Unsafe Beach Swimming for Record Days in 2006

Unsafe Beach Swimming for Record Days in 2006



Aug. 2007  – Across the United States, beach 
water was unsafe for swimming a record number of days in 2006, according 
to the annual beach water quality report released today by the Natural 
Resources Defense Council, NRDC. 
Maryland's Hacks Point Beach and New Jersey's Beachwood Beach West were 
the two dirtiest U.S. beaches last year, the report shows. Sixty percent 
of water samples from each of these beaches violated public health 
standards, putting beachgoers at risk of stomach and respiratory ailments, 
hepatitis and other serious health problems. 
Using the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
researchers tallied more than 25,000 closing and health advisory days at 
3,500 ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches. The results appear in the NRDC's 
17th annual report, "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at 
Vacation Beaches." 
"Vacations are being ruined and families can't use the beaches in their 
own communities because of the pollution in our beachwater," said Sarah 
Chasis, director of NRDC's Oceans Initiative. "This pollution stems from 
the sewage and contaminated stormwater that are permitted to enter our 
swimming waters." 
Beach closings and warnings due to pollution nearly doubled along New York 
and New Jersey coastlines, the report documents.

New York State's Atlantic and Great Lakes beaches had 1,280 closing and 
advisory days in 2006, a 55 percent increase from 827 days in 2005. 
About two-thirds of New York's closing and advisory days were preemptive 
rain advisories that are issued after rainfall, which carries pollution 
from land and overflowing sewers into the ocean. 
"The city's attempts at containing sewage overflow have been focused on 
the construction of hugely expensive tanks and other engineering ‘fixes' 
that alone won't solve the problem," said Larry Levine, an attorney in 
NRDC's New York office. "By incorporating ‘green' solutions – like more 
street trees, green roofs, and porous pavement – we can capture stormwater 
where it falls, instead of letting it overwhelm our sewers, flushing raw 
sewage directly into our recreational waters." 
New York's Suffolk County beaches on Long Island accounted for almost 40 
percent of the state's total closures and advisories, more closing and 
advisory days than any other county in the state. 
This is largely due to stormwater runoff that flushes pollution into 
beachwater during heavy rains, said Chasis. 
Nationwide, the number of no-swim days caused by stormwater runoff more 
than doubled from the year before, the researchers report. 
Rainstorms often cause large amounts of pollution to flow to the beach, 
overwhelming aging and poorly designed sewage and stormwater systems. 
At the same time, sprawling urban development proves too much for wetlands 
and other natural barriers such as dunes and beach grass, which can help 
filter hazardous pollutants. 
"A summer rainstorm should not have to mean that endless amounts of 
pollution are washed down to the beach, or that sewers will overflow. We 
can fix leaky pipes; we can require costal developers to maintain 
vegetation to absorb rain. The solutions are out there," said Nancy 
Stoner, director of NRDC's water program. 
This year's report takes a close look at the nation's highest risk beaches 
– those that are either very popular, very close to pollution sources, or 
both. 
Of those, beaches in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Minnesota 
ranked the worst for failing to meet national health standards.


In California, Venice State Beach north of Half Moon Bay and Avalon Beach 
on Santa Catalina Island were found to be the two dirtiest beaches. Venice 
Beach failed to meet public health standards in 57 percent of the water 
samples, and 53 percent of samples from Avalon Beach violated standards. 
"Families shouldn't be worried about keeping the kids out of the water so 
they don't get sick," said David Beckman, a senior attorney with NRDC and 
the director of its California Coastal Water Quality Program. "But too 
often, unfortunately, that's the case." 
Nationally, sewage spills and overflows caused 1,301 beach closing and 
advisory days in 2006, an increase of 402 days from 2005. 
Elevated bacteria levels from miscellaneous sources, such as boat 
discharges or wildlife, accounted for 410 closing and advisory days, an 
increase of 77 days from 2005. In addition, more than 14,000 closing and 
advisory days were due to unknown sources of pollution. 
"Every time we close a beach we are not only hindering our local economy 
we are also diminishing our quality of life," said Adrienne Esposito, 
executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "We live near 
the water so that we can enjoy access to the waterways and engage in 
activities that enrich our lives, including swimming, shell fishing and 
spending time at the beach with our family and friends. Safe, clean 
beaches enhance our lives and protecting them needs to be a political 
priority as it is a public priority." 
On the positive side, the NRDC named some beaches "Beach Buddies" when 
they violated public health standards less than 10 percent of the time. At 
these cleaner beaches officials monitored beach water quality regularly 
and took steps to reduce pollution. 
Recognized as Beach Buddies are Kure Beach and Kill Devil HillsBeach in 
North Carolina; Sister Bay Beach and North Beach in Wisconsin; Laguna 
Beach in California; Grand Haven City Beach and Grand Haven State Park 
beaches in Michigan; and in Maine, Mother's, Middle, Cape Neddick, Short 
Sands, and York Harbor beaches. 
For the first time this year the NRDC is recognizing an individual as a 
Beach Hero.

Dr. Carl Berg of Hawaii, a marine ecologist and water quality champion, 
was nominated as a Beach Buddy by the staff of the Hawaii Department of 
Health for his work with the Hanalei Heritage River organization and the 
Hanalei Watershed Hui on the island of Kauai. 
Dr. Berg worked to set up monitoring programs for the beaches, rivers and 
streams of Hanalei Bay on Kauai's north shore. He works to protect them by 
replacing cesspools on beach parks and on private land along the river. He 
helps farmers to reduce sediment discharge and develop best practices to 
protect the upper watershed. 
NRDC public health and water experts warn that current beach water quality 
standards are 20 years old and obsolete monitoring methods and outdated 
science leave beachgoers vulnerable to waterborne illnesses. 
An NRDC lawsuit against the EPA on these grounds filed last year has 
resulted in a ruling that the EPA violated the federal BEACH Act. The 
court is setting a schedule for the agency to come into compliance. 
In July, the EPA said it is working to provide beach managers and local 
health officials with a water quality test that yields results in three 
hours, rather than the current 24 hour method.

Using water samples collected by New Jersey's Monmouth and Ocean County 
Health Departments this summer, and partnering with the state Department 
of Environmental Protection, EPA scientists are conducting comparisons of 
the two tests used to detect disease causing bacteria. 
Results of the 10 week pilot project will be published and shared with 
beach communities in New Jersey and New York to help refine the testing 
protocols and determine their effectiveness. 
"Quicker tests will allow beach managers to make dramatically faster 
decisions about the safety of beach waters," said Alan Steinberg, EPA 
regional administrator for New York and New Jersey. "EPA is investing in 
sound science and new technology to protect public health and our coastal 
waters." 
"Each summer, beach goers flock to the Jersey Shore expecting the water to 
be clean and safe," said New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner 
Lisa Jackson. "Our Cooperative Coastal Monitoring Program - a combined 
state, federal and local water quality monitoring network - is already 
recognized as one of the best in the nation. Same-day monitoring has the 
potential to make the system even more protective of public health." 

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