Testing The Waters and The US Beaches
Human Waste. Photo by ©©Alan Cleaver
Excerpts; By NRDC
NRDC’s annual survey of water quality and public notification at U.S. beaches finds that the number of beach closings and advisories in 2010 reached 24,091, the second-highest level since NRDC began tracking these events 21 years ago, confirming that our nation’s beaches continue to suffer from bacterial pollution that puts swimmers at risk.
The report, released Wednesday by the nonprofit environmental organization, notes that 8 percent of monitoring samples from more than 3,000 beaches in 30 coastal and Great Lakes states exceeded public health standards in 2010. In two-thirds of the cases, bacterial contamination was to blame…
The report notes that 10 beaches in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin have repeatedly fallen below the public health standard, which assumes that pollution in marine beaches will sicken 19 out of every 1,000 people exposed to the water.
Beach water quality depends on a range of factors. In 2010, both the Gulf oil spill and heavy rainfall in Hawaii and California were factors that contributed to the poor marks. A deluge of rain, for example, can cause runoff from urban and suburban stormwater, carrying human and animal waste, fertilizers and other pollutants to the beach.
In 2011, NRDC rated 200 popular beaches based on the cleanliness of the water and their monitoring and public notification practices. How clean is your beach? Check NRDC ratings here
Best and Worst US Beaches Listing, Huffington Post
Beach Notification Summary, EPA
To help beachgoers make informed decisions about swimming at U.S.beaches, EPA annually publishes a summary report and data about beach closings and advisories for the previous year’s swimming season. Beaches are currently being monitored for the 2011 swimming season.
“Number of beach closures due to pollution rose last year, report says”, Los Angeles Times
