FOR RELEASE: July 1, 1997 10:00 a.m.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Todd Robins, Liz Hitchcock (202) 546-9707
WATER POLLUTION CAUSED 2,596 BEACH CLOSINGS ACROSS COUNTRY LAST YEAR
MANY POPULAR BEACHES NOT TESTED FOR SWIMMER SAFETY
Water contaminated with sewage and polluted runoff from farms and city streets prompted at least 2,596 swimming advisories and beach closings at ocean, bay, and Great Lakes beaches across the country in 1996, according to Testing the Waters: How Does Your Vacation Beach Rate? a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report released today by the State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs).
"July 4th weekend should be a time when we can go to the beach to relax and enjoy the water. Unfortunately, each summer water pollution fouls our beaches and threatens our health," said U.S. PIRG attorney Todd Robins. "We need to strengthen, not weaken, the Clean Water Act to guarantee safe beaches for summers to come."
For the first time, the report rates 12 of the nation's most popular vacation beaches on whether they are regularly monitored for pollution. Many beaches that receive millions of visitors annually fail to regularly monitor beach water and notify beachgoers when swimming waters are contaminated with pollutants that can cause gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis, ear, nose, and throat problems, and respiratory illness in swimmers.
Popular beaches receiving a "thumbs down" rating for their failure to monitor at all for swimmer safety were Florida's Key West, South Carolina's Myrtle Beach, North Carolina's Cape Hatteras beaches and Puerto Rico's entire coast line. Beaches with a "thumbs up" rating for their comprehensive monitoring and notification programs included Cape May, New Jersey, Jones Beach, New York, Venice Beach, California, and Windandsea Beach in San Diego, California.
No uniform national standards for monitoring beach water quality for swimmer safety or for warning of contamination exist. Many states provide irregular monitoring or no monitoring for swimmer safety at all. In addition, among the states that do monitor, some do not always notify the public and close beaches when standards are violated.
"If the water quality at beaches isn't being monitored regularly, people literally don't know what they're getting into when they go swimming," said Robins. "With inconsistent monitoring and public notification practices from beach to beach and state to state, an unwitting family could easily be directed to an open beach, thinking its the cleanest, when in fact it may be the most polluted," he added.
"The public has a right to safe and clean beaches, and a right to know if their beaches are not safe and clean," Robins said.
Testing the Waters details a plan of action for clean beach water and swimmer health. The report calls for a national uniform beach protection standard and monitoring requirement, as well as mandatory closure and advisory requirements. The report also urges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen water testing standards.
The State PIRGs announced their support for federal legislation to address the problem of inconsistent or nonexistent beach water monitoring and public notification. Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Brian Bilbray (R-CA) just last week introduced the "Beaches Environment, Assessment, Closure, and Health Act of 1997 (H.R. 2094), or the "B.E.A.C.H. Bill," that would require states to adopt consistent beachwater quality standards, regularly monitor their beaches, and notify the public when violations occur. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Torricelli introduced companion legislation, S. 971, in the Senate.
Congressman Pallone has also introduced The Clean Water Enforcement and Compliance Improvement Act of 1997 (H.R. 1453) in the House of Representatives, and Senators Lautenberg and Torricelli have introduced its companion bill (S. 645) in the Senate. These bills would require states to post and maintain signs at all beaches notifying beachgoers of water quality problems.
PIRGs across the country are releasing Testing the Waters as part of the PIRGs' Environmental Defense Campaign.
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The State PIRGs are nonpartisan, non-profit environmental and consumer watchdog organizations active in more than 30 states nationwide.
NRDC is a national non-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting the world's natural resources and ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all people. |
