Testing the Waters. A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches. t w e n t i e t h A n n u a l R e p o rt. Authors. Project Design and Development

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1 July 2010 Testing the Waters A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches t w e n t i e t h A n n u a l R e p o rt Authors Mark Dorfman Kirsten Sinclair Rosselot Project Design and Development David Beckman Natural Resources Defense Council Jon Devine Natural Resources Defense Council Michelle Mehta Natural Resources Defense Council

2 About NRDC The Natural Resources Defense Council is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montana, and Beijing. Visit us at Acknowledgments NRDC wishes to acknowledge the support of The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Campbell Foundation, Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Inc., Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Pisces Foundation, The Prospect Hill Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, Sandler Foundation, Mary Jean Smeal Clean Water Fund, and The Summit Fund of Washington. NRDC would like to thank Henry Henderson, Josh Mogerman, and Mariya Stepanenko for researching and reviewing various aspects of the report this year and Carol James for distributing the report nation wide. Thank you to Alexandra Kennaugh for managing the production of the report, to Bonnie Greenfield for designing it, and to Kathryn McGrath, Will Tam, and Auden Shim for creating a dynamic presentation of the report on the NRDC website. We would also like to thank Ynes Cabral and Linda Escalante for their skillful Spanish translations and Grace Murray and Elise Marton for their proofreading assistance. Many thanks to members of our media team Sherry Goldberg, Courtney Hamilton, Elizabeth Heyd, Serena Ingre, Valerie Jaffee, Jessica Lass, Josh Mogerman, Jenny Powers, and Kate Slusark for orchestrating the release of the report to the press. Thanks to Sarah Chasis, Noah Garrison, Allen Hershkowitz, Larry Levine, Leila Monroe, Adrianna Quintero, Suzanne Struglinski, and Andrew Wetzler for releasing and blogging about the report for NRDC this year and Christy Leavitt and Piper Crowell for arranging releases by chapters of Environment America. We wish also to thank the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for sharing data with us again this year, and to the state program coordinators, who provided information for the state chapters along with review of the monitoring and notification data. Thanks, especially, to all those federal, state, and local officials who work hard every day to keep our beaches clean and to clean up the sources of beachwater pollution. NRDC President: Frances Beinecke NRDC Executive Director: Peter Lehner NRDC Director of Communications: Phil Gutis NRDC Deputy Director of Communications: Lisa Goffredi NRDC Publications Director: Anthony Clark NRDC Publications Editor: Carlita Salazar Project Manager: Alexandra Kennaugh Design and Production: Bonnie Greenfield Copyright 2010 by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

3 Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches Table of Contents Executive Summary...v National Overview...1 Chapter 1 Sources of Beachwater Pollution...14 Chapter 2 The Impacts of Beach Pollution...20 Chapter 3 Plan of Action...32 Chapter 4 Beachwater Quality Programs and State-by-State Results...44 Alabama Alaska California Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Illinois Indiana Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Texas Virginia Washington Wisconsin Figures Figure N-1. Regional Differences in Closing/, Figure N-2. Regional Differences in Percent Exceedance of National Standards, Figure N-3. Closing/, (excluding extended and permanent)...4 Figure N-4. Reported Reasons for Closings/Advisories in Figure N-5. Report Reasons for Closings/Advisories, Figure N-6. Sources of Pollution That Caused Closings/Advisories in Figure N-7. Sources of Pollution That Caused Closings/Advisories, Figure N-8. Percent Exceedance for All Coastal and Great Lakes States Combined, (based on 2,655 beaches reported in each of the four years) Figure 1-1. A Rough Illustration of the Prevalence of Combined Sewer Systems in the United States...15 Figure 2-1. Influence of Heavy Rainfall on Occurrence of E. coli Infections...22 Figure 2-2. Expansion of HAB Problems in the United States...25 Figure 2-3. The Value of the Coastal Economy (2007)...27 Figure 3-1. A Re-Engineered Stormwater Outfall in Racine, Wisconsin...33 Figure 3-2. Lag Time Associated With Current Water Quality and Public Notification Methods...39 Figure 4-1. Why Don t 2009 Percent Exceedances Match?...49 iii Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

4 Tables Table N-1. Rank of States by Percentage of Beachwater the National Standard in Table N-2. Beaches With More than 25% of the EPA s Single-Sample Maximum Standards...9 for Designated Beach Areas in 2009 (limited to beaches with at least 10 total samples reported for the year Table N-3. Repeat Offenders: 15 Beaches With More Than 25% of the EPA s Single-Sample...13 Maximum Standards for Designated Beach Areas, Each Year, (Alphabetical by State, County, and Beach) Table 2-1. Pathogens and Swimming-Associated Illnesses...20 Table 2-2. Possible Influence of Climate Change on Climate-Susceptible Pathogens...23 Table 2-3. Algae and Their Threats to Human Health...25 Table 2-4. Cost Estimates for Illnesses Associated With Polluted Water Due to Lost Wages and Medical Care...28 Table 3-1. Beachwater Quality Standards Required by the BEACH Act...37 Table 4-1. State Distribution of BEACH Act Funding for Beachwater Quality and Notification...44 for 2009 and 2010 Table 4-2. State Coastal Beachwater Quality Standards...46 iv Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

5 Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches Executive Summary Twentieth Annual Report In 2009, beach closings and advisories hit their sixth-highest level in the 20 years the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has been tracking them. The continuing high number of closing and advisory days, combined with a relatively constant level of bacterial contamination at ocean, bay, and Great Lakes beaches, suggests that our nation s beaches require a more concerted effort to identify and control the sources of water pollution that put swimmers at risk. Even in the relatively dry 2009 beach For the fifth consecutive year, we were able to season, stormwater runoff contributed determine not only the number of closings and advisories, but also the number of times that each beach violated to more than 80% of the closing current public health standards. The percent of beach and advisory days with a reported monitoring samples exceeding national health standards contamination source. remained steady at 7% in 2009, equal to the level in 2008 and 2007 and down from 9% in More frequent monitoring plus 17% fewer preemptive rainfall closing and advisory days due to drier weather in some parts of the country translated into a better beach season last year for swimmers in many coastal communities. But relying on dry weather to keep contaminated runoff from polluting beachwater is not a long-term public health protection strategy. When the rains return, so do the beach closings and advisories. For example, in the Delmarva Peninsula near Washington, D.C., wetter-than-average conditions contributed to nearly three times as many closing/advisory days in 2009 as in During 2009, stormwater runoff was identified as a source of more than 80% of the closing/advisory days for which a source was identified. This indicates that there are sources of human or animal wastes that are not being adequately addressed and that are getting washed into the ocean when it rains. Polluted Water Makes Beachgoers Sick In its most recent report on waterborne disease and outbreaks associated with recreational water, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the incidence of infections associated with recreational water use has steadily increased over the past several decades. 1 Data on the incidence of waterborne illness in the United States are notoriously bad because many people who get sick have no idea that ingesting contaminated water was the cause, but epidemiological studies like those that the EPA has conducted in the Great Lakes show that as many as 10% of beachgoers report getting sick after swimming at beaches that are open for swimming. With population growing in U.S. coastal areas, we can expect to see more Americans getting sick from beachwater until the sources of contamination are addressed. Polluted Water Hurts Coastal Economies Dirty coastal waters not only threaten our health but also hurt our economy. A stark illustration of the devastation that polluted ocean water can wreak on coastal economies is playing out this summer as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Coastal tourism and recreation is one of the fastest-growing business sectors, enriching economies and supporting jobs in communities virtually everywhere along the shores of the United States and its v Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

6 territories, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy states. 2 That translates into new employment opportunities. In 2000, U.S. coastal tourism and recreation created 1.6 million jobs. 3 Improved Beachwater Standards Can Better Protect Public Health The federal public health standard is more than 20 years old, does not provide information on the full range of water borne pathogens that make beachgoers sick, and requires test methods that take 24 hours to complete. Closing and advisory decisions are based on yesterday s samples. So even if a beach is deemed safe under the federal public health standard, it may still contain human or animal waste that can make swimmers sick. Under the BEACH Act, which passed in 2000, Congress required the EPA to modernize this outdated standard, but the agency has not yet done so. Four summers ago, NRDC sued the EPA to force it to comply with the BEACH Act by accelerating its timetable for proposing new stan dards, setting standards that fully protect the public, and establishing testing methods that will enable public health officials to make prompt decisions about closing beaches and issuing advisories. As a result of NRDC s lawsuit, the EPA is moving forward in developing an improved public health standard and approving faster test methods. For the first time, a rapid test method is being used to make beach closing and advisory decisions as part of a pilot study this summer at several beaches in Orange County, California. Americans need to know that the waters in which we swim, surf, and dive are safe. At a minimum, that means that recreational waters must be tested regularly, and the results must be measured against effective health standards. When waters do not meet these standards, authorities must promptly and clearly notify the public. Prevention is the best way to Curb Beach Pollution While authorities are doing a better job monitoring beaches than in the past, this monitoring reveals the extent to which our beachwaters continue to be polluted. Unfortunately, the monitoring does not reveal the cause of beachwater pollution. In 2009, more than half of beach closing/advisory days were reported as due to unknown sources of contamination. Beach officials cannot clean up sources of pollution if they cannot identify them. One problem is that BEACH Act grants are currently not available for source identification and correction. NRDC is supporting federal legislation, the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act, that would increase the funding authorized for BEACH Act grants and allow them to be used for sanitary surveys, source tracking, and other means of identifying and addressing the direct sources of contamination. In the meantime, steps are being taken to support source identification and correction activities with federal funding: Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants provide significant funding for bacterial source identification, and many entities have won Recovery Act funding to correct sources of beachwater contamination. The Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act would provide funding to pursue these activities throughout the United States. Expanded funding should allow monitoring to cover all designated coastal beaches. Finally, it is time for the EPA and state and local authorities to seriously address the sources of beachwater pollution, which most often are stormwater and sewage pollution. Prevention is the best way to make sure that a day at the beach will not turn into a night in the bathroom or, worse, in a hospital emergency room. We have a myriad of solutions collectively called green infrastructure available today that can stop stormwater runoff and sewage overflows before they happen. Utilizing methods like green roofs, permeable pavement, roadside plantings and rain barrels these methods are often the cheapest and most effective way to address these problem pollution sources. By stopping rain where it falls allowing it to filter into the ground or storing it green infrastructure prevents runoff and overflows from the start. Cutting Global Warming Pollution Can Help AVOID Beachwater Pollution The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed, and the Senate is now considering, legislation that would cap U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to gradually cut global warming pollution, invest in clean energy technologies, and create millions of jobs in the new energy economy. Passing such legislation is critical to addressing a wide range of impacts of vi Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

7 global warming on coastal communities, including increased storms, floods and runoff, which threaten public health. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that [w]ater-borne diseases and degraded water quality are very likely to increase with more heavy precipitation. 4 This legislation can help avoid beachwater pollution in the future by minimizing these negative impacts of climate change. Recommendations for Improving Beachwater Quality and Protecting Swimmers Health The EPA and states should tighten and enforce controls on all sources of beachwater pollution.. The most economical and effective way to do this in many cases is to boost green infrastructure in coastal communities that control sewage overflowsand stormwater runoff which are consistently the largest known sources of beachwater pollution. The best way to prevent swimmers from getting sick is to clean up the water. The EPA should propose new health standards for beachwater quality that fully protect the public and establish testing methods that will enable public health officials to make prompt decisions about closing their beaches and issuing advisories. Congress should pass the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act (H.R. 2093/S. 878), which would reauthorize the federal BEACH Act of 2000, increase the authorized funding and allow that funding to be used for identifying and correcting sources of beachwater contamination, require the EPA to approve and states to use rapid test methods for monitoring beachwater pollution, and improve coordination between the public health officials who monitor beachwater and the environmental agencies who regulate the sources of beachwater pollution. Because climate change will exacerbate some communities beachwater pollution problems, Congress should also enact com prehensive climate and energy legislation to reduce emissions of global warming pollution and help communities prepare for flooding, sea level rise, increased stormwater pollution, sewer overflows, and other adverse impacts of climate change. Congress should substantially increase the federal appropriations available to meet clean water and beach protection needs through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, federal BEACH Act grants, and a Clean Water Trust Fund or other dedicated source of clean water funding. Congress should pass the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act (H.R. 753/S. 937), which would require quick reporting of sewage overflows to public health authorities and to the general public, allowing prompt response to overflows in order to minimize human exposure and environmental harm. State and local governments should issue preemptive advisories where a correlation between rainfall and elevated bacteria levels exists or when sewer overflows or other catastrophic events jeopardize beachwater safety. A portion of the revenues generated by tourism should be allocated to monitoring and prevention programs to ensure that swimming in coastal waters does not jeopardize the health of beachgoers. Voters should support increased federal, state, and local funding for urban stormwater programs and for repairing, rehabilitating, and upgrading our aging sewer systems. The public also should support funding for maintaining and expanding natural areas such as wetlands, shoreline buffers, and coastal vegetation that trap and filter pollution before it reaches the beach. * Individuals can help clean up beach pollution. Simple measures, including conserving water, redirecting runoff, using such natural fertilizers as compost for gardens, maintaining septic systems, and properly disposing of animal waste, litter, toxic household products, and used motor oil can reduce the amount of pollution in coastal waters. vii Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

8 Notes 1 Yoder, J.S., et al., Surveillance for Waterborne Disease and Outbreaks Associated With Recreational Water Use and Other Aquatic Facility- Associated Health Events United States, , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 12, 2008/57(SS09) pp. 1 29, available at: 2 U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century: Final Report, Washington, D.C., September 2004, p. 2, available at: 3 Ibid., p IPCC, Technical Paper IV, Climate Change and Water, June 2008, p Available at: viii Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

9 Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches National Overview In 2009, the number of closing and advisory days at ocean, bay, and Great Lakes beaches reached 18,682 days nationwide, their sixth-highest level since NRDC began tracking these events 20 years ago. 1 The record high of 25,643 days was reached in 2006, when a dramatic increase in the amount of rain in some parts of the country contributed to the large increase in closing/advisory days. The overall 8% decrease in closing/advisory days from 2008 levels was dominated by decreases in the number of closing and advisory days in the West and in the Territories; many parts of the country experienced a sharp increase in the number of closing and advisory days. In the West, relatively dry conditions in Hawaii and reduced monitoring in Southern California due to budget cuts likely con of closings and advisories at U.S. During 2009, there were 18,682 days tributed to a 24% decrease in the number of closing and ocean, bay, and Great Lakes beaches. advisory days compared with 2008 ( 1,695 days). In the Great Lakes region there was a modest 4% decrease ( 137 days) in Four U.S. territories (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) reported drier conditions and a 33% decrease ( 1,187 days) in Wetter-than-usual conditions may have contributed to the Delmarva peninsula s having nearly three times as many closing and advisory days as in 2008 (+177 days) and a 31% increase in New England (+482 days). Increases in the number of closing and advisory days were also seen in the southeastern United States, which had a 43% increase (+185 days), and the Gulf Coast beaches, which had an 18% increase (+491 days). The New York/New Jersey coastal area remained virtually unchanged, with an increase of 2% (+25 days). Nationally, there was a 17% decrease in the number of preemptive closing/advisory days 4,517 in 2009 from 5,452 in More than 80% of preemptive closing/advisory days were issued because of heavy rainfall in both years. Figure N-1. Regional Differences in Closing/, Closing/ Region Closing/ vs Delmarva % Great Lakes 3,003 3,043 3,437 3,300 4% Gulf 3,134 4,336 2,657 3, % New England 1, ,544 2, % NY-NJ 1,093 1,455 1,481 1,506 +2% Southeast 1, % West 11,510 8,990 7,105 5,410 24% Delmarva Great Lakes Gulf New England NY-NJ Southeast West 1 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

