurch is filmed.