By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer, The Capital, Wednesday August 8, 2007
The government needs to do a better job of ensuring that swimmers are safe when they dive into the surf at the nation's beaches, an advocacy group charged this morning.
In 2006, the nation's beaches were closed more often than ever, according to the 17th annual "Testing the Waters" report from the National Resources Defense Council.
The NRDC counted more than 25,000 closed "beach days" at the nation's oc eans, bays and the Great Lakes in 2006.Marylanders missed out on 317 beach days due to closings last summer, including 35 days when beaches at Sandy Point State Park were closed to swimming.
"Vacations are being ruined. Families can't use the beaches in their own communities because they are polluted. Kids are getting sick - all because of sewage and contaminated runoff from outdated, under-funded treatment systems," Nancy Stoner, director of the NRDC's water program, said in a statement.
Swimming in contaminated water can cause health problems, including gastrointestinal illness and ear, nose and throat problems, according to the report. The health effects can be worse on the young, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
Most often, Maryland beaches were closed due to high bacteria readings, which was the case at Sandy Point. Bacteria can spike at beaches due to failing nearby septic systems, waste dumping by boaters, pet waste, waterfowl waste and stormwater runoff that carries waste and bacteria into the water.
The Anne Arundel County Health Department has a blanket advisory warning people to always stay out of the water for 48 hours after storms, due to concerns about contaminated runoff.
Less often, Maryland beaches were closed pre-emptively after sewage spills.
Two Maryland beaches made the NRDC's list of "beach bums" for having more than half of their bacteria readings above safe levels: the Bay Country Campground and Beach in Kent County and Hacks Point in Cecil County.
The closings at Sandy Point last July and August drew local attention to the issue ofbeach safety. Despite an investigation by health
and environmental officials, no cause was ever found for the high bacteria levels.
So far this year, bacteria counts have been extremely low at Sandy Point, which is one of the most popular beaches in the area.
Employees of the health department test more than 100 beaches in the county. Some are tested weekly, some biweekly and some monthly.
The amount of bacteria that's allowed is determined by a formula that evaluates how many people use a beach and how frequently they use it.
"The overall purpose of the program is to reduce risk and advise the public of the health risks," said Kerry Topovski, the county's director of environmental health.
Beyond that, nonprofit groups also collect their own samples, which are tested at Anne Arundel Community College.
Bob Gallagher, the West/Rhode Riverkeeper, sends 15 samples to the AACC lab each week.
He thinks there are holes in the county's testing program. He'd like to see more beaches tested, more often. It doesn't do much good to know that a beach was safe or unsafe days or weeks ago.
"I think a lot of people assume it's safe when it isn't always safe," Mr. Gallagher said.
Ms. Topovski said the county drew up a proposal for monitoring the monthly beaches more frequently, but the state wouldn't give the county money for it.
Mr. Gallagher, South Riverkeeper Drew Koslow and others who do independent testing are concerned that they sometimes get higher bacteria readings than the county does. County officials plan to meet with the riverkeepers on Friday. They plan to conduct side-by-side samplings to check for discrepancies.
The NRDC report called for the government to do a better job when it comes to beach safety. The NRDC is lobbying for an update of federal beach laws that would:
Approve and require a quick-response test that would give results in two hours.
Standardize the way the public is notified about beach closings.
Update the standards for how much bacteria is considered safe.
Require stricter controls on sewage spills and stormwater runoff.
Give more money to states for monitoring.
The NRDC report is based on data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Check Anne Arundel County Health Department beach monitoring data at www.aahealth.org. Read "Testing the Waters" at www.nrdc.org.
Click here to see South River Federation's weekly test results, May - July 2007