10 Figure N-2. Regional Differences in Percent Exceedance of National Standards, Exceedance 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% Region National Exceedances Delmarva 4% 3% 2% 3% Great Lakes 14% 15% 13% 13% Gulf 6% 8% 7% 6% New England 5% 4% 6% 8% NY-NJ 7% 8% 5% 6% Southeast 3% 2% 3% 3% West 8% 5% 7% 7% 6% 4% 2% 0% Delmarva Great Lakes Gulf New England NY-NJ Southeast West The portion of all samples exceeding national health standards remained essentially unchanged at 7% in 2009, 2008, and 2007, from 9% in 2006 (these multiyear graphs include only those beaches with monitoring data reported in each of the four years). Regionally, the Great Lakes had the highest exceedance rate (13%) in 2009, followed by New England (9%), the Gulf Coast (7%), the NY-NJ coast (6%), western states (6%), the southeast (3%), and the Delmarva peninsula (3%). Although it is tempting to expect a correlation between year-to-year changes in water quality and year-to-year changes in closing/advisory days, there are confounding factors that make such correlations unlikely. While year-to-year changes in the percent of monitoring samples that exceed health standards is an objective assessment of water quality, year-to-year changes in the total number of closing/advisory days is subject to differences in programs and practices. For example: Some states or localities take multiple samples at each monitoring station. When making closing/advisory decisions, beach officials might use the average value of all samples taken that day. Using this method, the average value may not exceed the standard even though one (or more) of the multiple samples does. In such a case, the beach would not be closed or put under advisory. While this is an acceptable procedure for making closing/advisory determinations, NRDC includes the results of every reported sample when calculating the percent of all samples that exceed the standard in a given year. Some states or localities will resample a beach after an exceedance before issuing a closing or advisory. If the resample does not exceed the standard, the beach is not put under closing or advisory. Many states or localities preemptively close a beach or issue an advisory without waiting for the results of beachwater monitoring if they suspect that pollution has affected beachwater quality. The reasons for these preemptive actions are highly variable, including heavy rainfall events, known sewage leaks, chemical spills, and high winds and waves. Some states or localities continue monitoring at beaches that are closed for more than six consecutive weeks during the reporting year; NRDC does not include extended or permanent beach closings or advisories when comparing closing/advisory days from year to year, but the monitoring data that are collected at these beaches are included in the percent exceedance analysis. 2 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

11 Some states or localities continue monitoring at beaches that have been closed for reasons other than pollution, such as budget cuts or low attendance. While routine monitoring samples continue to be collected and their results reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the beach closing days may not be reported. Year-to-year changes in beach monitoring frequency could impact the total number of closing/advisory days, but not the percentage of samples that exceed health standards. For example, increasing routine monitoring from once every two weeks to once a week could decrease the number of closing/advisory days for the same number of events because the duration of many events could go from two weeks to one week. Beach officials in all states continue to use traditional methods approved by the EPA that require about 24 hours to quantify bacterial indicator levels in beachwater samples. In July 2010, a pilot project was launched at several beaches in Orange County, California, to demonstrate the use of qpcr, a rapid method of determining bacterial levels that allows beachwater quality warning decisions to be made on the same day a sample is taken. Traditional methods will be used to analyze the samples alongside qpcr analysis, but the qpcr results will be used to determine whether warnings about beachwater quality will be issued and signs posted at the pilot study beaches. This is the first use of a rapid test method for issuing beachwater quality notifications at coastal beaches in the United States. In Pennsylvania, qpcr is used in the event of a preemptive advisory issued by the Presque Isle Beach manager to confirm within four hours that E. coli concentrations warrant issuing an advisory. 2 Advisories or restrictions based on monitoring data in Pennsylvania, how ever, are deter mined solely by using the standard culture-based method, not by qpcr analysis. Puerto Rico and a number of states, including Alabama, California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, and Rhode Island, have participated in the EPA s National Epidemiological and Environmental Assessment of Recreational (NEEAR) Water Studies. These studies, which were urged on by an agreement that resulted from an NRDC lawsuit against the EPA for failing to fulfill the terms of the BEACH Act, are being conducted to help gain a better under standing of bacterial indicators, swimming at the beach, and people s health. Beachgoers are interviewed and water samples are collected and analyzed for bacteria using several analysis methods, including rapid testing. In addition to the NEEAR project, several states have conducted their own studies of rapid test methods. California has invested an estimated $3 million in rapid test method investigations, and other states that have conducted or participated in rapid test method research outside of the NEEAR studies include Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New Jersey. Beachwater quality generally depends on many complex factors, but for some beaches, predictions of beachwater quality based on a few physical measurements of daily conditions can be fairly accurately calculated. Some states have taken advantage of this and have created computer models that rely on data from physical measurements such as rainfall levels, wind speed and direction, tides, wave heights, and currents. These models rapidly prepare predictions of beach water quality and allow beaches to be closed or placed under advisory the day that bacterial levels are expected to be high, rather than 24 hours after high levels of bacteria are present. States using computer models to inform closing and advisory decisions for at least some of their beaches in 2009 were California, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Other states, including Rhode Island, Michigan, and New Hampshire, are gathering data and investigating the use of beachwater quality computer models for at least some of their beaches. Because the water quality at many beaches is adversely impacted by contaminated stormwater runoff, another, less sophisti cated means of protecting public health is to preemptively close beaches or issue advisories when indicator bacteria levels are expected to be high after rainfall events. Twelve states reported preemptive rainfall closures or advisories at specific beaches in 2009: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. Many states report that they have developed standards for issuing pre emptive rainfall advisories based on rainfall intensity or some other rain-related factor for at least some of their eaches. States with quantitative rainfall standards include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massa chu setts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Rainfall standards are under development in New Hampshire. Some states, including California, Minnesota, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Washing ton, issue standing advisories warning the public to avoid beachwater contact after heavy rainfall or when storm drains are running. These standing advisories are not reported in the closing and advisory data that the states send the EPA. In North Carolina, standing rainfall advisories take the form of permanent signs posted on either side of 3 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

12 storm drain outfalls stating that swimming between the signs is not recommended when there is water flowing through the drain. Major Findings This section provides a national perspective on the major findings of NRDC s Testing the Waters report regarding 2009 beachwater quality, closings and advisories, and the sources of pollution that caused them. For more information on state programs and specific beaches, consult the individual state summaries. Beach Closings/Advisories and Pollution Sources During 2009, U.S. ocean, bay, and Great Lakes beaches had 18,682 days of closings and advisories, 45 extended closings and advisories (more than six but not more than 13 consecutive weeks), and 50 permanent closings and advisories (more than 13 consecutive weeks). Including extended days, the total comes to 22,757 beach closing and advisory days. The number of beach closing and advisory days decreased 8% ( 1,659 days) in 2009 from the previous year (see Figure N 3).The major factors contributing to the decrease in 2009 appear to be decreased rainfall in Hawaii and a reduction in state fund ing that led to decreased monitoring (and therefore decreased monitoring-related beach advisories) in Southern California. Nationwide, the number of beaches monitored at least once a week increased 4% to 2,876 in 2009 from 2,753 in The continued high level of closing advisories is an indication that serious water pollution persists at our nation s coastal, bay, and Great Lakes beaches. Major reasons why officials closed beaches or issued advisories in 2009 were as follows (see Figures N-4 and N-5): 74% (13,801 days) were based on monitoring that detected bacteria levels exceeding beachwater quality standards (an increase from 73% in 2008, 71% in 2007, and 68% in 2006). Figure N-3. Closing/, (Excluding Extended and Permanent) Thousands of Closing/ Closing/advisory days 2.88 Beaches monitored at least weekly Thousands of Beaches Monitored Because of inconsistencies in monitoring and closing/advisory practices among states and the different levels of data submission over time, it is difficult to make comparisons between states or to assess trends based on the closing/advisory data. 4 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

13 21% (3,831 days) were precautionary, issued because of rainfall; at many beaches, stormwater is known to carry pollution to swimming waters. This represents a decrease from 22% in 2008, 25% in 2007, and 33% in 2006 (the latter two being relatively wet years). 2% (412) were due to other causes, such as dredging and algal blooms (unchanged from 2008 and 2007 levels). 1% (265 days) were in response to known pollution events, such as sewage treatment plant failures or breaks in sewage pipes. In other words, in these cases localities did not wait for monitoring results to decide whether to close beaches or issue advisories (no change from 1% in 2008, and down from 3% in 2007 and 2006). Figure N-4. Reported Reasons for Closings/Advisories in % 90% 80% 70% 74% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 21% 10% 0% Preemptive due to rain known to carry pollution to swimming waters 1% In response to known pollution event without relying on monitoring Based on monitoring that detected bacteria levels exceeding standard 2% <1% 2% Other reason Predictive modeling No data Figure N-5. Reported Reasons for Closings/Advisories, Thousands of Closing/ A- B-Response C-Preemptive Rainfall D-Other E-Modeling Key: (A) Based on monitoring that detected bacteria levels exceeding standards. (B) In response to known pollution event without relying on monitoring. (C) Preemptive due to rain known to carry pollution to swimming waters. (D) Other reason. (E) Real-time, predictive computer modeling. 5 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

14 Less than 1% (9) were preemptive due to real-time computer modeling using readily measurable physical parameters such as wind speed and wave height to predict indicator bacterial levels (down from 1% in 2008, the first time NRDC was able to report this reason for beach closings and advisories). Major pollution sources listed as responsible for 2009 beach closings and advisories include the following. The total is greater than 18,682 days and 100% because more than one source contributed to some beach closings and advisories (see Figure N-6). Figure N-6. Sources of Pollution That Caused Closings/Advisories in % 90% 80% 70% 60% 53% 50% 40% 39% 30% 20% 10% 9% 10% 9% 0% Se desconoce Escorrentia contaminada, aguas pluviales, o medidas de prevención debido a la lluvia Derrames y desbordes de las aguas residuales Otros (excluye la flora y la fauna) Flora y fauna exceeds 100 percent because more than one source of contamination was reported for some events. Figure N-7. Sources of Pollution That Caused Closings/Advisories, Thousands of Closing/ A-Sewage B-Rain/Runoff/Stormwater C-Unknown D-Other days shown are greater than annual totals because more than one pollution source may have contributed to each closing/ advisory. Key: (A) Sewage spills and overflows. (B) Polluted runoff, stormwater, or preemptive due to rain. (C) Unknown. (D) Other reasons (including those with no source information provided). 6 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

15 Unknown sources of pollution caused 9,859 closing/advisory days (53%) in 2009, a decrease from 12,631 days (62%) in 2008 and 8,524 days (33%) in Polluted runoff and stormwater caused or contributed to 7,282 closing/advisory days (39%) in 2009, a decrease from 7,324 days (36%) in 2008 and 10,394 days (40%) in Sewage spills and overflows caused or contributed to 1,667 closing/advisory days (9%) in 2009, a decrease from 1,710 days (8%) in 2008, and 4,097 days (16%) in 2007 (includes combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, breaks or blockages in sewer lines, and faulty septic systems); Elevated bacteria levels from miscellaneous sources, such as boat discharges or wildlife, accounted for 3,184 closing/ advisory days (17%) in 2009, an increase from 2,137 days (11%) in 2008 and 3,087 days (12%) in More than half were wildlife sources (an increase to 1,704 days in 2009 from 1,588 days in 2008). There was no contamination source information for 388 closing/advisory days. Beachwater Quality For the fifth consecutive year, NRDC used the percentage of all beachwater samples collected in 2009 that exceeded the BEACH Act s single-sample maximum standards for designated beach areas to compare water quality at beaches ringing our nation from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California, from New England to the Florida Keys, and all along the U.S. Great Lakes shoreline. For marine waters, the standard for enterococcus density is 104 per 100 milliliters (ml); for fresh water, the standard is 235 E. coli per 100 ml. For the 2009 beach season, the NRDC data set includes monitoring results for 126,551 samples at 3,333 beaches and beach segments (most state and local officials divide longer beaches into manage able monitoring segments), down from 132,465 samples at 3,601 beaches and beach segments in 2008, 131,977 samples at 3,516 beaches and beach segments in 2007, and 106,417 samples at 3,500 beaches and beach segments in The percent of all samples exceeding national health standards remained generally unchanged at 7% from 2007 through 2009, down from 9% in (Note: to make this four-year comparison, NRDC includes only the 2,655 beaches reported in each of these four years.) In 2009, beaches in Louisiana, Rhode Island, and Illinois had the highest percent of samples exceeding the EPA S singlesample maximum standard for designated beach areas. It is important to note that while a high percent exceedance rate is a clear indication of dirty coastal recrea tional waters, it is not necessarily an indication that the state s beachwater quality monitoring program is deficient or fails to protect public health when beachwater quality is poor. For example, four of the five states with the dirtiest beachwater always or almost always close a beach or issue an advisory when a sample exceeds the standard; that is, they do not wait for the results of a resample or check other conditions first, as some other states do. (Only a few states generally resample before issuing an advisory: Connecticut, New Jersey, and Washington.) Three of the four states with the highest exceedance rates have among the highest percent of Tier 1 beaches, which are monitored more frequently than once a week (Tier 1 beaches are popu lar and/or have known pollution sources in the vicinity of the beach), a practice that is more protective of human health. For the fifth consecutive year, NRDC high lighted beaches exceeding the national daily stan dard more than 25% of the time. In 2009, this list included 162 beaches in 20 states: AL, CA, CT, FL, HI, IL, IN, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NC, NJ, NY, OH, RI, TX, and WI (see Table N-2). Chronic ally high bacteria counts indicate that the beachwater is probably contaminated with human or animal waste. Fifteen beach areas in 7 states (CA, FL, IL, NJ, OH, TX, and WI) made this list in each of the last four years, 2006 through 2009 (see Table N-3). Figure N-8. Percent Exceedance for All Coastal and Great Lakes States Combined, (Based on 2,655 Beaches Reported in Each of the 4 Years) Excedentes 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 9% % 7% 7% Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

16 Table N-1. Rank of States by Percentage of Beachwater the National Standard in 2009 Rank State Percent Exceedance All Reported Beaches Tier 1 Beaches Percent of Tier 1 Beaches Monitored More Than Once a Week Resample or Other Info needed Before Action? 30 LA 25% % almost never 29 RI 20% 3, % yes 28 IL 16% 4, % no 27 OH 15% 2, % no 26 MI 13% 5, % almost never 25 IN 13% 2, % no 24 ME 11% 1, % yes 23 NY 11% 8, % sometimes 22 MS 10% 1, % yes 21 PA 8% 1, % no 20 CA 8% 20, % no 19 AL 8% 1, % no 18 WI 8% 4, % no 17 MA 7% 8, % no 16 TX 5% 13, % no 15 AK 5% % yes 14 NJ 5% 4, % yes 13 CT 5% 2, % yes 12 MN 5% 1, % no 11 GA 4% % no 10 WA* 4% 3,794 1, % yes 9 SC* 4% 1, % sometimes 8 MD* 4% 2, % almost never 7 NC* 3% 7, % no (at Tier 1 and Tier 2 beaches) 6 HI* 3% 8, % sometimes 5 FL* 3% 15, % sometimes 4 VA 3% 1, % no 3 OR 2% % almost never 2 DE 2% 1, % almost never 1 NH 1% 1, % no *Rank was adjusted on August 6, 2010 after the national release of Testing the Waters on July 28, Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

17 Table N-2. Beaches With More Than 25% of the EPA s Single-Sample Maximum Standards for Designated Beach Areas in 2009 (Limited to Beaches With at Least 10 Reported for the Year) State County Beach Tier Percent Exceedance IN Lake Jeorse Park Beach I 2 5/wk 78 76% CA Los Angeles Avalon Beach-north of GP Pier 1 1/wk 50 72% MI Macomb St. Clair Shores Blossom Heath Beach 1 2/wk % MA Essex Kings (DCR-DUPR) 2 1/wk 24 71% MA Barnstable Cockle Cove Creek 2 1/wk 10 70% MI Macomb St. Clair Shores Memorial Park Beach 1 2/wk % IL Cook Jackson Park Beach (63rd Street Beach) 1 5/wk 76 66% MI Arenac Singing Bridge Beach 1 1/wk 14 64% IN Lake Jeorse Park Beach II 2 5/wk 78 63% CA Orange Poche County Beach 1 2/wk 48 63% HI Oahu Kuli ou ou 2 1/wk 12 58% NY Niagara Krull Park 2 1/wk 30 57% IL Lake North Point Marina North Beach 1 4/wk % RI Washington Saunderstown Yacht Club 2 2/mo 13 54% NY Erie St. Vincent Depaul Beach 2 2/wk 25 52% NJ Ocean Beachwood Beach West (Beachwood) 1 1/wk 47 51% IL Cook Winnetka Elder Park Beach 1 daily 78 50% MI Iosco Tawas City Park 1 1/wk 24 50% CT New London Kiddie s Beach 1 1/wk 22 50% MA Norfolk Smith Beach 2 1/wk 22 50% IL Cook 57th Street Beach 1 5/wk 73 49% CA Mendocino Pudding Creek Beach-Pudding Lagoon 1 1/wk 23 48% FL Taylor Keaton Beach 1 1/wk 17 47% WI Kenosha Eichelman Beach 2 2/wk 48 46% LA St. Mary Cypremort Point State Park 1 1/wk 35 46% CA San Francisco Candlestick Point-Windsurfer Circle 1 1/wk 92 45% MN St. Louis Clyde Avenue Boat Landing Beach 2 1/wk 43 44% MI Macomb HCMA-Metropolitan Beach Metropark 1 2/wk % CA Los Angeles Cabrillo Beach 1 daily 73 44% CA Orange Newport Bay-Newport Blvd Bridge 1 1/wk 30 43% LA Calcasieu South Beach & Rabbit Island 1 1/wk 30 43% LA Cameron Holly Beach 5 1 1/wk 33 42% FL Escambia Bayou Chico 1 1/wk 26 42% LA Cameron Holly Beach 6 1 1/wk 32 41% OH Cuyahoga Villa Angela State Park 1 daily % HI Maui Puamana Beach Co. Park 2 2/yr 10 40% RI Newport Easton s Beach 1 2/wk % CA Los Angeles Santa Monica State Beach-Santa Monica Canyon 1 1/wk 84 39% 9 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

