YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Health officials are suggesting that weather conditions may have played a part in the latest test results showing E.coli bacteria has increased beyond acceptable levels in at least one water sample taken from Mill Creek MetroPark's Lake Newport.

All activities including fishing, boating and kayaking in Lakes Newport, Glacier and Cohasset have been suspended since July 10, when high levels of E. coli were detected following a fish kill at Lake Newport.

Results from the third week of testing includes one sample taken from the bridge at the south end of Lake Newport on showed E. coli levels at 727 per 100 milliliters of water. According to the EPA E. coli levels above 576 are considered unfit for recreational use.

Eight other samples taken on Wednesday from the bridge, the boathouse and the boat launch in Lake Newport ranged from 115 to 548.

All of those levels are significantly higher than samples from one week before when the highest level of E. coli out of the nine samples was only 142.

The Mahoning County District Board of Health credited the lower E. coli numbers from a week ago to significant sun exposure and no significant rainfall.

Sunlight tends to kill the bacteria, and rain brings contaminated drainage into the park waterways.

“The third samples were drawn when weather conditions were slightly different than previous samples. There was minimal rainfall, cooler temperatures and periods of less sun,” said Ryan Tekac, Director of Environmental Health for the Mahoning County District Board of Health.”

Health officials say the testing is in the beginning stages and it's too early to make any significant correlations with the data.

The Board of Health will continue to test weekly for the next 9 weeks in order to provide park officials with information that can be used to establish a baseline or trend indicators.

The park has not said when the lakes will be open again for recreational uses.