Wednesday morning the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released their annual Beach Quality Water Report. The 23rd edition of the report covered America's 200 most popular beaches on a scale of one to five stars, based on criteria such as water quality and beach management practices that protect the public.
“The fact is too many of America's beaches are sick and they are passing on their illnesses to families across the country, said NRDC Water Program Director Steve Fleischli in a conference call coinciding with the release. “As with any serious illness, we sought to address not just the symptoms but also the underlying causes. Thanks in part to a federal law called the Beach Act, local beach managers test their waters and issue advisories or close beaches when testing shows it's unsafe to swim, but under the recently revised EPA standards “safe to swim” means it's acceptable for 1 in 28 people to become ill after a day at the beach."
Fleischli went on to say,"Additionally, EPA standards only address gastrointestinal illnesses, while ignoring the ear, eye and throat problems and rashes and neurological disorders. Any of which can be attracted with some of the beaches legally open for business. So issuing warnings and closing beaches simply isn't enough. We must also raise the “safe to swim” standards and address the underlying causes of dirty beaches: polluted storm water runoff and sewage overflows.”
Fleischli feels that the issue of storm water runoff and sewage overflow will only get worse due to increased storms caused by climate change, over development along the coasts and outdated water treatment systems unable to handle the excess storm water. According to the EPA 3 to 10 billion gallons of untreated storm water makes it way to surface water each year.
13 beaches received a five star rating for 2012. Three were from California, two from Alabama, two from Minnesota, two from New Hampshire, and two from Delaware. Maryland and Michigan had one five star beach each.
No beach from the Tampa Bay area received more than three stars. The three star beaches include Fort Desoto, Honeymoon Island, Pass-A-Grille, and Treasure Island. No beach in Hillsborough County received more than one star. The highest ranked beaches in Florida were St.George Island in Franklin County and Daytona Beach in Volusia County, each with four stars.
The NRDC also released a list of 11 beaches that were consistent under performers, with more than 25% of water samples violating national health standards every year since 2008. Four are found in Ohio, three in California, and one each in Indiana, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin.
The NRDC recommended that cities and suburbs creating green infrastructure and the EPA improving the standards of beach quality as the two most effective ways of improving beach quality.