18 State County Beach Tier Percent Exceedance CA Los Angeles Avalon Beach-near Busy B Cafe 1 1/wk 44 39% MA Essex Willow Avenue 2 1/wk 13 38% OH Cuyahoga Edgecliff Beach 2 1/wk 13 38% IL Cook Calumet South Beach 1 5/wk 73 38% CA Orange Doheny State Beach-Surf Zone at Outfall 1 3/wk 50 38% NY Chautauqua Lake Erie State Park Beach 1 4/wk 53 38% OH Cuyahoga Euclid State Park 1 daily % RI Washington Scarborough State Beach North 1 2/wk % NY Monroe Ontario Beach 1 daily % NY Chautauqua Blue Water Beach 3 1/wk 32 38% NY Chautauqua Wright Park East 1 1/wk 32 38% CA Orange Doheny State Beach-North of San Juan Creek 1 3/wk 51 37% ME Knox Goodies Beach 1 1/wk 19 37% TX Nueces Ropes Park 1 1/wk % LA Cameron Rutherford Beach 2 1/wk 33 36% NY Suffolk Tanner Park 1 3/wk 58 36% LA Calcasieu North Beach-Lake Charles 1 1/wk 36 36% NY Erie Lake Erie Beach 1 2/wk 25 36% MD Kent Tolchester Estates Beach 2 2/mo 39 36% NY Chautauqua Sunset Bay Beach Club 3 1/wk 28 36% OH Cuyahoga Arcadia Beach 2 1/wk 14 36% OH Cuyahoga Noble Beach 2 1/wk 14 36% OH Cuyahoga Shoreby Club Beach 2 1/wk 14 36% OH Cuyahoga Sims Beach 2 1/wk 14 36% IL Cook Winnetka Centennial Dog Beach 2 daily 79 35% NJ Ocean Maxson Avenue (Pt Pleasant) 1 1/wk 46 35% LA Cameron Holly Beach 3 1 1/wk 32 34% OH Ashtabula Lakeshore Park 1 4/wk 50 34% IL Cook Rainbow Beach 1 5/wk 74 34% RI Newport Third Beach 1 3/wk % RI Washington Scarborough State Beachsouth 1 2/wk % NY Erie Woodlawn Beach State Park Beach 1 daily 93 33% RI Newport Atlantic Beach Club 1 4/wk 75 33% NJ Ocean River Avenue (Pt Pleasant) 1 1/wk 42 33% NJ Ocean West Beach (Pine Beach) 1 1/wk 42 33% LA Cameron Holly Beach 1 1 1/wk 33 33% NY Chautauqua Point Gratiot Beach 2 1/wk 30 33% MA Essex Gas House 2 1/wk 18 33% NJ Ocean Central (Island Heights) 3 1/wk 18 33% FL Taylor Hagen s Cove 1 1/wk 15 33% MA Essex Independence Park 2 1/wk 15 33% 10 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

19 State County Beach Tier Percent Exceedance MA Plymouth A Street Ocean 2 1/wk 15 33% CA Los Angeles Surfrider Beach 1 1/wk 83 33% MI Muskegon Pere Marquette Park 1 1/wk 31 32% NY Chautauqua Town of Hanover Beach 3 1/wk 25 32% OH Erie Crystal Rock 1 3/wk 44 32% OH Erie Edison Creek 1 3/wk 44 32% CA San Francisco Baker Beach, Lobos Creek at Lower Parking Lot 1 1/wk 85 32% CA Los Angeles Avalon Beach-south of GP Pier 1 1/wk 41 32% NY Wayne Pultneyville Mariners Beach 3 1/wk 19 32% MI Muskegon Meinert County Park 1 1/wk 51 31% RI Newport Peabodys Beach 2 2/mo 51 31% LA Cameron Holly Beach 2 1 1/wk 32 31% IL Cook Montrose Beach 1 5/wk 71 31% MI St. Clair Chrysler Park Beach 1 1/wk 81 31% IN Lake Buffington Harbor Beach 2 5/wk 78 31% NY Erie Bennett Beach 2 2/wk 39 31% FL Escambia Bayview Park 1 1/wk 26 31% MA Plymouth XYZ 2 1/wk 13 31% NY Chautauqua Main Street Beach 1 1/wk 23 30% LA Cameron Gulf Breeze 2 1/wk 33 30% CA San Francisco Candlestick Point-Sunnydale Cove 1 1/wk 76 30% MA Barnstable Crocker s Neck 2 1/wk 20 30% MA Essex Grace Oliver 2 1/wk 20 30% NJ Monmouth Wreck Pond Outfall (Spring Lake) 1 1/wk 20 30% NJ Ocean Anglesea Avenue (Ocean Gate) 1 1/wk 37 30% AL Baldwin Mary Ann Nelson Beach 3 2/mo 27 30% LA Jefferson Grand Isle State Park 4 1 1/wk 27 30% LA Cameron Long Beach 2 1/wk 34 29% NY Westchester Surf Club 1 1/wk 17 29% NY Nassau Crescent Beach 2 1/wk % MA Essex Kings (DCR-DUPR) 2 1/wk 24 29% MI Alcona Greenbush Township 1 1/wk 24 29% NY Erie Hamburg Bathing Beach 1 2/wk 24 29% WI Door Anclam Park Beach 2 2/wk 38 29% MA Suffolk Yerrill 2 1/wk 56 29% WI Milwaukee South Shore Beach 1 daily 56 29% CA Los Angeles Alamitos Bay Beach-B /wk 21 29% MI Alcona Black River Public Access 1 1/wk 21 29% HI Oahu Ke ehi Lagoon 2 1/wk 14 29% OH Cuyahoga Moss Point Beach 2 1/wk 14 29% CA San Mateo Pillar Point 1 1/wk 50 28% 11 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

20 State County Beach Tier Percent Exceedance TX Nueces Poenisch Park 1 1/wk % MA Barnstable Atlantic Avenue 2 1/wk 18 28% ME Waldo Ducktrap River 1 2/wk 18 28% NY Monroe Hamlin Beach State Park-Area 3 1 1/wk 40 28% OH Erie Sherod Creek 1 3/wk 44 27% LA Cameron Constance Beach 2 1/wk 33 27% LA Cameron Little Florida 2 1/wk 33 27% ME York Riverside (Ogunquit) 1 1/wk 22 27% NY Suffolk South Jamesport Beach 3 2/mo 11 27% RI Newport Marine Avenue Beach 3 1/wk 48 27% MA Essex Dane Street 2 1/wk 15 27% MA Essex Sandy Point 2 1/wk 15 27% MA Norfolk Chikatawbot 2 1/wk 15 27% MA Norfolk Delano Ave. 2 1/wk 15 27% MD Cecil Red Point Beach 3 1/mo 15 27% MI Muskegon P.J. Hoffmaster State Park-Campground 1 1/wk 15 27% MI Muskegon P.J. Hoffmaster State Park-Public Beach Area 1 1/wk 15 27% OH Lorain Century Beach 1 4/wk 49 27% MA Norfolk Wollaston (DCR-DUPR) 1 daily 83 27% LA Cameron Holly Beach 4 1 1/wk 34 26% OH Cuyahoga Edgewater State Park 1 daily % ME York Cape Neddick Beach 1 1/wk 19 26% ME York York Harbor Beach 1 1/wk 19 26% NC Currituck Dock at the end of SR /mo 19 26% NC Currituck Park on Woodhouse Dr. Grandy, NC 3 2/mo 19 26% NC Onslow New River, Wilson Park 3 2/mo 19 26% NY Suffolk East Islip Beach 2 3/wk 65 26% CA Los Angeles Colorado Lagoon-Center 1 1/wk 23 26% CA Ventura Port Hueneme Beach Park 1 1/wk 23 26% NC Hyde Swanquarter Bay-end of docks on SR /mo 23 26% NY Chautauqua Sheridan Bay Park 3 1/wk 23 26% IL Cook South Shore 1 5/wk 73 26% CA San Mateo Aquatic Park 1 1/wk 39 26% NJ Ocean Money Island (Dover) 1 1/wk 39 26% OH Erie Vermilion River West 1 3/wk 43 26% 12 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

21 Table N-3. Repeat Offenders: 15 Beaches With More Than 25 Percent of the EPA s Single-Sample Maximum Standards for Designated Beach Areas, Each Year, (Alphabetical by State, County, and Beach) State County Beach Tier Potential pollution sources (reported by EPA) CA Los Angeles Avalon Beach-near Busy B Cafe 1 1/wk Unknown CA Los Angeles Avalon Beach-north of GP Pier 1 1/wk Unknown CA Los Angeles Avalon Beach-south of GP Pier 1 1/wk Unknown CA Los Angeles Cabrillo Beach 1 Daily Unknown CA CA Los Angeles Orange Santa Monica State Beach-Santa Monica Canyon Doheny State Beach-North of San Juan Creek 1 1/wk Unknown 1 3/wk Unknown CA Orange Doheny State Beach-Surf Zone at Outfall 1 3/wk Unknown CA Orange Newport Bay-Newport Blvd Bridge 1 1/wk Unknown FL Taylor Keaton Beach 1 1/wk Boats, Runoff, Wildlife, Stormwater, Other, Unknown IL Lake North Point Marina North Beach 1 4/wk Unknown NJ Ocean Beachwood Beach West 1 1/wk None Listed OH Cuyahoga Villa Angela St. Pk. 1 Daily None Listed TX Nueces Ropes Park 1 1/wk Combined Sewer Overflow, Stormwater, Other, Unknown WI Kenosha Eichelman 2 2/wk Stormwater, Wildlife WI Milwaukee South Shore 1 Daily Unknown Notes 1 NRDC reports closing/advisory days for events lasting six consecutive weeks or less. Extended events (lasting between 7 and 13 consecutive weeks) and permanent events (lasting more than 13 consecutive weeks) are reported separately and are not included in this total. 2 Doug Range, Erie County Department of Health, personal communication, June Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

22 Chapter 1 Sources of Beachwater Pollution Most beach closings and advisories are issued because beachwater monitoring has detected unsafe levels of bacteria. These unsafe levels indicate the presence of pathogens microscopic organisms from human and animal wastes that pose a threat to human health. The key known contributors of these contaminants are stormwater runoff Stormwater runoff is the most that carries agricultural and human waste, untreated or frequently identified source of partially treated discharges from sewage treatment plants, beach closing and advisory days. sanitary sewers, septic systems, and wildlife. Advisories may also be issued as a precautionary measure when a pollution event is expected to occur for instance, during rainstorms. Beach closings and advisories also occur in response to specific pollution events, such as a known sewage spill, an overflow from an animal-waste lagoon, red tides (harmful algal blooms), or an oil spill. Stormwater runoff was the most frequently identified source of beach closing and advisory days in Human sewage (from septic tanks, sewer lines, or sewage treatment plants) was the second-largest reported source of beachwater closing and advisory days, with wildlife following close behind. A state-by-state breakdown of pollution sources can be found in the state summaries after Chapter 4. The ways in which beachwater becomes contaminated are described in more detail in the following sections. URBAN RUNOFF The EPA estimates that more than 10 trillion gallons of untreated stormwater make their way into our surface waters each year. 1 Contaminated urban stormwater contributes to the degradation of many of our nation s polluted rivers, estuaries and lakes and is a significant source of bathing-beach pollution in many regions. 2 Stormwater runoff starts as rain or snowmelt. As it washes over roads, rooftops, parking lots, construction sites, and lawns, it becomes contaminated with oil and grease, pesticides, litter, and pollutants from vehicles. On its way to storm drains, it also can pick up fecal matter from dogs, cats, pigeons, other urban animals, and even humans. In Los Angeles County, for instance, the sewer system is separate from the storm drain system, yet storm drains leading to Santa Monica Bay have been found to contain human enteric viruses, indicating the presence of human waste. 3 Human waste may also find its way into storm drain systems from adjacent sewage pipes that leak, or from businesses or residences that have illegally connected their sewage discharge to the storm drains. Illicit discharges also occur when people empty holding tanks from recreational vehicles and trailers into storm drains. Stormwater runoff is not the only type of urban runoff that can carry bacterial pollution to the coast. In dry weather, runoff occurs as a result of landscape irrigation, the draining of swimming pools, car washing, and various commercial activities. Even though it is much smaller in volume than stormwater runoff, dry weather runoff can be a significant source of beachwater contamination, especially along the coast of California, which is usually dry during the summer when the beaches are most heavily used. Elevated levels of bacterial pollution correlate to increased illness rates among swimmers. For example, one Southern California study showed the direct effect on coastal water quality of urban runoff draining from the Santa Ana River: where the river meets the ocean, fecal indicator bacteria concentrations were found to be as much as 500% above California s ocean bathing water standards. 4 (For a full discussion of the health and economic effects of beachwater pollution, see Chapter 2). The amount of pollution present in urban runoff tends to correlate with the amount of impervious cover. Impervious cover is anything that stops water from soaking into the ground, like roads, sidewalks, parking lots, and buildings. A 14 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

23 study conducted in North Carolina found that a watershed that was 22% covered by impervious surfaces had an average fecal coliform count seven times higher than a watershed that was 7% covered by impervious surfaces. 5 However, even in less densely populated areas, uncontrolled runoff can foul beaches. More than half of the people in the United States live in coastal counties, occupying only 17% of the nation s land mass (excluding Alaska). 6 Between 1980 and 2003, The EPA estimates that more than the coastal population grew by 33 million, and it is 10 trillion gallons of untreated projected to increase by another 19 million by As stormwater make their way into the population along the U.S. coast grows, more land is our surface waters each year. converted to impervious surfaces that shed rather than absorb falling rain. Today, stormwater runoff from urban and suburban areas is posing a significant problem that is growing rapidly with rising populations and sprawling development. At the current rate, by 2025 more than a quarter of all of our coastal acreage will be developed. 8 HUMAN SEWAGE Sewage overflows from aging sanitary and combined sewer systems, leaking sewage pipes, and malfunctioning sewage treatment plants and pump stations have always been a major cause of pollution at ocean, bay, and Great Lakes beaches. As demonstrated at Rancho Santa Margarita, California in March of 2010, a single ruptured sewer line can quickly spill hundreds of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage into coastal waters and result in contaminated beachwater along miles of beaches. 9 Sewage Treatment Plants Combined Sewer Overflows: Combined sewer systems carry both raw sewage from residences and industrial sites and stormwater runoff from streets to sewage treatment plants. As shown in Figure 1-1, combined sewer systems are concentrated in the Great Lakes states and in the Northeast. While treating stormwater before releasing it to surface waters is desirable, during periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt, the volume of the combined wastewater can become too great Figure 1-1. A Rough Illustration of the Prevalence of Combined Sewer Systems in the United States Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

