Pollution-related closings and health advisories at U.S. beaches were more numerous than ever in 2005, according to NRDC's annual report (PDF 1.8mb) on beachwater quality.
Across the country, there were more than 20,000 days of closings and advisories in 2005 at ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches -- an increase of 5 percent from 2004. NRDC expects the upward trend to continue.
Why the jump in "no swimming" days? Much of the rise was due to heavy rainfall, increased monitoring, more development in coastal areas and unaddressed sources of beachwater pollution.
For the first time, NRDC was able to determine not only the number of closings and advisories, but also the number of times that each beach violated current public health standards. NRDC found 200 designated swimming beaches that violated public health standards at least 25 percent of the time. Those violations are pretty good indications that the beachwater was contaminated with human and animal waste, and that beachgoers were either swimming in that waste or banned from doing so due to the health risks.
Even beaches that meet standards are not necessarily safe. The current beachwater quality standards are 20 years old and rely on obsolete monitoring methods and out-of-date science that leave beachgoers vulnerable to a range of waterborne illnesses. The BEACH Act, which Congress passed in 2000, required the EPA to revise the current standards by October 2005. The agency missed the deadline, and now says it will not be able to finish updating them until 2011. On August 3, 2006, NRDC sued the agency to force it to establish new standards.
This year's report highlights another disturbing trend: Most municipalities have failed to identify and control sources of bacteria and other pollution tainting water near beaches. In 2005, 75 percent of closing and advisory days stemmed from monitoring that revealed high levels of bacteria associated with fecal contamination. Typically, bacteria come from sewage discharges or runoff from urban streets. Yet 14,602 closing and advisory days -- or 63 percent of the 2005 total -- were attributed to unknown sources, the second highest number of days attributed to "unknown sources" since NRDC began tracking beachwater quality 16 years ago.
Improved Monitoring in Many Coastal Areas
Since 1991, NRDC's annual watchdog report, "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches," has sparked several improvements in beachwater monitoring. For instance, it helped spur enactment of the federal BEACH Act of 2000, which provided grants to state and local governments to set up beachwater monitoring programs. Moreover, public attention generated by NRDC's report and list of "beach bums" and "beach buddies" has prompted several states and local beaches to adopt better practices. Thirteen states initiated or expanded monitoring programs between the time NRDC began the report in 1991 and the passage of the BEACH Act. And three states, California, Florida and Massachusetts, have passed laws calling for regular beach monitoring and improved health standards. As a result of federal grants now available to states through the BEACH Act, virtually every coastal and Great Lakes state has a monitoring and public notification program.