Christopher Dunagan has the story in the Kitsap Sun:
City, county and health officials are trying to determine what legal requirements are triggered by the recent discovery of high bacterial counts along two Bainbridge Island beaches.
Normally, when the classification of a commercial shellfish area is changed because of increased pollution, the county government must set up a shellfish protection district or initiate an “equivalent” response within six months. Recent shoreline studies resulted in the reclassification of two growing areas from “approved” to “prohibited,” while another growing area went from “prohibited” to “approved.”
The recent findings are complicated by local circumstances, and officials are not sure what steps are required.