24 for the treatment plant to handle. In such circumstances, the excess flow is diverted to outfall points that discharge polutants including raw sewage; floatables such as trash, syringes, and tampon applicators; toxic industrial waste; and contaminated stormwater into the nearest stream or coastal waterway. This is known as a combined sewer overflow, or CSO. CSOs are a major cause of pathogen contamination in marine and Great Lakes waters near urban areas. As of 2002, CSOs discharged 850 billion gallons of raw sewage and stormwater annually, 11 and 43,000 CSO events occurred per year nationwide. 12 Although they are most prevalent in urban areas, CSOs affect 46 million people in 746 communities throughout 32 Northeast and Great Lakes states. 13 CSOs contaminate shellfish waters as well as recreational beaches. Shellfish harvesting has been restricted in the majority of the 659 shellfish beds located close to a CSO outfall. 14 Although an EPA policy that aims to reduce these overflows has been in effect since 1994, virtually all combined sewer systems continue to overflow when it rains. A significant number of communities with CSOs still have not submitted plans for controlling them. 15 Sanitary Sewer Overflows and Discharges from Sewer-Line Breaks: Sanitary sewer systems carry human and industrial waste from buildings to sewage treatment plants where it is treated. These sewer systems can discharge untreated sewage when the treatment plants are overwhelmed or malfunction or when sewer lines break, posing a threat to bathing beach safety. Separate sanitary sewers serve approximately 164 million people nationwide. 16 Although most of these systems were built more recently than the combined sewer systems, they are aging and deteriorating rapidly. 17 A nationwide Sanitary sewer overflows discharge survey of 42 treatment plants found some that have been between 3 billion to 10 billion gallons in use for as long as 117 years; the average is 33 years. 18 As of untreated sewage per year. population and sewer load increases and rehabilitation and maintenance schedules lag, pipes can deteriorate and break, spilling sewage directly onto streets or into waterways. The EPA has estimated that 23,000 to 75,000 sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) occur annually, discharging a total of 3 billion to 10 billion gallons per year. 19 Nearly 70% of sewage overflows from human-waste sewage lines are due to obstructions such as tree roots or grease clogs, line breaks, and mechanical failures. 20 Wet weather places demands on sanitary sewer systems even though these systems do not treat stormwater runoff. This is because even when there are no improper connections between stormwater and sanitary sewers, water seeps through manholes and into the sewer lines and also falls onto the surface of the treatment units during rain events. This can lead to the discharge of raw sewage from manholes, overflowing pipes, and treatment-plant bypasses. Although only 26% of sanitary sewer overflows nationwide were caused by wet weather events and related inflow and infiltration, these events accounted for nearly 75% of the total SSO volume discharged. 21 In January 2001, the EPA proposed SSO regulations that would have required improved capacity, operation, and maintenance as well as public notification when overflows occur. The Bush administration shelved this initiative, but the Obama administration s EPA recently announced that it is considering a suite of actions to address SSOs. 22 Inadequately Treated Sewage: Sewage plants near coastal waters tend to serve densely populated, rapidly growing urban areas. When too many homes and businesses are hooked up to a sewage treatment plant, the plant is prone to more frequent bypasses and inadequate treatment. Moreover, sewage treatment plants can, and often do, malfunction as the result of human error, breakage of old equipment, or unusual conditions in the raw sewage. When that happens, raw or partially treated sewage may be discharged into coastal waterways and their tributaries. Some sewage systems also bypass all or a portion of their treatment plants when flows exceed capacity during rain events. This practice can also put pathogens in waterways and should be phased out. Under section 301(h) of the federal Clean Water Act, sewage treatment plants may obtain a waiver allowing them to forgo basic federal secondary treatment requirements, discharging into marine waters wastes that have undergone only primary treatment. Releasing primary-treated sewage into water bodies degrades receiving waters and poses serious risks to public health and the marine ecosystem. The vast majority of pathogens are not removed by primary treatment of wastewater. 23 For example, 85% of Shigella bacteria, % of Salmonella, % of Entamoeba histolytica, and more than 90% of fecal coliform may remain in wastewater even after primary treatment. 24 In contrast, secondary treatment removes suspended solids in the waste stream and is significantly more effective than primary treatment in 16 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

25 removing biologic pathogens. 25 For example, secondary treatment removes 80 90% of Shigella bacteria, 70 99% of Salmonella, and 75 99% of enteric viruses prior to discharge of the effluent. 26 While sewage treatment plants with a waiver under section 301(h) have become increasingly rare in the United States, there are still approximately 30 waivers being used. Septic Systems About one-third of new construction and 25% of existing U.S. dwellings use some kind of septic tank or on-site waste disposal system. 27 If not sited, built, and maintained properly, septic systems near the coast can leach wastewater into coastal recreational waters, contaminating bathing beaches with fecal matter. Malfunctioning septic systems at just a few near-shore properties can result in beachwater contamination that is significant enough to trigger a beach closure. Runoff can also carry bacteria from failing inland septic systems into streams that empty into recreational waters. Unfortunately, homeowners often do not adequately maintain their septic systems. Studies reviewed by [the EPA] cite failure rates ranging from 10 20%. 28 Despite this, there is no federal regulatory program to control waste from septic systems, and local governments and states rarely inspect these systems sufficiently to prevent septic system failures. Boating Waste Marinas are generally located in areas that are naturally sheltered or where a breakwater has been constructed. This shelter results in reduced circulation of clean water around the docks, which allows boating waste to accumulate and pose a serious health threat. Also, waste may also be discharged improperly from boats that are in use, posing a health and aesthetic threat to bathing beaches. Elevated concentrations of fecal coliform have been found in areas with high boating density. 29 Federal law requires boats with onboard toilets either to treat the waste with chemicals before discharging it or to hold the waste and later pump it out into a sewage treatment plant. Also, the federal Clean Vessel Act (CVA) of 1992 provides federal grant money to states for building pump-out and dump stations in marinas so boaters can dispose of human wastes in an environmentally sound manner. 30 However, there is limited oversight of the adequacy of pump-out facilities in many areas. 31 Military warships are not subject to the federal law requiring storage or treatment of human wastes before discharging them. BEACHGOERS In the 2005 study Outbreaks Associated With Recreational Water in the United States, researchers found that bathers themselves are an important localized source of contamination leading to illness outbreaks. 32 All swimmers release fecal organisms when they enter the water in a process called bather shedding. Results from one study showed that bathers shed on the order of 600,000 colony-forming units, or cfu, per person of enterococci bacteria during the first 15 minutes of water contact. 33 Beachgoers who swim while ill can spread diseases to other bathers. Fecal accidents are also a health risk, as are diaper-aged children if care isn t taken to ensure that their wastes are kept from entering the water. The presence of E. coli and coliform bacteria has been shown to correlate to the number of visitors and periods of high recreational use (generally the summer and weekends). 34 WILDLIFE AND PET WASTE Municipalities sometimes list waterfowl as the cause of beach closings or advisories. During migration season, large or excessive populations of waterfowl can gather at beaches or in suburban areas that drain into recreational waters. These dense clusters can occur when other potential waterfowl habitats are unavailable, often because wetlands have been filled or ecological conditions have been altered (for example, when Canada geese that were previously migratory become resident). Seagulls are a source of bacterial contamination at some coastal beaches. Pet waste deposited on or near the beach also carries pathogens that can wind up in beachwater when pet owners do not pick up and properly dispose of their pet s waste. The fecal matter from these animals can overload the normal capacity of a beach to absorb wastes, degrading water quality, particularly if there is no vegetation around the waterway to absorb the waste. 17 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

26 AGRICULTURAL DISCHARGES AND AGRICULTURAL RUNOFF Runoff from farms and animal feeding operations may contain high concentrations of pathogenic animal waste, fer tilizers, and pesticides. Agricultural pollution is responsible for nearly 40% of all water quality problems in the country s polluted rivers and streams. 35 The production of farm animals has increasingly shifted toward huge, industrial-scale operations where large numbers of animals are confined together. These confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) often produce vast quanti ties of manure that far exceed the assimilation capacity of neighboring crops and pastures and have been estimated to be a con tributing source in 20% of impaired rivers and streams. 36 Animal waste from large feedlots has been linked to outbreaks of a toxic microorganism, Pfiesteria piscicida,in the Chesapeake Bay region and in North Carolina, causing numerous waterway closings and serious human and aquatic health impacts. Animal waste can also contain pathogens usually not found in human waste, such as E. coli 0157:H7, which con tami nated baby spinach in 2006 and resulted in 205 confirmed illnesses and three deaths. 37 CLIMATE CHANGE AND BEACHWATER POLLUTION Beachwater quality is generally adversely affected by increased rainfall. Scientists agree that in many regions of the United States, climate change will cause increased frequency and magnitude of rain and large storms; increased runoff, coastal flooding, and coastal erosion; and warmer water and air temperatures. 38 These changes will exacerbate existing causes of beachwater pollution that threaten public health. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that [w]aterborne diseases and degraded water quality are very likely to increase with more heavy precipitation. 39 The number and intensity of combined sewer overflow events is directly related to climate especially increased pre cipitation, which causes greater runoff. 40 As more high-intensity rainfall events occur, the risk increases that com bined sewer systems will overload, discharging untreated storm water runoff and wastewater directly into lakes, rivers, and oceans. Global climate change is predicted to increase the amount of rainfall in the Great Lakes region and the Northeastern United States. Since these are the regions where the The IPCC found that [w]ater-borne majority of combined sewer systems are concentrated, an increase in CSOs can be expected. 41 Indeed, in the Great diseases and degraded water quality Lakes region, climate modeling predicts that the regional are very likely to increase with more average annual CSO frequency between 2060 and 2099 heavy precipitation. will increase between 13% and 70%. 42 Given the uncertainty in predicting future climate, communities must decide whether to ensure mitigation effectiveness based on predicted changes, or face potentially significant retrofit costs in the future to maintain effective mitigation. Even in areas that have separate sewer systems, like much of the West, an increase in extreme rainfall events can still lead to more pollution in coastal waters via increased stormwater runoff. For instance, in California, warmer tempera tures can mean more winter precipitation that falls as rain and less that falls as snow, leading to more winter runoff. 43 More winter runoff over saturated soils will result in larger sediment flows and more bacteria in beachwaters. 44 In some coastal areas, the impacts of stormwater runoff on beachwater quality are mitigated by tidal wetlands that filter the runoff before it is discharged to coastal waters. Climate change is predicted to result in a rise in sea levels that will submerge these tidal wetlands. Climate change is also expected to result in an increase in the population of some disease-causing organisms in coastal waters and might already be expanding the range of harmful algal blooms in some parts of the country, as discussed in the Health Effects section of Chapter 2. Notes 1 EPA, Report to Congress: Impacts and Control of CSOs and SSOs, April 26, 2004, EPA 833-R , p. 4-29, available at: 2 EPA, National Water Quality Inventory: Report to Congress, 2004 Reporting Cycle, EPA 841-R , January Bartlett, Gold, McGee, and Deets, Pathogens and Indicators in Storm Drains Within the Santa Monica Bay Watershed, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, 1992, p. 18. See also R. Haile et al., An Epidemiological Study of Possible Adverse Health Effects of Swimming in Santa Monica Bay, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

27 4 John Ho Ahn, Stanley B. Grant, Cristiane Q. Surbeck, Paul M. Di Giacomo, Nikolay P. Nezlin, and Sunny Jiang, Coastal Water Quality Impact of Stormwater Runoff From an Urban Watershed in Southern California, Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 39, no. 16, 2005, pp. 5,940 5, Michael A. Mallin, Wading in Waste, Scientific American, June 2006, pp NOAA-National Ocean Service, Population Trends Along the Coastal United States: , September 2004, p. 6, available at: 7 Ibid., p Dana Beach, Coastal Sprawl The Effects of Urban Design on Aquatic Ecosystems in the United States, Pew Ocean Commission, Tony Barboza, Major sewage spill could keep O.C. beaches closed through the weekend, L.A. Times, March 26, EPA, Combined Sewer Overflow Demographics, available at: 11 EPA, Report to Congress: Impacts and Control of CSOs and SSOs, p Ibid., p Ibid., p Ibid., p Ibid., p. ES-5;EPA Office of Water, National Water Program Mid-Year Report: Fiscal Year 2009, July 2009, Appendix B, p EPA, Report to Congress: Impacts and Control of CSOs and SSOs, p The American Society of Civil Engineers has given the U.S. wastewater system an overall rating of D-minus. ASCE, Report Card for America s Infrastructure, 2005, available at: 18 EPA, Report to Congress: Impacts and Control of CSOs and SSOs, p Ibid., p to Ibid., p Ibid., p Fed. Reg. 30,395 (June 1, 2010). 23 National Research Council, Issues in Potable Reuse: The Viability of Augmenting Drinking Water Supplies With Reclaimed Water,National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1998, pp Ibid., p Ibid., p Ibid., p EPA, Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems Manual, February 2002, EPA/625/R-00/008, at pp. 1-4 and 1-6, available at: nrmrl/pubs/625r00008/625r00008.pdf. 28 Ibid., p Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, State of the Sound, 1992, p U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Keep Our Waters Clean Use Pumpouts, available at: 31 U.S. General Accounting Office, Water Quality: Program Enhancements Would Better Ensure Adequacy of Boat Pumpout Facilities in No-Discharge Zones, GAO , May Gunther F. Craun, Rebecca L. Calderon, and Michael F. Craun, Outbreaks Associated With Recreational Water in the United States, International Journal of Environmental Health Research,August 2005, vol. 15, no. 4, pp Elmir, S.M. et al. Quantitative Evaluation of Bacteria Released by Bathers in a Marine Water, Water Res.,January 2007, 41(1): A.T. McDonald, P.J. Chapman, and K. Fukasawa, The Microbial Status of Natural Waters in a Protected Wilderness Area, Journal of Environmental Management,vol. 87, no. 4, June 2008, pp EPA, National Water Quality Inventory: Report to Congress, 2004 Reporting Cycle, EPA 841-R , January 2009, p Marc Ribaudo and Noel Gollehon, Animal Agriculture and the Environment, Economic Research Service/U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, 2006 Edition,EIB-16, pp U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA News: FDA Finalizes Report on 2006 Spinach Outbreak,available at: NEWS/2007/NEW01593.html. 38 See, e.g., IPCC, Fourth Assessment Report, Working Group II Report, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Ch. 14, available at: ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4-wg2-chapter14.pdf. We focus here on the United States, but note that most water-related health effects of climate change will be felt in developing countries that lack proper drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. 39 Ibid., p EPA, A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Mitigation in the Great Lakes and New England Regions, EPA/600/R-07/033F, February 2008, p Federal Register,vol. 72, no. 60, March 29, 2007, pp. 14,803 14, E PA, A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Mitigation in the Great Lakes and New England Regions, EPA/600/R-07/033F, February 2008, p Union of Concerned Scientists and Ecological Society of America, Confronting Climate Change in California, November 1999, p Ibid., p Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

28 Chapter 2 The Impacts of Beach Pollution HEALTH RISKS Diseases Caused by Pathogens in Bathing Waters Polluted waters may contain disease-causing organisms called pathogens. The most common types of pathogens are those associated with human and animal waste, including bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. For instance, giardiasis, caused by the protozoa Giardi lambia, is the most commonly reported intestinal disease in North America. 1 Swimmers in sewagepolluted water can contract any illness that is spread The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the by fecal contact, including gastroenteritis, respiratory infection, and ear and skin infections (see Table 2-1). incidence of infections associated (Gastroenteritis, or stomach flu, is inflammation of the with recreational water use has stomach and the small intestine, symptoms of which can steadily increased over the past include vomiting, diarrhea, stomachache, nausea, headache, and fever.) Most swimming-related illnesses last several decades. from a few days to several weeks, but in some cases pathogens may cause severe, long-term illness or even death. Sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, or those with a weakened immune system are particularly at risk for longterm effects. For example, diarrhea can be more than 100 times as likely to result in death in individuals over the age of 74 compared with those between the ages of 5 and And research has shown that children under the age of 9 have more reports of diarrhea and vomiting from exposure to waterborne pathogens than any other age group, with at least a twofold increase occurring over the summer swimming months. 3 Table 2-1. Pathogens and Swimming-Associated Illnesses Pathogenic Agent Bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila Campylobacter jejuni Disease Dysenteric illness, wound infections, gastroenteritis (vomiting, diarrhea, death in susceptible populations), septicemia (generalized infections in which organisms multiply in the bloodstream) Gastroenteritis E. coli Gastroenteritis Leptospira Helicobacter pylori Legionella pneumoniae Mycobacterium Naegleria Pseudomonas Salmonella typhi Other salmonella species Shigella dysenteriae and other species Leptospirosis (jaundice, fever) Gastritis (diarrhea); peptic ulcers can occur long-term along with an increased likelihood of developing gastric cancer Legionellosis (fever, pneumonia) Respiratory infection Neurologic infections Urinary tract infections, respiratory system infections, dermatitis, soft tissue infections, bacteremia, and a variety of systemic infections (in immunocompromised individuals) Typhoid fever (high fever, diarrhea, ulceration of the small intestine) Various enteric fevers (often called paratyphoid), gastroenteritis, septicemia Bacterial dysentery 20 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

