NRDC the Natural Resources Defense Council Is an International Nonprofit Environmental Organization with More Than 1.2 Million Members and Online Activists
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
July 2009 Testing the Waters A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches NINETEENTH EDITION Authors Mark Dorfman Kirsten Sinclair Rosselot Project Design and Development Nancy Stoner Natural Resources Defense Council About NRDC The Natural Resources Defense Council is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.2 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 www.nrdc.org. Acknowledgments NRDC wishes to acknowledge the support of The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Campbell Foundation, Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation, Sarah K. deCoizart Article Tenth Perpetual Charitable Trust, The Davis Family Trust for Clean Water, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Inc., Peter R. Gimbel and Elga Anderson-Gimbel Memorial Trust, The Joyce Foundation, Legacy Fund, The McKnight Foundation, The Pisces Foundation, The Prospect Hill Foundation, Sandler Foundation, The Mary Jean Smeal Clean Water Fund, The Summit Foundation, The Summit Fund of Washington, and Victoria Foundation, Inc. NRDC would like to thank David Gordon, Janine Harris, Henry Henderson, Michele Mehta, and Josh Mogerman for researching and reviewing various aspects of the report this year and Carol James for distributing the report nation- wide. Thank you to Anthony Clark and Lisa Goffredi for managing the production of the report, to Bonnie Greenfield for designing it, and to Rita Barol, Scott Dodd, 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 for her skillful Spanish translations and Ted Lamm and Elise Marton for their proofreading assistance. Many thanks to members of our media team Courtney Hamilton, Elizabeth Heyd, Serena Ingre, Jessica Lass, Josh Mogerman, Lily Oster, Jenny Powers, and Kate Slusark for orchestrating the release of the report to the press. Thanks to Sarah Chasis, Noah Garrison, Larry Levine, Michele Mehta, Leila Monroe, Adrianna Quintero, and Andrew Wetzler for releasing the report for NRDC this year and Christy Leavitt, Natalie Roy, and Jennifer Peters for arranging for releases by chapters of Environment America and the Clean Water Network. We wish also to thank the U.S. EPA 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 Publications Editor: Anthony Clark NRDC Publications Director: Lisa Goffredi NRDC Director of Communications: Phil Gutis Production: Bonnie Greenfield NRDC Director of Marketing and Operations: Alexandra Kennaugh Copyright 2009 by the Natural Resources Defense Council. ii Natural Resources Defense Council Table of Contents Executive Summary. v National Overview. .1 Chapter 1 Sources of Beachwater Pollution and Strategies for Reduction. .13 Chapter 2 Health Risks and Economic Impacts of Beach Pollution. .24 Chapter 3 Beachwater Monitoring and Closing/Advisory Practices. 39 Chapter 4 Plan of Action . .41 Chapter 5 State Summaries. 46 Alabama Florida Louisiana Minnesota North Carolina South Carolina Alaska Georgia Maine Mississippi Ohio Texas California Hawaii Maryland New Hampshire Oregon Virginia Connecticut Illinois Massachusetts New Jersey Pennsylvania Washington Delaware Indiana Michigan New York Rhode Island Wisconsin Figures Figure 1. Regional Differences in Percent Exceedance of National Standards, 2005–2008 ................................................2 Figure 2. Regional Differences in Closing/Advisory Days, 2005–2008 .............................................................................2 Figure 3. Total Closing/Advisory Days, 2000–2008 (excluding extended and permanent) ................................................3 Figure 4. Reported Reasons for Closings/Advisories, 2008 ...............................................................................................4 Figure 5. Reported Reasons for Closings/Advisories, 2000–2008 .....................................................................................4 Figure 6. Sources of Pollution That Caused Closings/Advisories, 2008 .............................................................................5 Figure 7. Sources of Pollution That Caused Closings/Advisories, 2000–2008 ...................................................................5 Figure 8. Percent Exceedance for All Coastal and Great Lakes States Combined, 2005–2008 ...........................................6 Figure 9. Influence of Heavy Rainfall on Occurrence of E. coli Infections .......................................................................15 Figure 10. A Re-Engineered Stormwater Outfall in Racine, Wisconsin ...........................................................................16 Figure 11. A Rough Illustration of the Prevalence of Combined Sewer Systems in the United States ..............................17 Figure 12. Geographic Location of the Reported Disease Outbreaks ..............................................................................26 Figure 13. Expansion of HAB Problems in the U.S. .......................................................................................................29 Figure 14. Lag Time Associated with Current Water Quality Monitoring and Public Notification Methods ...................32 Figure 15. The Value of the Coastal Economy (2007) ....................................................................................................33 iii Natural Resources Defense Council Testing the Waters 2009 Tables Table 1. Rank of States by Monitored Beachwater Quality in 2008 ..................................................................................7 Table 2. Beaches with More Than 25 Percent of Samples Exceeding Daily National Standards in 2008............................8 Table 3. Repeat Offenders: Beaches with More Than 25 Percent of Samples Exceeding Daily National Standards Each Year, 2005–2008 ......................................................................................................................................11 Table 4. Details on the 62 Waterborne Disease Outbreaks Reported to CDCP: Jan 2003–Dec 2004 .............................25 Table 5. Pathogens and Swimming-Associated Illnesses ..................................................................................................25 Table 6. Possible Influence of Climate Change on Climate-Susceptible Pathogens ..........................................................27 Table 7. Algae and Their Threats to Human Health .......................................................................................................29 Table 8. Beachwater Quality Standards Required by the BEACH Act ............................................................................30 Table 9. Cost Estimates for Illnesses Associated with Polluted Water Due to Lost Wages and Medical Care....................35 iv Natural Resources Defense Council Nineteenth Annual Report Executive Summary In 2008, beach closings and advisories hit their fourth highest level in the 19 years the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has been tracking them. The number of closing and advisory days at ocean, bay, and Great Lakes beaches topped 20,000 for the fourth year in a row, confirming that our nation’s beaches continue to suffer from serious water pollution that puts swimmers at risk. For the fourth consecutive year, we were able to determine not only the number of closings and advisories, but also the number of times that each beach violated current public health standards. Analysis of beach monitoring data showed that the percent of water samples exceeding national health standards remained steady at 7 percent in 2008, 2007, and Even during the relatively dry 2008 2006, and 8 percent in 2005. beach season, stormwater runoff Improved test results combined with fewer preemptive contributed to two-thirds of the rainfall closings and advisories due to drier weather translated into a better beach season last year for swimmers in many closing/advisory days with a reported coastal communities. However, relying on dry weather to contamination source. 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. Even in the relatively dry 2008 beach season, stormwater runoff contributed to two-thirds of the closing/advisory days with a reported contamination source, indicating that there are sources of human or animal wastes that are not being adequately addressed. POLLUTED WATER MAKES BEACHGOERS SICK In its most recent report, 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. Data on the incidence of waterborne illness in the United States is notoriously insufficient because many people who get sick have no idea that ingesting contaminated water was the cause. Epidemiological studies such