Posted on 06/30/2012 3:36:46 AM PDT by Pinkbell
With the summer in full swing and temperatures rising into the mid-90s, it may seem like a great idea to take a cool dip in the ocean, but according to a new report, some beach-goers may be getting more than they bargained for.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a non-profit environmental group, published on Wednesday its 22nd annual report which showed that storm water runoff and sewage pollution continue to spoil many of America's shores.
The study titled ‘Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches’ examined the results of water testing data at more than 3,200 beaches nationwide, which suggest that beaches ‘continued to suffer from serious contamination and pollutants by human and animal waste’ in 2011.
As a result, U.S. beaches had the third-highest number of closing and advisory days in more than two decades – only slightly lower than in 2010.
Two-thirds of those closings and advisories were caused by bacteria levels surpassing public health standards.
Swimming in bacteria-infested waters can cause stomach flu, skin rashes and pinkeye. The report stated that children tend to be most susceptible to these and other waterborne illnesses likely because they tend to submerge their heads.
The NRDC report labelled 15 beaches in California, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin as ‘repeat offenders.’
Louisiana fared particularly poorly, with 29 per cent of the reported water samples below safety standards, followed by Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.
However, there was some marginally good news in the report. The number of beaches that violate national recommended health standards remained steady at 8 per cent — the same level as 2010.
A dozen U.S. beaches received a five-star rating from the NRDC, indicating strong testing and safety practices, as well as low violation rates.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yeah, I would not trust any “estimates” coming from the EPA...
I grew up right next to those two Ohio beaches and went swimming just about every day in the summer in the 60s. The storm water went into the sewage plant and it couldn’t handle the load, so the overflow just dumped into the lake. After storms there were turds floating in the water. We just dodged them. Often there were little unidentified white things about the size of a match head all over the water surface. If you got a mouthful, just spit them out.
Funny thing is that none of us ever got sick.
I lived 3 blocks away from South Shore beach in Milwaukee - the sewer overflows hit the lake inside the breakwall and sit in mostly stagnant water.
It’s a shame because 75-100 years ago the beach was a big draw and people still go to the lake front to enjoy the paved Oak Leaf trail. I still work in the area but moved away a few years ago. The water isn’t obviously dirty but it has very high levels of the bugs that come from dumping municipal sewage. I cringe when I see people let their dogs swim in it.
Yeah, who's the Einstein that came up with the idea of running the storm drains into a septic sewage treatment plant?
That's item #2 on my list of "Stupidest Things I Ever Heard of in My Life".
“There is no such thing as “stomach flu.”
Its proper name is gastroenteritis”
How many of the uneducated meaning public school taught would know that? It’s another way to explain a problem to the dumbed down.
Love your post.
Me too.
Good old Lake Erie in the 1950s.
Our family went swimming nearly every weekend in summer.
Maybe the air pollution from the steel mills and the Std Oil refinery counteracted the water.
Somehow I survived, LOL.
The EPA’s drooling at this ‘scientific’ study and cannot wait to cram some more regulations down our throats until even the ocean is pure as driven snow. Nevermind that it is so vast that just about any pollution is diluted (’dilution is the solution to pollution’); nevermind that these beaches are about a thousand times cleaner than any other beaches in the world, since they are in the US and not the South Pacific.
My friend went to the Solomon Islands with her dad, who had crashed there during WW2 and went to ‘visit’ his plane in a lagoon. She went for a swim - it was so pretty, tropical water, paradise. (She’s a liberal...). She said there were raw feces floating out there - got a terrible infection. THAT is what the EPA should be worrying about.
Avalon is ON Catalina Island. I’m not sure the town has any other sewer but the ocean. It is known as the dirtiest beach. I guess the island has to figure out some other way. Also, it’s the easiest destination for all the LA / OC yacht owners and who knows if they dump their waste appropriately either?
LLS
LOL.
Its all enough to make a person puke!
Doheny State Beach is located in Orange County, California which voted for John McCain in 2008.
Aha! The EPA is toxic tageting Republican communitoes!!!/S
My first layover in HI convinced me to never EVER swim off the coast of the lower 48.
Then I went to Guam and scuba’ed all over the deep pacific and then didnt even like getting in the water in HI.
I am spoiled, I know.
Doubt that the people that live around Doheny State Beach in Orange County voted for Obama.
I hear Alimentary Canal is pretty bad also......
Then its an EPA toxic plot to kill off Republicans!
The worst place I remember water quality wise...was the Santa Ana River Jetties....after a big rain. Lots of flotsam and jetsam. We just basically avoided it then.
I don't recall ever feeling like I got sick because of swimming / surfing in the ocean.
don’t recall ever feeling like I got sick because of swimming / surfing in the ocean.>>>>>>>
Salt water kills most gastroitis causing bacteria, but the toxins can remain.
I wonder how bad the Santa Ana River is these days?
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