29 Pathogenic Agent Bacteria Vibrio cholerae Vibrio vulnificus Yersinia spp. Viruses Adenovirus (31 types) Astroviruses Calicivirus Coxsackie viruses (some strains) Echovirus HAV Norovirus Poliovirus Polyomavirus Reovirus Rotavirus Protozoa Acanthamoeba Balantidium coli Cayetanensis Cryptosporidium Cyclospora Entamoeba histolytica Giardia lamblia Isospora belli and Isospora hominis Microsporidia Toxoplasma gondii Disease Cholera (extremely heavy diarrhea, dehydration) Skin and tissue infection, death in those with liver problems Acute gastroenteritis (including diarrhea, abdominal pain) Respiratory, eye, and gastrointestinal infections Gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis Various, including severe respiratory disease, fever, rash, paralysis, aseptic meningitis, myocarditis Neurologic infections Infectious hepatitis (liver malfunction); also may affect kidneys and spleen Gastroenteritis Poliomyelitis Cancer of the colon Respiratory infections, gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis Eye infections Balantidiasis (dysentery, intestinal ulcers) Abscess in liver or other organs Cryptosporidiosis (diarrhea) Gastroenteritis Amoebic dysentery (prolonged diarrhea with bleeding, abscesses of the liver and small intestine, infections of other organs) Giardiasis (diarrhea, nausea, indigestion) Intestinal parasites, gastrointestinal infection Diarrhea Toxoplasmosis There is usually a delay of several days to two weeks between contact with contaminated water and expression of symptoms, and most people who get sick from swimming are not aware of the link. In Australia, a study of 600 families over 15 months showed that ocean swimmers are nearly twice as likely as nonswimmers to suffer from a case of gastroenteritis in the two weeks following their dip. 4 Since 1971, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the EPA, and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists have worked to maintain the Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Surveillance System for collecting and reporting waterborne diseases and outbreak-related data. Their most recent report, released in 2008, summarizes findings for January 2005 December During this survey period, 78 waterborne disease outbreaks were reported. These outbreaks caused illness in 4,412 people, resulting in 116 hospitalizations and 5 deaths. The CDC concluded that this was the largest number of outbreaks reported to them in a two-year period. The increase is attributed to a com bina tion of factors, such as the emergence of pathogens (e.g., Cryptosporidium), increased partici pa tion in aquatic activities, and better reporting. 5 Because the CDC relies on voluntary reporting of outbreaks, not individual illnesses, the incidences may be much higher than those cases accounted for. In addition, outbreaks of gastroenteritis associated with large venues that draw 21 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

30 from a wide geographic range, like large lakes and marine beaches, can be difficult to detect because potentially infected persons disperse widely from the site of exposure and, therefore, might be less likely to be identified as part of an out break. On the basis of beach visitation rates and monitoring data, researchers have estimated that 689,000 to 4,003,000 instances of gastrointestinal illness and 693,000 instances of respiratory illness occurred each year between 2000 and 2004 at Southern California beaches. 6 While these estimates are subject to a great deal of uncertainty, they provide insight into the potential for underreporting of swimming-related illnesses. Regional studies provide further insight into the correlation between recreational swimming and illnesses. For example, in 2005, the first major report of the National Epidemiological Environmental Assessment of Recreational (NEEAR) Water Study examined the association between recreational freshwater quality and gastrointestinal illness as well as upper respiratory illness, rash, eye ailments, and earache after swimming at two beaches in the Great Lakes region. 7 Both beaches are known to be affected by sewage discharges from wastewater treatment plants. Water samples were collected from each beach and tested for enterococcus using rapid and traditional culture-based methods. (Entero coccus is a bacterium found in fecal matter and is an indicator for the presence of fecal contamination of beachwater.) At one beach (Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan in Indiana), the NEEAR study found that the inci dence of gastrointestinal illness was 10% among subjects who came in contact with the water, representing twice the number of illnesses reported by nonswimmers. At a second beach (on Lake Erie near Cleveland) the rate of gastrointestinal illness among swimmers was as high as 14%. The illnesses correlated with the amount of entero coccus bacteria that were present. Discharges of polluted urban runoff result in elevated bacteria levels and increased illness rates among swimmers, and the association between heavy precipitation (leading to increased runoff) and waterborne disease outbreaks is well documented (see Figure 2-1). 8 In a 2004 California study: [Researchers] compared rates of reported health symptoms among surfers in urban North Orange County (NOC) and rural Santa Cruz County (SCC), California, during two winters (1998 and 1999) to determine whether symptoms were associated with exposure to urban runoff. NOC participants reported almost twice as many symptoms as SCC participants during the 1998 winter. In both study years, risk increased across symptom categories by an average of 10% for each 2.5 hours of weekly water exposure. [Their] findings suggest that discharging untreated urban runoff onto public beaches can pose health risks. 9 Figure 2-1. Influence of Heavy Rainfall on Occurrence of E. coli Infections Number of cases Rainfall 80 Number of cases Rainfall (ml) May 1 May 4 May 7 May 10 May 13 May 16 May 19 May 22 May 25 May 28 May 31 0 The graph shows the relationship between unusually heavy rainfall and the number of confirmed cases of E. coli infection that occurred during a massive disease outbreak in Ontario, Quebec, in May The incubation period for E. coli is usually three to four days, which is consistent with the lag between extreme precipitation events and surges in the number of cases. Source: Amy Greer, Victoria Ng, and David Fisman, Climate Change and Infectious Diseases in North America: The Road Ahead, CMAJ, March 11, 2008, 178(6): Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

31 Table 2-2. Possible Influence of Climate Change on Climate-Susceptible Pathogens Pathogen Vibrio species Naegleria fowleri Cryptosporidium Giardia Climate-Related Driver Rising temperature Changes in precipitation Sea level changes Rising temperature Rising temperature Changes in precipitation Rising temperature Changes in precipitation Shifts in reservoir host ranges or behavior Possible Influence of Climate Change Increasing ambient temperatures associated with growth in pre-harvest and postharvest shellfish (in absence of appropriate post-harvest controls) and increasing disease Increasing temperature asso ciated with higher environmental prevalence and disease Increasing temperature associated with range expansion Increasing precipitation and freshwater runoff leads to depressed estuarine salinities and increases in some Vibrio species Rising sea level or storm surge increases range and human exposure Increasing temperature associated with expanded range and conversion to flagellated form (infective) Expanded recreational (swimming) season may increase likelihood of exposure and disease Increasing precipitation associated with increased loading of parasite to water and increased exposure and disease Expanded recreational (swimming) season may increase likelihood of exposure and disease Increasing precipitation associated with increased loading of parasite to water and increased exposure and disease Increasing temperature associated with shifting range in reservoir species (carriers) and expanded disease range Likelihood of Change Very likely Extremely likely Very likely About as likely as not Likely More likely than not About as likely as not Very likely About as likely as not Very likely About as likely as not Basis for Assessment Likelihood of climate event is high, and evidence supports growth trend in ambient waters; adaptive (control) measures (refrigeration) would reduce this effect for post-harvest oysters Likelihood of climate event is high, and evidence supports environmental growth trend Likelihood of climate event is high, and evidence collected to date supports trend; more data needed to confirm Likelihood of climate event is probable, but additional research is needed to confirm pathogen distribution patterns Likelihood of climate event is probable Likelihood of climate event is high, but more research is needed to confirm disease trend Likelihood of climate event is high, but there is insufficient research on this relationship Likelihood of climate event is probable, and research supports this pattern; adaptive measures (water treatment and infrastructure) would reduce this the effect Likelihood of climate event is high, but there is insufficient research on this relationship Likelihood of climate event is probable, and research supports this pattern; but adaptive measures (water treatment and infrastructure) would reduce this effect Likelihood of climate event is high, but there is insufficient research on this relationship Adapted from Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems Final Report, Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.6, U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research (EPA, July 2008). 23 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

32 A large-scale 1995 epidemiological study, also in California, investigated possible adverse health effects associated with swimming in ocean waters contaminated by urban runoff. 10 The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project study involved initial interviews with 15,492 beachgoers who bathed and immersed their heads, as well as follow-up interviews with 13,278, to ascertain the occurrence of certain symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea, and diarrhea. The study found an increase in risk of illness associated with swimming near flowing storm drain outlets in Santa Monica Bay, compared with swimming more than 400 yards away. For example, swimmers near storm drains were found to have a 57% greater incidence of fever than those swimming farther away. This study also confirmed the increased risk of illness associated with swimming in areas with high densities of fecal indicator bacteria. Illnesses were reported more often on days when water samples tested positive for fecal bacteria. In September 2009, University of Washington researchers presented findings of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on Washington beaches. (MRSA is a staph infection that is resistant to many antibiotics.) Researchers found MRSA at half of 10 beaches in Washington along the West Coast and in Puget Sound from February to September Staph bacteria are resistant to salt and have long been known to be found in sand and salt water, but the MRSA strains found by the researchers resembled the highly resistant ones usually seen in hospitals, rather than the milder strains acquired in community settings. The source of the MRSA is unknown. Washington s beachwater quality monitoring program is currently working with the University of Washington and the Surfrider Foundation to develop a plan for further investigation. The beachwater quality monitoring program is hoping to assist the researchers in investigating how prevalent MRSA is on Washington beaches and if people are getting sick from this and other targeted pathogens. 11 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that [w]ater-borne diseases and degraded water quality are very likely to increase with more heavy precipitation. 12 Climate change is expected to increase the incidence of diseases contracted by swimmers (see Table 2-2). This is because water is more likely to become contaminated with pathogens in areas where there are larger storm events with increased runoff and combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and because warmer waters will allow pathogens to expand their range. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that the combined effects of increased temperature and precipitation are likely to worsen the burden of water- and food borne disease in the U.S., though the magnitude of this effect is difficult to project with certainty. 13 Pathogens such as Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia, which are associated with polluted runoff and CSOs, can be expected to increase in recreational waters in areas where climate change causes increased precipitation and runoff. 14 An article in Climate Research concurs, concluding that a wetter climate in the [mid-atlantic region] could lead to higher C. parvum loads in water. 15 A major cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee in 1993, which killed 54 and sickened more than 400,000 people, occurred after heavy rains and runoff compromised a drinking water treatment plant. 16 The bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which causes cholera, is an example of a pathogen that presents an increased threat to humans as a result of climate change. Extreme weather events and warmer waters can foster growth of the bacterium one study found that V. cholerae was up to nearly 20 times more likely to occur at a temperature of 19 C or higher than at lower temperatures. 17 In 2005, cases of illness due to V. cholerae occurred in association with Hurricane Katrina. 18 Increased freshwater runoff, high in nutrients and low in salinity, also may favor the growth of V. cholerae. As one study of Chesapeake Bay concluded, increased climate variability, accompanied by higher stream flow rates and warmer temperatures, could favor conditions that increase the occurrence of V. cholerae in Chesapeake Bay. 19 Threats to Swimmers from Harmful Algal Blooms Harmful algal blooms (HABs), which are known as red tides when they occur in marine waters, are a growing problem in surface waters where nutrient-rich pollution can spur algal growth. Several species of phytoplankton, including Karenia brevis, Alexandrium tamarense, and Pseudo-nitzschia australis, produce potent toxins that can make people sick if they are exposed to contaminated water or if they eat contaminated fish or shellfish. These toxic organisms are a natural part of the phytoplankton community, but when conditions are right, they experience a rapid growth in numbers, resulting in a bloom. HABs can last for days, weeks, or months and cause serious and potentially life-threatening human illnesses that have a slew of symptoms, including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, chills, diminished temperature sensation, muscular aches, dizziness, anxiety, sweating, seizures, numbness and tingling of the mouth and digits, and paralysis, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms (see Table 2-3). 20 Approximately 10% of all food-borne disease outbreaks in the United States are caused by eating 24 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

33 Table 2-3. Algae and Their Threats to Human Health Algal Blooms Health Risk Cyanobacteria (mainly Microcystis and Anabaena) Severe dermatitis, burning or itching of the skin, erythematous wheals, redness of lips and eyes, sore throat, asthma symptoms, dizziness Karenia brevis (and other marine algae) Pfiesteria piscicida Alexandrium tamarense Pseudo-nitzschia australis Irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat; coughing, shortness of breath Headache, confusion, skin rash, eye irritation, respiratory irritation Paralytic shellfish poisoning: tingling, numbness, and burning of the perioral region, ataxia, giddiness, drowsiness, fever, rash, and staggering; repiratory arrest in more severe cases Amnesic shellfish poisoning: nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea; in more severe cases dizziness, headache, seizures, disorientation, short-term memory loss, respiratory difficulty, and coma seafood contaminated by algal toxins. 21 Toxins produced by harmful algae can aerosolize and cause respiratory distress even in beach visitors who do not enter the water. The incidence of HABs has increased dramatically over the past 30 years (see Figure 2-2). 22 Indeed, analyzing data over nearly 50 years from the southwest coast of Florida, researchers at the University of Miami determined that K. brevis red tides are occurring with greater frequency, closer to shore, and during more months of the year. They attribute this phenomenon to greater inputs of nutrients into coastal waters due to increased agricultural runoff and sewage discharges in the watershed over that time period. 23 K. brevis red tides are also becoming more common elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. For example, along the Texas coast, red tide blooms occurred in all but one year between 1995 and In August and September of 2007, red tides occurred off the coast of Delaware, the first documented occurrence of K. brevis north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 25 While red tides are a natural phenomenon, they are exacerbated by human impacts such as nutrient overloads into coastal waters, which spur their growth. Land use and development practices along coastlines and in watersheds can lead to increased runoff into water bodies and result in a greater number of red tide events. Man-made alterations to hydrology, such as dredging and filling, can slow water circulation and thus impede the ability of the water body to cleanse itself of harmful algae. Filter-feeding shellfish serve as natural cleansers of phytoplankton, so human activities that diminish shellfish populations reduce an ecosystem s capacity to naturally cleanse itself of toxic algae. Figure 2-2. Expansion of HAB Problems in the United States Pre NSP PSP Fish kills Ciguatera Pfiesteria complex NSP Ciguatera PSP Brown tide Fish kills ASP HI Occasional anoxia Occasional anoxia PR HI PR DSP (unconfirmed) Marine mammal mortalities (whales, manatees, sea lions, dolphins) Noxious blooms (aesthetics) Macro algal blooms Abbreviations: NSP: Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning, PSP: Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, ASP: Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning, and DSP: Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning. Source: Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Bad Water 2009: The Impact on Human Health in the Chesapeake Bay Region, July 2009, p. 9. Source: Anderson, D.M., Harmful Algal Blooms: An Expanding Problem in the U.S. Coastal Zone, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, presented to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy at the Northeast Regional Meeting July 23 24, 2002, Boston, MA, available at: 25 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

