ERIE A two-year college study has found that water in Lake Erie along Presque Isle State Park is cleaner than expected.

Mercyhurst College researchers say fewer than 10 percent of the water samples they took contained shiga toxin. The substance can causes people who swim in the water to develop gastrointestinal illnesses.

Researchers expected to find most water samples full of the toxin because of high levels of E. coli bacteria found in the water in recent years.