Pollution a Recurring Problem for Many U.S. Beaches

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, August 13, 2003 (ENS) - Monitoring of water quality at many of the nation's beaches is getting better, but that does not mean the quality of the water is improving. The number of beach closures and advisories in 2002 reached near record levels for the past decade, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and local authorities are increasingly unable to identify the primary sources of pollution.

In its 13th annual beach water quality report, NRDC finds that for 62 percent of 12,184 beach closings and advisories in 2002, local authorities could not attribute a source for the beach water contamination violating health or safety standards. This is the highest rate of "unknown sources" since NRDC first issued the report in 1991.

NRDC's report - "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches" - cites more than 12,000 closures and advisories caused by pollution at ocean, bay, Great Lakes, and other freshwater beaches across the country.

The nonprofit environmental group says that despite the reduction in pollution causing runoff due to drought in California and the East Coast during 2002, the total closing and advisories were the second highest in 13 years.

Some 87 percent of the more than 12,000 beach closures and advisories in 2002 were the result of high bacteria levels in the water. (Photo courtesy NRDC)

The good news is that the trend of closures and advisories is in part due to better beach water monitoring. But that better monitoring has found pollution from sewage spills and urban, suburban and agricultural runoff is increasingly contaminating the nation's beaches with disease-causing bacteria and other pathogens.

High bacteria levels - indicating the presence of human or animal waste - prompted 87 percent of the closures and advisories in 2002.

The report cites 55 communities that NRDC believes do not regularly monitor beach water or notify the public if health standards are exceeded. The list of NRDC's "Beach Bums" includes 19 in New York, 12 in Michigan and 14 in Hawaii.

NRDC says the nation has made some progress over the past 13 years as a dozen states have initiated or expanded monitoring programs since the organization began its annual report.

Three states - California, Florida and Massachusetts - have passed laws calling for regular beach monitoring and improved health standards.

NRDC praised four municipalities for their efforts not just to monitor water quality and inform the public, but for taking significant steps to address sources of beach pollution by improving sewage or storm water treatment, limiting coastal development, or preserving coastal wetlands.

The report highlighted the efforts of Encinitas, California; Milford, Connecticut; Quincy, Massachusetts; and Racine, Wisconsin.

These communities are worth saluting, says report author Mark Dorfman, because "they protect beachgoers not only by monitoring and closing their beaches when the water is not safe, but also by reducing the sources of pollution."

There is hope that there will be more communities taking this path, Dorfman says, as over the next two years, states and localities will begin implementing federally funded programs currently under development in accordance with the BEACH Act of 2000.

Beaches face pressure from increasing numbers of visitors, as well as pollution from coastal areas and hundreds of miles inland. (Photo courtesy Clean Beaches Council)

The BEACH Act should also provide EPA with a much better sense of how pervasive the problem of beach pollution is - the agency says that currently there is not enough information to "define the extent of beach pollution throughout the country."

NRDC cautions in its report that the benefits of this law and other measures to protect the nation's beaches are under threat from the Bush administration. The organization blames the administration for delaying rules to minimize raw sewage discharges and to require sewer system operators to detect sewer overflows before they reach the beach.

One proposal by the Bush administration, NRDC says, would allow sewer operators to discharge inadequately treated sewage into waterways whenever it rains.

There is increasing concern about the impact increased development and land-based pollution on the nation's beaches and coasts. Some of the concern is based on simple numbers - half the U.S. population lives along the coast and some 180 million more visit coastal areas each year.

But the Pew Oceans Commission report on the U.S. Ocean Policy, released in June, cited nonpoint source pollution - such as runoff from urban sprawl and agriculture - as a major threat to coastal waters.

The commission estimated that some 10.9 million gallons of oil - the size of the Exxon Valdez oil spill - runs off roads and driveways and into the nation's waters every eight months.

NRDC's report on beach pollution can be found here.