34 In September 2009, at least 10,000 birds died off the Washington coast during a large algae bloom that created slimy foam. Researchers identified the brownish bloom as Akashiwo sanguinea, which acted as a surfactant on the birds feathers, causing them to die of hypothermia. Surfers reported health problems and were concerned that the bloom could be making them ill. On November 21, the Departments of Ecology and Health, NOAA, CDC, and the University of Washington conducted a health investigation in Westport to investigate the possible health effects of the recent algae bloom. The results of this investigation, which included 20 surfers at Halfmoon Bay beach in Westport who agreed to provide health histories and nasal swabs, are not yet available. 26 Climate change may be contributing to the increases in frequency, intensity, and duration of harmful algal blooms that have occurred on a global scale in the past few decades. 27 The blooms are influenced by weather patterns, ocean temperature, and nutrients in the water. For example, heavy rains lead to increased runoff, and this runoff, especially when carrying nutrient-rich fertilizers from agriculture, is linked to the proliferation of harmful algal blooms. On the Gulf Coast, for instance, precipitation and runoff have both increased significantly over the past 100 years. 28 Advisories, Closings, and Notices Issued at Beaches Due to Oil Spil in the Gulf Since the April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent failure of emergency containment measures at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, hundreds of millions of gallons of oil have gushed into the Gulf of Mexico. Damage to Gulf and shore line life and the people who depend on these resources has been profound. As of July 15, the federal government had prohibited commercial and recreational fishing across an 83,927 square mile area, representing roughly 35% of the Gulf. a The likely economic impact of this closure is hard to overstate; according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: In 2008, commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico harvested 1.27 billion pounds of finfish and shellfish that earned $659 million in total landings revenue. There were 3.2 million recreational fishermen who took a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico region, and they took 24 million fishing trips in b The spill is also harming shoreline recreation, as oil washes ashore at Gulf Coast beaches in Alabama, Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi (at the time of this writing, beaches in Texas have been only minimally affected). State and local officials have issued beach advisories, closures, and notices in response to oil on beaches and in coastal waters, because exposure to this oil can cause a variety of adverse human health effects. Besides being a beloved source of recreation for local residents, tourism at these beaches is an important part of the region s economy. In 2004 alone, tourism and recreation contributed $26.5 billion to the GDP for the Gulf region (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas) and eastern Florida. Tourists are being driven away by the specter of oil mousse, tar balls, tar mats and even liquid oil on the sand and in the water. Unfortunately, there has been a dearth of accurate and comprehensive information about which beaches have been affected by the oil spill. This information is important not only to those contemplating a visit to the Gulf, but for understanding the impacts of the spill. Accordingly, NRDC, as part of this year s Testing the Waters effort, has tracked the history of oil spill-related beach closures, advisories, and notices in the areas that have been affected by the oil spill. This information is available online at energy/gulfspill/beaches.asp, and is regularly updated. Pulling this information together is challenging. Information is spotty, dynamic, and sometimes hard to come by, as the status of local beaches is reported typically at the local government level. But NRDC has made every effort to use a combination of official websites as well as telephone calls to local officials to create an interactive, map-based picture of where beaches have been closed or advisories issued related to oil. The good news is that many beaches remain open; the bad news is that far too many have been affected. As of July 23, 2010, 49 of the 253 beach segments that are monitored for bacteria in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and western Florida have had oil spill-related closures, advisories, and notices. Up to that date, these beaches have had a total of 1,755 days of closings, advisories, and notices related to the oil spill, compared with 205 closing and advisory days at this time last year for any reason. a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, Southeast Fishery Bulletin FB10-064, BP Oil Spill: NOAA Modifies Commercial and Recreational Fishing Closure in the Oil-Affected Portions of the Gulf of Mexico, July 13, 2010, available at b National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA s Oil Spill Response: Fish Stocks in the Gulf of Mexico, available at noaa.gov/book_shelf/1886_fish-stocks-gulf-fact-sheetv2.pdf. 26 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

35 As is the case with pathogens, warmer waters may also result in expanded ranges of some harmful algae species. 29 For instance, shellfish toxicity from harmful algae in Puget Sound occurs in late summer and early fall when temperatures are warmest. Given that temperatures in Puget Sound are expected to increase, so too will the window of time during which these harmful algae bloom. 30 According to a recent Chesapeake Bay Foundation report: climate change might be expanding the range of a few new toxic species of algae into the estuary, and causing others to bloom earlier, according to a 2008 report by a scientific advisory committee of the U.S. EPA Chesapeake Bay Program. For example, a toxic alga normally associated with Florida and the Gulf Coast, Alexandrium monilatum, in 2007 was believed to have been responsible for killing whelks (a species of sea snail) in the York River in Virginia. It was the first known bloom in this area, and it represented a potential shift northward, according to the EPA committee report. A large bloom of a toxic alga normally found in the Caribbean Sea, Cochlodinium polykrikoides, killed young fish and oysters in the lower Chesapeake Bay in August Efforts to deal with red tides have focused on mitigating the effects of these events, primarily through improved systems to monitor for harmful algal blooms, educate and communicate the risks to the general population, and learn more about the causes of harmful algal blooms and how they affect humans and aquatic life. Other techniques to prevent HABs involve restricting the movement of harmful algal species via the shellfish market and ship ballast water. For example, ballast water may be heated or chemically treated to prevent the introduction of invasive species, and trade may be restricted in shellfish from areas experiencing red tides. Strong efforts need to be made to control nutrient pollution from nonpoint sources (e.g., agricultural runoff and septic tank runoff ) as well as from point sources (e.g., sewage treatment and aquaculture facilities) to reduce the number of red tide events. 32 ECONOMIC IMPACTS Beaches, rivers, and lakes are the number one vacation destination for Americans; about one-fourth of the population goes swimming in our waterways every year. Approximately 85% of all U.S. tourism revenue is received in coastal states. Americans take more than 1.8 billion trips annually or an average of approximately six trips per person per year to Figure 2-3. The Value of the Coastal Economy (2007) $ $12 $ Gross domestic product Jobs generated by geographic area 120 $ Trillions of dollars $9 $6 $ $ $ Millions of jobs $3 20 $0 U.S. Economy Coastal States Coastal Watershed Counties Coastal Zone Counties Shoreline-Adjacent Counties 0 Source: National Ocean Economics Program, Market Data, Ocean Economy Data, accessed at in July Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

36 fish, swim, boat, or just relax. 33 Yet our coasts provide more than just recreation in 2007, the nation s shoreline-adjacent counties contributed $5.6 trillion toward the nation s gross domestic product and 47 million jobs (Figure 2-3). 34 Economic activity directly associated with the ocean contributed more than $138 billion to the U.S. economy in The ways in which polluted water puts these revenues at risk are many and varied. Polluted beaches result in a loss of utility for those who had planned to visit and swim in the water; that in turn impacts local economies in the form of lost tourist dollars and the jobs they support. Clean beaches, on the other hand, can transform a community. In Racine, Wisconsin, great efforts have been made to correct water quality problems at North Beach. North Beach was closed or under advisory for bacterial exceedances more than half the time in Today, the beachwater nearly always meets water quality standards, and North Beach has been named one of the best urban beaches in the Midwest. 36 As a result, the city is able to attract beach-related events, such as the U.S. Grand Prix of Watercross, that contribute significantly to the city s and county s economic health. Real Racine, the county s convention and visitor s bureau, estimates that in 2009 the Iron Man Racine 70.3 Triathlon netted $1,432,000 in revenue based on overnight stays alone. The 2009 EVP Pro-Beach Volleyball Tour event generated an additional $175,000 in direct economic benefits. 37 Once water quality improved, summer weekday attendance at North Beach soared, increasing from an average of 126 people in 2005 to 641 people in Holiday and weekend visitors frequently numbered in the thousands. 38 The increase in steady customers has resulted in the creation of a number of small-business opportunities such as cabana, beach chair, and kayak rentals. 39 Even the perception of water quality is an important factor in the economics of beach tourism. In the spring of 2010, before the oil from BP s offshore spill was affecting states other than Louisiana, Gulf Coast states from Alabama to Florida saw a huge drop in coastal hotel bookings and a large number of cancellations from tourists whose perception was that beachwater quality at these destinations was impacted by the spill. Texas saw an decrease in beach tourism for the same reason. Coastal tourism, attributable in part to clean beaches, generates substantial revenues for state and local governments as well as for businesses lining the coasts. Economists estimate that a typical swimming day is worth $30.84 to each individual. 40 Depending on the number of potential visitors to a beach, this consumer surplus loss can be quite sig nificant. For example, one study estimated economic losses as a result of closing a Lake Michigan beach due to pollution could be as high as $37,030 per day. 41 Another study, performed in Orange County, Cali fornia, evaluated the economic burden of several indi vidual illnesses that can be contracted from swimming in polluted recreational marine waters. For the two beaches studied, researchers estimated the cumulative public health cost from lost wages and medical care to treat the more than 74,000 inci dences of illness annually by calculating a cost for each illness (see Table 2-4). The total annual burden was $3.3 million, excluding personal out-of-pocket expenses associated with having a prescription filled after a doctor visit or the costs of selfmedication. 42 Similarly, another Southern Cali fornia study concluded that fecal contamination at Los Angeles and Orange County beaches caused between 627,800 and 1,479,200 excess gastrointestinal illnesses with a pub lic health cost of $21 million to $51 mil lion each year. 43 The commercial fishing and recreational angling industries are also affected by beach pollution. In 2006, the U.S. com mercial fishing industry (including processors and retailers) generated more than $44 billion in income and supported more than 1.5 million jobs. 44 The same year, 13.6 million individuals participated in recreational angling, contributing $82 billion directly to the economy and generating more than 500,000 jobs. 45 Nutrient pollution in runoff plays a role in one of the most serious coastal pollution threats these industries face: the creation of dead zones. Besides posinf a pathogenic threat to swimmers from urban and agricultural runoff, sewage, and animal wastes, these streams are rich in nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous. When excessive nutrients are discharged into aquatic ecosystems, eutrophication occurs and aquatic plants become more abundant. As these plants die, they sink to the bottom Table 2-4. Cost Estimates for Illnesses Associated With Polluted Water Due to Lost Wages and Medical Care Type of Illness Gastrointestinal Illness $36.58 Acute Respiratory Disease $76.76 Ear Ailment $37.86 Eye Ailment $27.31 Cost Per Illness Source: Ryan H. Dwight, Linda M. Fernandez, Dean B. Baker, Jan C. Semenza, and Betty H. Olson, Estimating the Economic Burden from Illnesses Associated with Recreational Coastal Water Pollution: A Case Study in Orange County, California, in Journal of Environmental Management, 76 (2): , 2005, p Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

37 and are decomposed by microbes that consume oxygen. This can lead to hypoxia, a depletion of dissolved oxygen in the water. Aquatic life flees areas of hypoxia when it can, and dies when it cannot. In the Gulf of Mexico, nutrient pollution carried from the corn belt by the Mississippi River has contributed to the creation of a zone of hypoxia that covers approximately 8,000 square miles, an area roughly the size of New Jersey. 46 It is the second-largest human-caused zone of hypoxia in the world and has compromised fishing resources that are an important source of human nutrition. While natural conditions created zones of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico several times prior to the advent of commercial fertilizers, the size of the current zone has increased rapidly over the past several decades. 47 The Chesapeake Bay also has a hypoxic zone that is sensitive to nitrogen loading. In 2008, this dead zone was particularly large, about as large as it has ever been. 48 The growth in some of the world s zones of hypoxia, however, is linked to global climate change rather than nitrogen loading. A dead zone off the coast of Oregon and Washington has grown larger and become more depleted in oxygen in recent years, encroaching on the continental shelf. Global climate change may be responsible, as it results in stronger and more persistent winds that stir up nutrients from the ocean floor. 49 Harmful algal blooms, which can also be spurred by nutrients delivered in runoff, can create substantial economic losses in terms of their impact on public health (lost work days and medical costs), commercial fisheries, recreation and tourism, and monitoring and management. As one example, in the spring and summer of 2005, shellfish beds from Maine to Cape Cod that represented more than 35% of the nation s clam harvest were closed due to the worst toxic algal bloom in New England since The problem was so bad that the governor of Massachusetts asked the Small Business Administration to declare an economic injury disaster for the state s fishermen and related businesses. 50 Nationwide, one study estimates that harmful algal blooms cost the United States $82 million a year. 51 According to a 2004 account from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, [o]ver the last several decades, [harmful algal blooms] have caused more than $1 billion in economic losses in the U.S. 52 Fisheries are also directly harmed by urban runoff, which has been found to have significant impacts on aquatic life in receiving waters. 53 Urban runoff can lead to excess sedimentation, suffocating fish eggs and smothering the habitat of bottom-dwelling organisms such as aquatic insects, which are a food source for many fish and other wildlife species. Toxic chemicals washed into the water can increase the susceptibility of aquatic organisms to disease, interfere with reproduction, reduce the viability of offspring, or cause direct mortality. 54 Another example of the potential for economic harm from beach pollution is found in the Florida Keys. Each year, 4 million people travel to the Keys, in part to visit its renowned coral reefs. 55 A 2003 study estimates that reef-related sales in Broward County, Florida, contribute more than $2 billion to the economy and provide more than 35,000 jobs. 56 Yet coral reefs are adversely impacted by a combination of rising temperatures, increasing nutrients, and pathogen pollution from sources such as untreated or inadequately treated sewage. Fecal contamination from sewage in the Florida Keys is thought to be a major source of disease in coral. Investments in improving water quality result in greater economic returns. For instance, a 2007 Brookings Institution study concluded that the $26 billion Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy to clean and preserve the Great Lakes would result in present-value economic benefits of [o]ver $50 billion in long-term benefits; and etween $30 and $50 billion in short-term multiplier benefits. 57 A 2007 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin istration found that an increase in water quality in Long Beach, California, to the healthier standards of Huntington City Beach would create $8.8 million in economic benefits over a 10-year period. 58 A similar, 2001 study compared the 1996 water quality of the Chesapeake Bay with the quality it would have had if legislation to clean the waters had never been passed. The study estimated that the water quality improvements increased annual boating, fishing, and swimming revenue by $357.9 million to $1.8 billion. 59 And along Maryland s western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, one study showed that localized improvements in fecal coliform counts so that state standards are met would increase waterfront property values by approximately 6%. 60 Some areas either do not monitor their beaches or do not close them when water quality fails to meet standards. This can result in lower short-term losses for businesses in the area, but it also means that those who get sick will incur medical costs and lost workdays as a result. Cleaning up the sources of pollution so that beachwater does not pose a health risk is the optimal solution. In the meantime, protecting public health will require improved beachwater monitoring and closing of beaches when contamination is detected or suspected, rather than allowing people to swim and get sick. Given the large number of people using beaches and the substantial income from coastal tourism, the cost of monitoring programs is reasonable. 29 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

38 Notes 1 Health Canada (2004) Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality: Supporting Documentation Protozoa: Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Water Quality and Health Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, p. 11, available at: Lew, J.F. et al., Diarrheal Deaths in the United States, 1979 Through A Special Problem for the Elderly. Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 265, no. 24 (June 26, 1991) pp. 3,280 3, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Giardiasis Surveillance United States, , January 2005, available at: mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5401a2.htm. 4 Dale, K, R Wolfe, M Sinclair, M Hellard, K Leder. Sporadic Gastroenteritis and Recreational Swimming in a Longitudinal Community Cohort Study in Melbourne, Australia. Am J Epidemiol Dec 15;170(12): Yoder, J.S., et al., Surveillance for Waterborne Disease and Outbreaks Associated With Recreational Water Use and Other Aquatic Facility Associated Health Events United States, , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 12, 2008/57(SS09) pp. 1 29, available at: 6 Brinks, M.V., et al., Health Risk of Bathing in Southern California Coastal Waters, Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, vol. 63, no. 3 (Fall 2008). 7 Wade, T.J., et al., Rapidly Measured Indicators of Recreational Water Quality Are Predictive of Swimming-Associated Gastrointestinal Illness, in Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 114, no. 1 (January 2006) pp Curriero et al., The Association Between Extreme Precipitation and Waterborne Disease Outbreaks in the United States, , American Journal of Public Health, August 2001, available at: 9 Dwight, R. H., et al., Health Effects Associated With Recreational Coastal Water Use: Urban Versus Rural California, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 94, no. 4 (April 2004). 10 Haile, R., et al., An Epidemiological Study of Possible Adverse Health Effects of Swimming in Santa Monica Bay, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, Washington State Department of Ecology. January-December 2009 (FFY08) Annual Report for: Washington State s BEACH Program. Not dated. 12 IPCC, Technical Paper IV, Climate Change and Water, June 2008, pp Available at: 13 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, available at: 14 See, e.g., P.R. Hunter, Climate Change and Waterborne and Vector-borne Diseases, Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2003, 94, 37S 46S, p. 40S; Frank C. Currio, Jonathan A. Patz, Joan B. Rose, and Subhash Lele, The Association Between Extreme Precipitation and Waterborne Disease Outbreaks in the United States, , American Journal of Public Health, August 2001, vol. 91, no. 8; and Wael M. Khairy, Assessing and Modeling Flood Event and Climate Change in the Gulf Coast Region, Chapter 10 in Integrated Assessment of the Climate Change Impacts on the Gulf Coast Region, findings of the Gulf Coast Regional Assessment, June 2003, p Keith Benson, Patricia Kocagil, and James Shortle, Climate Change and Health in the Mid-Atlantic Region, Clim. Res., 2000, vol.14: pp Frank C. Currio, Jonathan A. Patz, Joan B. Rose, and Subhash Lele, The Association Between Extreme Precipitation and Waterborne Disease Outbreaks in the United States, , American Journal of Public Health, August 2001, vol. 91, no Louis, V.R., et al. Predictability of Vibrio Cholerae in Chesapeake Bay, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2003, vol. 69, no. 5, pp. 2,773 2, Greer, A., Ng, V., and Fisman, D. Climate Change and Infectious Diseases in North America: The Road Ahead, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Vol. 178, No. 6 (March 11, 2008), pp Louis, V.R., et al. (2003). 20 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, The Harmful Algae Page, available at: 21 Frances M. Van Dolah. Marine Algal Toxins: Origins, Health Effects, and Their Increased Occurrence. Environmental Health Perspectives Supplements, vol. 108, no. S1, March Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, The Harmful Algae Page available at: 23 Brand, L.E., and Compton, A. Long-Term Increase in Karenia Brevis Abundance Along the Southwest Florida Coast, Harmful Algae vol. 6, no. 2, (February 2007) pp Stumpf, R. P., et al., Karenia Brevis Blooms in the Gulf of Mexico Using Satellite Ocean Color Imagery and Other Data, Harmful Algae, vo.. 2, no. 2 (June 2003,) pp State of Delaware, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Information on Red Tides, at Pages/RedTideInformation.aspx. 26 Washington State Department of Ecology. January-December 2009 (FFY08) Annual Report for: Washington State s BEACH Program. Not dated. 27 Moore, S.K, et al., Impacts of Climate Variability and Future Climate Change on Harmful Algal Blooms and Human Health, Environmental Health 2008, 7 (Suppl 2):S4; Rose, J.B., et al., Climate Variability and Change in the United States: Potential Impacts on Water- and Food-borne Diseases Caused by Microbiologic Agents, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 109, Supplemental 2 (May 2001) p Khairy, W.M., Assessing and Modeling Flood Event and Climate Change in the Gulf Coast Region (Ch. 10 from Integra ted Assessment of the Climate Change Impacts on the Gulf Coast Region), Findings of the Gulf Coast Regional Assessment (June 2003) pp Moore, S.K. et al. (2008); Mortsch, L. et al., Climate Change and Water Quality in the Great Lakes Region: Risks, Opportunities, and Responses, a report prepared for the Great Lakes Water Quality Board of the International Joint Commission (August 2003) pp Moore, S.K. et al. (2008). 30 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

