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Testing the Waters 2007 - A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches
NEW YORK -- The state's beaches have seen a major increase in health-related advisories or closings due to pollution concerns, according to a report released Tuesday.
In 2006, New York beaches had 1,280 days with closings or advisories, up from 827 days in 2005, according to "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches," issued by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
About two-thirds of the closings and advisories were pre-emptive, the report said. Rainfall can take pollution from overflowing sewers and land and send it into larger water bodies. The report said that beach water quality tests that found unhealthy bacteria levels resulted in 29 percent of the closings and advisories.
Suffolk County beaches had the most closings and advisories, the report found, accounting for almost 40 percent of the state's total. The report said most closings and advisories at New York City beaches were pre-emptive rather than because tests showed unhealthy bacteria levels.
In New Jersey, there were 134 closing and advisory days in 2006, up from 79 in 2005, the report said. Sixty-five percent of the days were due to pre-emptive closings; the other 35 percent to water-sampling results showing unsafe bacteria levels.
Nationwide, there were more than 25,000 closing or advisory days.
The report blamed sewage and storm drainage systems for most of the problem, saying they were aging and poorly designed. It also cited urban development.
"A summer rainstorm should not have to mean that endless amounts of pollution are washed down to the beach, or that sewers will overflow. We can fix leaky pipes; we can require coastal developers to plant trees and grass to absorb rain. The solutions are out there," said Nancy Stoner, director of the NRDC's Clean Water Project.