39 31 Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Bad Water 2009: The Impact on Human Health in the Chesapeake Bay Region, July 2009, p. 9 (citation omitted). 32 See Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Prevention Control and Mitigation of Harmful Algal Blooms: A Research Plan, September 2001, pp. 9 10, available at: 33 EPA, Liquid Assets: A Summertime Perspective on the Importance of Clean Water to the Nation s Economy, EPA 800-R , 1996, at iv. 34 National Ocean Economics Program, Market Data, Coastal Economy Data, Shore Adjacent Coastal Zone Counties, available at: 35 National Ocean Economics Program, Market Data, Ocean Economy Data, available at: 36 Best of the Midwest 2010, Midwest Living, midwestliving.com. 37 Smith, A. Real Racine, personal communication, July Kinzelman, J. and McLellan, S. Success of Science-Based Best Management Practices in Reducing Swimming Bans a Case Study from Racine, Wisconsin, USA. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management, 12(2): Kinzelman, J., City of Racine, personal communication, June EPA, Pathogens and Swimming: An Economic Assessment of Beach and Closure, draft report prepared by Environomics, Inc., The authors review studies of consumer surplus, which is the willingness to pay over cost, and conclude that $30.84 is a best estimate. See also Bell, F. and Leeworthy, V.R., Recreational Demand by Tourists for Saltwater Beach, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 18, no. 3, pp ; R.G. Walsh, D.M. Johnson, and J.R. McKean, Benefit Transfer of Outdoor Recreation Demand Studies, , in Water Resources Research, vol. 28, no. 3, 1988, pp Rabinovici, S.J. et al. Economic and Health Risk Trade-Offs of Swim Closures at a Lake Michigan Beach, Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 38, no. 10, 2004, p. 2, Dwight, R.H. et al., Estimating the Economic Burden From Illnesses Associated With Recreational Coastal Water Pollution: A Case Study in Orange County, California, Journal of Environmental Management, 76 (2): (2005) pp Given, S. et al., Regional Public Health Cost Estimates of Contaminated Coastal Waters: A Case Study of Gastroenteritis at Southern California Beaches, 40 Environ. Sci. Technol (2006). 44 U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Fisheries Economics of the United States, 2006, p. 10, available at: EconomicsReport_ALL.pdf. 45 Ibid., p Osterman, L., Poore, R., Swarzenski, P.W., and Turner, E., Reconstructing a 180-Year Record of Natural and Anthropogenic Induced Hypoxia From the Sediments of the Louisiana Continental Shelf, Geology, vol. 33, no. 4, 2005, pp Scavia, D. and Y. Liu, Chesapeake Bay Hypoxic Volume Forecasts and Results, University of Michigan, June 9, Available at: sitemaker.umich.edu/scavia/files/2009_chesapeake_bay_hypoxic_volume_forecast.pdf. 49 Chan et al. Emergence of Anoxia in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. Science, 15 February 2008: vol no. 5865, p DOI: /science New York Times, Red Tide Emergency, June 10, 2005, late edition final. 51 NOAA, Economic Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms, not dated, available at: econimpact_08.pdf. 52 NOAA. September 15, Press Release NOAA Begins Operational Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast System for Florida, Gulf of Mexico. Available at 53 D. Hoffman, B. Rattner, G.A. Burton, Jr., and J. Cairns, Jr., Handbook of Ecotoxicology, 2nd Edition (Boca Raton, FL: CRC-Lewis, 2002). 54 EPA, National Water Quality Inventory: 2000 Report to Congress, EPA 841-R , August Sewage Casts Pox on Reefs, Nature, June 18, Johns, G.M. et al., Socioeconomic Study of Reefs in Southeast Florida, Final Report October 19, 2001 as revised April 18, 2003, available at: s/white.pdf. 57 Austin, J.C. et al., Healthy Waters, Strong Economy: The Benefits of Restoring the Great Lakes Ecosystem (The Brookings Institution, Sept. 2007), at 2, 5, 10, available at: 58 Leeworthy, V.R. and Wiley, P.C. Southern California Beach Valuation Project: Economic Value and Impact of Water Quality Change for Long Beach in Southern California, NOAA, February Morgan, et al., Benefits of Water Quality Policies: the Chesapeake Bay, Ecological Economics, vol. 39, issue 2 (November 2001) pp Leggett, C.G., et al., Evidence of the Effects of Water Quality on Residential Land Prices, J. Environ. Econ. Manage, vol. 39, no. 2, pp Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

40 Chapter 3 Plan of Action When NRDC first issued Testing the Waters in 1991, most beaches in the United States were rarely, if ever, monitored for pollution, and the public was usually not informed whether the beaches were safe for swimming. That situation has improved considerably due to years of public education and advocacy by NRDC and other public health and environmental organizations. While concerns about the adequacy of water quality standards and water quality test methods remain, the NRDC has largely shifted its focus to addressing the sources of beachwater pollution. CLEAN UP URBAN RUNOFF Strategies for reducing contamination carried by stormwater runoff fall into three categories: stormwater reduction, stormwater treatment, and reduction of the sources of contamination in stormwater. Stormwater Reduction: Green Infrastructure Green infrastructure strategies employ a variety of technologies to reduce urban stormwater discharges to surface waters. These strategies, which are also often termed low-impact development or LID, act to restore natural hydrologic conditions by increasing the amount of permeable, usually vegetated areas that minimize the volume of stormwater In addition to warning the public discharges. Most often, these technologies retain and filter or closing our beaches when they rainwater where it falls and let it soak back into the ground, rather than dumping it into waterways. Green infra structure are unsafe, we must address the reduces pollutant flows and minimizes the need for more sources of beachwater pollution. expensive traditional treatment by utilizing strategically placed rain gardens in yards, tree boxes along city side walks, green roofs that use absorbent vegetation on top of buildings, and permeable pavement. Green infrastructure also involves capturing and storing stormwater in rain barrels or cisterns and re-using it, most often for irrigation or other nonpotable uses. Many green infrastructure strategies have the added benefits of augmenting the water supply, providing wildlife habitat, minimizing greenhouse gas generation, and being aesthetically pleasing. 1 When surveyed for this year s Testing the Waters, many states reported that green infrastructure is gaining traction as success stories mount. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 specifically directs clean water funding to environmentally innovative projects, including green infrastructure, and grant recipients are using funds to assist some cities to improve beachwater quality by implementing green infrastructure techniques. For example, in California, the City of Hermosa Beach was awarded nearly $1.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds in 2010 to turn one of its major thoroughfares into a green street. The project includes a new storm drain system designed to prevent bacteria-laden runoff from ending up in beachwater that is listed as impaired because of high bacteria levels. 2 The City of Redondo Beach in California was awarded $2.2 million in Recovery Act funds to protect coastal waters from urban stormwater by collecting rainwater for irrigation at a park and infiltrating excess water. This project will reduce discharges of bacteria in urban runoff to the city s beaches. 3 Green infrastructure techniques are being promoted in an effort to improve the water quality in Wreck Pond, a tidal pond in New Jersey that is high in fecal indicator bacteria and whose discharges are at least sometimes to blame for persistent water quality problems at beaches in the town of Sea Girt and Spring Lake. The Wreck Pond Regional Stormwater Management Planning Committee is working with Rutgers Cooperative Extension to install six showcase 32 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

41 rain gardens in the Wreck Pond watershed. 4 These gardens will encourage the use of rain gardens that will reduce the overall runoff, sediment, and pollutant loading into streams in the Wreck Pond watershed, which will in turn improve water quality at beaches downstream of the pond. In many locations, current stormwater management cannot meet clean beachwater goals, and communities often struggle with the economic burden of repairing or expanding existing stormwater infrastructure. While retrofitting of existing development to reduce stormwater runoff can be cheaper and more effective than constructing traditional stormwater treatment facilities, the most economical time to implement green infrastructure strategies is during construction. Unless strong measures are taken to ensure that developers use sustainable practices such as on-site retention of stormwater, runoff from these areas will increasingly degrade coastal waters and pollute our beaches. Green infrastructure is an effective and innovative stormwater management approach that can be used to achieve more economically sustainable and environmentally sound solutions. NRDC recommends that green infrastructure require ments for all development and redevelopment (including road retrofit and renovation projects) be an element in every municipal stormwater permit. A bill recently introduced in Congress, the Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act (H.R and S. 3561), aims to make green infrastructure and low-impact development techniques a national priority. The bill establishes institutional Centers of Excellence for green infrastructure that will provide critical research and information coordination services. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency to incorporate green infrastructure principles into its permitting and other programs more broadly than it has done in the past. Most importantly, the bill will provide communities with the financial and technical resources they need to implement green infrastructure and LID projects on the ground, improving the lives of their residents and the nation s water quality. The Water Quality Investment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1262), which has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and is currently pending in the Senate, would authorize almost $14 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund over the next five years and provide critical assistance for various water quality improvement projects, including the use of green infrastructure. Stormwater Treatment There are many means of treating stormwater to reduce bacterial contaminants, such as installing filters into outfall catch basins and using UV disinfection. In North Carolina, a $1.1 million treatment unit for treating bacteria in a stormwater outfall began operating in Dare County in the fall of In this system, the stormwater enters a central chamber and is routed to an outfall at the beach after passing through filters lining the central chamber. The water quality from this unit will be monitored, and if the device is successful, more of these units will be installed statewide. 5 A stormwater treatment system installed in Racine, Wisconsin, is pleasing to the eye in addition to being a very effective means of improving beachwater quality. In late 2000, a reengineering effort began on a stormwater outfall Figure 3-1. A Re-Engineered Stormwater Outfall in Racine, Wisconsin (a) Installation of a system for removal of solids from stormwater. The photo was taken in late (b) The infiltration/evaporation basins after planting with native wetland species. (c) The infiltration/evaporation basins as they appear today. Source: Kinzelman, J., City of Racine Health Department, personal communication, July Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

42 that was affecting water quality at North Beach and Zoo Beach in Racine. The improved outfall includes a pre treat ment ystem that removes solid wastes and oils from stormwater and then directs it to a series of infiltration/evapora tion basins planted with native wetland species (see Figure 3-1). Under high flow situations caused by large storms (five-year or greater, meaning that there is less than a 20% likelihood that a storm this large would occur in any given year, excluding the first flush, which is held for treatment), stormwater bypasses the treatment structures and wetlands, discharging through a bypass outlet and into a plunge pool that also contains native vegetation before it is released into Lake Michigan. In addition to this stormwater treatment system, other strategies for improving water quality at these beaches were undertaken: the development of a series of dune ridges to intercept stormwater from the parking area, altered beach grooming practices that facilitate bacterial die-off in the sand through increased sun exposure, the placement of additional trash cans with liners so the trash can be emptied on an as-needed basis instead of over flowing and attracting seagulls, solar powered trash compactors, enacting a city ordinance and posting signs informing that feeding of seagulls is prohibited, and stenciling storm drains with the words No dumping, drains to lake. 6 During the summer of 2000, before these measures were taken, North Beach was under advisory for 62 days (more than half the time) and Zoo Beach for 39 days. Since then, the number of advisories has dropped dramatically. In the summer of 2009, two advisory days were issued at North Beach and six were issued at Zoo Beach. The average summer season E. coli count at North Beach decreased from 232 MPN/100 ml in 2000 to 2004 to 76 MPN/100 ml in 2005 to In some cases, sending urban runoff to sewage treatment plants is an effective means of improving beachwater quality. In dry weather, runoff occurs as a result of landscape irrigation, the draining of swimming pools, car washing, and various commercial activities. Even though it is much smaller in volume than stormwater runoff, dry weather runoff can be a significant source of beachwater contamination, especially along the coast of California, where it is dry during the summer when the beaches are most heavily used. Along the densely populated Santa Monica Bay in California, more than 20 low-flow diversion facilities have been constructed to route dry weather runoff through sanitary sewage treatment after trash and debris have been screened out. 8 Sanitary sewage treatment plants in this area have the capacity to treat dry weather runoff, but they cannot handle the huge volume of runoff that is generated during storms. In Maine, as part of the Gooch s Beach Seawall Reconstruction project, the stormwater system along Beach Avenue was modified to coincide with the Seawall Construction. 9 The town designed the system to allow for the implementation of a stormwater treatment device referred to as an Ultra Urban Filter. These devices were installed in four catch basins to provide treatment of stormwater by removing waterborne pollutants that have historically been allowed to discharge directly to the beach. This will provide treatment of approximately 920 feet of roadway and surrounding area. 10 Preventing Contamination EPA regulations require cities and industrial and construction sites to obtain permits, develop stormwater management plans, and implement best management practices to control pollutants in stormwater runoff. However, only limited progress has been made to date. Vigorous implementation and enforcement and ambitious pollutant reduction goals are necessary to make this effort successful. ELIMINATE DISCHARGES OF HUMAN SEWAGE Although the EPA s combined sewer overflow policy has been in place since 1994, many of the roughly 772 communities nationwide that are served by combined stormwater and sewage systems have not yet begun implementation of a longterm plan to control combined sewer overflows and to include in such plans low-impact development approaches that provide more environmental benefits per dollar expended. 11 Sanitary sewer overflows are illegal, yet the EPA has estimated that there are more than 23,000 sanitary sewer overflows every year into rivers, lakes, wetlands, and coastal waters. 12 The EPA needs to enhance its implementation and enforcement of this provision of the law. Also, the ocean waiver provision of the Clean Water Act gives the EPA administrator the authority to grant sewage treatment plants a waiver from secondary treatment requirements. The City of San Diego s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant has been granted such a waiver since The waiver was renewed in 2002 and again in This waiver allows the treatment plant to discharge up to 240 million gallons a month of sewage that has not undergone secondary treatment through its ocean outfall Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

43 Coastal localities that have taken steps to reduce sewer overflows see beachwater quality benefits. Lakewalk Beach in Duluth, Minnesota used to have a number of advisory days every year due to sewage bypasses and overflows. The city installed a series of holding tanks, including one that holds a million gallons of wastewater, to reduce or eliminate sewage bypasses into Lake Superior and the St. Louis River. Water quality at Lakewalk Beach showed immediate improvement, with no beach advisory days in Installing holding tanks that allow sewage generated during high flow events to be treated is one way to prevent sewage overflows. Another way is to upgrade sewage treatment plants so that they can treat higher volumes of flow. However, there are hundreds of billions of dollars of documented needs for water and wastewater infrastructure in the United States, according to the EPA. Congress should assist state and local communities in meeting these levels by substantially increasing the federal resources available to meet clean water needs through the creation of a Clean Water Trust Fund or other dedicated source of clean water funding, and by increasing annual funding to the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. The Water Quality Investment Act/Water Infrastructure Financing Act (H.R. 1262/S. 1005), which has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and is currently pending in the Senate, would authorize between $13.8 and $16.8 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund over the next five years and provide critical assistance for projects that repair and rebuild failing water and wastewater infrastructure. This funding includes support for green infrastructure and between $1.8 and $2.5 billion in authorized funds for grants to help communities address combined sewer overflows. Sometimes significant sewage contamination of coastal waters occurs from multiple smaller sources. Many states find that elimination of malfunctioning septic systems improves their beachwater quality. Eliminating failing septic systems upstream of Fairview Beach in Virginia is such a success story. Microbial source tracking showed that the stormwater outfall at this beach had a persistent human signature, regardless of rainfall levels. The Virginia Department of Health and local officials located several apartments, homes, and trailers on old septic systems and connected them to the community sewer system. In 2009, the statewide fraction of advisories at Fairview Beach dropped compared to 2007 and Both 2007 and 2009 were wet years, but in 2009, the beach was under advisory half as many days as in Communities also need to spend smarter by linking water and sewer rates to water use and degradation, preserving and enhancing the use of wetlands and forests, and using soil and vegetation to reduce beachwater pollution. In a study of watersheds with at least 13.5% wetland coverage, for example, periods of rainfall did not substantially increase the fecal coliform bacteria counts. 17 Finally, Congress is considering the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act, which would reauthorize and increase the federal grants made available to states under the BEACH Act. This funding is crucial and should not only be authorized but should also be fully appropriated to provide states with the full support they need to tackle beachwater contamination and protect the public and the environment. REDUCE AGRICULTURAL DISCHARGES AND AGRICULTURAL RUNOFF The EPA needs to plug the loopholes that allow industrial livestock operations to continue to discharge animal wastes into waterways. The EPA estimates that confined livestock produce about three times the amount of waste as people do nationwide; however, these facilities lack treatment facilities for livestock waste even remotely comparable to those that treat human sewage. 18 Moreover, many large feedlot operations historically avoided getting Clean Water Act permits, something made easier by lax federal regulation. The EPA needs to revise its rules to close the loopholes and require all large feedlots to keep animal waste out of waterways. Right now, the public is bearing the true cost of these feedlots because of their degradation of water quality. IMPROVE COORDINATION BETWEEN SANITATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS When a sewer overflow threatens beachwater quality, there needs to be immediate communication between those responsible for the overflow and those charged with protecting public health. The public has the right to know that an overflow or discharge has occurred and should be informed when it happens, not several days later, after beachwater monitoring 35 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

44 results have been analyzed and reported. To close these communication gaps and improve coordination between sanita tion and public health officials, the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act (H.R. 753/S. 937) should be passed. It would amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, directing owners or operators of sewage treatment plants to: 1) institute an alert system for sanitary sewer overflows, 2) notify the public of such overflows in areas where human health is potentially affected within 24 hours, 3) immediately notify public health authorities and other affected entities of certain kinds of overflows, and 4) provide specified reports to the administrator of the EPA or the state. 19 Improved monitoring, immediate reporting of overflows to public health authorities and to the general public, and prompt response to overflows to minimize human exposure and environmental harm are critical steps that need to be taken to close the communication gaps between those responsible for sewage and stormwater treatment and those charged with protecting public health. As noted above, NRDC also supports the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act provision to direct public health officials to inform environmental agencies when they find a violation so that its source can be addressed. IMPROVE BEACH INFRASTRUCTURE AND MAINTENANCE PRACTICES Often, manmade modifications and activities that are intended to make a beach more attractive or accessible to visitors backfire because they are conducive to poor water quality. Breakwaters, for example, make water less turbulent for swimmers, but they also reduce natural water circulation and trap polluted waters in areas where bathers congregate. Ironically, many mother s beaches that are frequented by families with small children because of their quiet waters are prone to exceeding water quality standards. From a water quality standpoint, beach infrastructure that interferes with water exchange is undesirable. The beaches in East San Pedro Bay along Long Beach, California, illustrate the impact that infrastructure designed to reduce waves can have on beaches. After considering a reconnaissance phase analysis, the Army Corps of Engineers has leant its support of further study concerning the reconfiguration of the 2.2-mile breakwater off the coast of this bay. 20 This World War II-era breakwater has been blamed for trapping water pollution from various sources, including the Los Angeles River, resulting in water quality exceedances at the beaches as well as wreaking ecological damage to the nearcoast environment. The reconnaissance analysis estimated that the maximum improvement scenario for reconfiguring the breakwater could result in increases of approximately $52 million per year in local spending and economic activity, and nearly $7 million per year in taxes and parking fees because of the increased recreational value of the Long Beach shoreline. 21 A beach amenity that can contribute to degradation of beachwater is parking lots. Parking lots are often constructed at the edge of beaches for ease of access, but pavement prevents water from soaking into the ground when it rains. Simple strategies like separating roads and parking lots from the beach with a strip of vegetation can prevent contaminated runoff from reaching the beachwater. Waterfowl also contribute to pollution. Birds are attracted by food sources, including handouts from misguided visitors as well as trash left on beaches and in overflowing garbage cans. Where there are birds there is fecal con tami nation. Waterfowl congregate more freely when areas adjacent to beaches have been cleared of trees and bushes that would provide cover for predators. Frequently, parking lots at the beach are attractive to shoreline birds as well as people, and parking lot runoff washes fecal matter from the birds into the beachwater. Beach maintenance strategies can have a huge impact on beachwater quality. Beachgoers might appreciate a long expanse of relatively flat and tightly packed sand, but sand harbors bacteria, 22 and beach grooming techniques that pack and level the sand can increase the density of bacteria in sand. 23 Switching to beach grooming techniques that deeply groom the sand without leveling it can have a positive impact on beachwater quality. 24 IMPROVE BEACHWATER QUALITY STANDARDS AND USE FASTER DETECTION METHODS Water Quality Standards Current federal standards for recreational water quality are based on the concentration of fecal indicator bacteria, usually enterococcus and E. coli. They are called indicator bacteria because, although they may not be directly harmful 36 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

45 Table 3-1. Beachwater Quality Standards Required by the BEACH Act Water Type Indicator Standard For Multiple a For a Single Sample b Marine Enterococcus 35 per 100 ml 104 per 100 ml Fresh Enterococcus 33 per 100 ml 61 per 100 ml E. coli 126 per 100 ml 235 per 100 ml EPA, Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Bacteria, EPA 440/ , a Geometric mean of at least five samples over a 30-day period. b For designated beach areas. to humans, they indicate the likely presence of fecal contamination, are relatively easy to test for, and are typically found in the presence of harmful pathogens. Testing for the full range of pathogens found in beachwater is difficult, partly because if they are present they are at very low concentrations. Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA is required to develop water quality criteria for pollutants based on their impact on human health and aquatic life. States then create limits, or standards, for these pollutants using the EPA s recommended water quality criteria or other criteria that the EPA deems as protective. In 1986, the EPA developed criteria for testing recreational waters using E. coli and enterococci bacteria as pathogen indicators in the Great Lakes (fresh) waters, and enterococci as indicators in marine and fresh waters, based on prior scientific research (see Table 3-1). As of 2000, only 11 states had adopted the 1986 criteria. Recognizing the need for consistent water quality criteria at recreational beaches, Congress passed the Beach Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act in 2000, amending the Clean Water Act to improve beachwater quality monitoring programs and processes If a family of four were to swim once for notifying the public of health risks from a week in June, July, and August contamination at beaches. Under the BEACH Act, states in ocean waters that just met the were pushed to adopt standards based on the EPA s 1986 criteria for pathogen indicators. 25 In addition, the EPA EPA s current bacteria standard, one was required to complete studies on the human health member of the family would probably effects of pathogens in coastal recreational waters and to become ill. develop new criteria and methods for detecting pathogens by The EPA did not meet this deadline. As a result of a settlement of an enforcement action brought by NRDC four years ago to enforce the BEACH Act requirements, the EPA has conducted epidemi o logical studies and is now analyzing data from those studies and studies conducted by others in order to set new water quality criteria. It is also working to validate quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qpcr), a rapid test method. 27 The gastrointestinal illness rates predicted by the fecal indicator bacteria concentrations set by the EPA in 1986 have been confirmed throughout the world. 28 However, the acceptable illness rate for full-body water contact that was used when setting the standards is high. Under the levels set by the EPA in the 1986 criteria, 19 out of 1,000 people swimming in ocean waters and 8 out of 1,000 swimmers in fresh waters just meeting these standards will become ill. 29 Put another way, if a family of four were to swim once a week in the summer (June, July, and August) in ocean waters that just meet the EPA s standard, one member of the family would probably become ill. The EPA is committed to a common level of risk protection in all waters of the United States that is at least as protective as the old standards as it prepares its new standards. 30 The new standards will probably be similar to the old standards in that they will have a standard for a short-term measure of water quality and a longer-term measure as well. According to a 2007 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the current water quality criteria have other significant limitations. 31 The GAO concluded that the current indicators may not identify all health risks. For instance, the standards were developed primarily to address the risk of contracting gastroenteritis but not necessarily to address rashes, earaches, pinkeye, respiratory infections, or very serious illnesses such as hepatitis and encephalitis (inflamma tion of the brain). An epidemiological study at four Great Lakes beaches noted that rates of gastrointestinal illness correlated with enterococcus levels, but other illnesses known to be associated with swimming did not. 32 New standards being devel oped by the EPA will focus on gastroenteritis, with other illnesses included if they are significant and have indicators that reflect risk Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

46 The ability to test for pathogens instead of fecal indicator bacteria would strengthen the link between health standards and illness. While quantifying the concentrations of the multitude of pathogenic bacterial and viral species in recreational waters is difficult and expensive, the technologies for molecular methods are advancing and the possibility of directly detecting the relative presence of microbes has been demonstrated. 34,35 Molecular methods take advantage of the fact that fecal indicator bacteria and pathogens themselves have unique genetic sequences that can be detected. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction is an example of a molecular method for quantifying very small amounts of specific sequences of RNA or DNA. Because molecular methods do not involve culturing live cells, there is a possibility that water quality standards could be developed for species that are not easily cultured. However, most molecular methods, including qpcr, do not differentiate between live and dead cells, which is particularly problematic when measuring for water quality in waters that receive disinfected sewage. Also, molecular methods are susceptible to interference from chemicals, which could cause an underestimation of health risk. 36 The EPA is planning to develop its new standards based on fecal indicators, not on pathogens themselves. 37 Another potential problem with the EPA s current beachwater quality standards is that the underlying epidemiological studies used to develop these standards were conducted primarily at beaches with exposure to human feces dominated point-source contamination coming from pipes. In many coastal areas, diffuse, nonpoint sources including urban runoff, septic system discharges, and animal waste can be larger sources of pathogens in recreational waters. The EPA is now analyzing the results of studies at stormwater-impacted beaches to address this concern. Thus far, the agency has not found any data to support different criteria for different sources of fecal contamination. 38 In other words, it appears that illnesses from animal fecal sources occur at similar rates as illnesses from human sources of fecal contamination. Geographic differences among water conditions, such as the amount of UV exposure and temperature, may affect the lifecycle of pathogens and their impact on human health. As a result, pathogens can behave differently in tropical waters than in temperate waters. The current standards fail to capture the variability in the potential for pathogens to re-grow, persist, and die off, or to address variability in indicator/illness relationships. 39 Standards could include requirements for sampling locations and times. Recent studies establish that ambient concentrations of bacteria in dynamic aquatic environments can vary radically within short spatial and temporal scales. 40 Also, since human viruses are generally more resistant to sunlight than the indicator organisms that are measured, sampling is best conducted in the early morning hours. 41 Faster Detection Methods Perhaps more important than any challenges associated with current fecal indicator bacteria standards is that current approved detection methods for fecal indicator bacteria require a long incubation period, usually producing results in 24 hours. This lag time between when pathogen-contaminated waters are sampled and when the public is notified creates a window of time where swimmers are exposed to contaminated water (see Figure 3-2). In addition, it results in beach closure days on days when the beachwater meets standards. For several years, the EPA has been conducting research on the use of rapid test methods to determine beachwater quality, particularly using qpcr methods, including how the qpcr results correlate with other test methods of determining fecal indicator bacteria concentrations, whether qpcr detects all strains of fecal indicator bacteria, and whether the methods can be used to correlate the amount of indicator present with illness rates in swimmers. The EPA included qpcr analysis as part of its freshwater epidemiological surveys conducted in the Great Lakes in The study concluded that the use of faster test methods for assessing recreational water quality would result in the ability to make decisions about beach closings and advisories on the day of sample collection and could thereby lower gastrointestinal illnesses in beach communities. 42 Another promising rapid test method is immunomagnetic separation/adenosine triphosphate (IMS/ATP), which exploits the unique properties of the surfaces of target cells (e.g., enterococcus or E. coli) to capture and tag the cells and count their concentrations in a given sample. The use of IMS/ATP techniques for detecting microbes in surface waters has not been studied as much as the use of qpcr, but it is being used in epidemiological studies this year. One of the challenges of IMS/ATP is that strains of indicator bacteria for which antibodies do not yet exist are not detected. 43 More epidemiological studies using rapid test methods have been conducted at beaches in California, Florida, and Puerto Rico, and the results of these studies are being analyzed. Many other locations have conducted or are conducting 38 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010

47 Figure 3-2. Lag Time Associated With Current Water Quality and Public Notification Methods Monday morning: Collect water samples. 24 to 48 hours: are incubated and tested. Tuesday morning to Wednesday afternoon: /closure decision made and public notified. pilot tests of rapid test methods. For example, the City of Racine, Wisconsin, has been testing and piloting different rapid detection technologies since In July of 2010, a pilot project was launched at several beaches in Orange County, California, in order to demonstrate the use of qpcr for making beachwater quality warning decisions on the same day a sample is taken. Traditional methods will be used to analyze the samples alongside qpcr analysis, but the qpcr results will be used to determine whether or not warnings about beachwater quality will be issued and signs posted at the pilot study beaches. This is the first use of a rapid test method for issuing beachwater quality notifications at coastal beaches in the United States. Beachwater quality generally depends on many complex factors, but for some beaches, predictions of beachwater quality based on a few physical measurements of daily conditions can be fairly accurately calculated. Some states have taken advantage of this and have created computer beachwater quality models that rely on data from physical measure ments such as rainfall levels, wind speed and direction, tides, wave heights, and currents. These models prepare rapid predictions of beachwater quality and allow for beaches to be closed or placed under advisory the day that bacterial levels are expected to be high, rather than 24 hours after samples with high bacteria concentrations are taken. The importance of predictive models in protecting public health was illustrated by one local beach manager who demonstrated that at his or her beach, advisories and closings based on monitoring results were issued inaccurately 100% of the time. 45 In other words, samples taken when the beach was under advisory or closure due to the previous day s monitoring results showed that the beachwater quality met standards on the days that the beach was under advisory or closure in every case. Because the water quality at many beaches is adversely affected by stormwater runoff, another less sophisticated means of protecting public health is to preemptively close beaches or issue advisories when indicator bacteria levels are expected to be high after rainfall events. These preemptive rainfall advisories can be based on rainfall intensity or some other rain-related factor. States should always provide adequate warnings to swimmers when there has been a sewage spill. INCREASE SOURCE IDENTIFICATION EFFORTS Information about sources of contamination is invaluable in terms of addressing poor water quality, but determining sources of contamination can take time, money, and expertise that beach managers do not have at their disposal. One simple way to identify sources is to conduct a sanitary survey. Beach sanitary surveys involve collecting information at the beach, and sometimes information about the surrounding watershed. Information collected at the beach may include data regarding discharge from any outfalls, the number of birds at the site, the amount of litter, and the presence of seaweed or algae. Information about the watershed may reflect land use, the use of residential septic tanks, and locations of wastewater treatment facilities. After a pilot study of sanitary surveys was conducted at 36 beaches in Wisconsin, the number of closing and advisory events attributed to unknown sources decreased from 84% to 24%. 46 Sani tary surveys 39 Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2010