CA
Northern California Beach Warnings on the Rise
Author: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Published on Jul 28, 2010 - 9:14:19 AM

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 28, 2010) – Pollution continues to contaminate the water at America's beaches nationwide, causing 2,904 closing and advisory days in California alone last year and 18,682 nationwide, according to the 20th annual beachwater quality report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Meanwhile this year the Gulf oil disaster has already led to 2,239 days of beach closing, advisories, and notices in the Gulf region.

"Although significant progress has been achieved in beachwater monitoring over the past 20 years, our beaches continue to be plagued with pollution from dirty stormwater runoff and sewage overflows," said Leila Monroe, Oceans Program staff attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "From causing people to contract the flu, pink eye or skin rashes, to jeopardizing millions of jobs and billions of dollars that rely on clean coasts, there are serious costs to inaction. Americans should not suffer the consequences of contaminated beachwater."

Using government data, NRDC's report – Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches – confirms that California's beaches continue to suffer from serious contamination – including human and animal waste – that can make people sick.

This year's report found 7 percent of beachwater samples nationwide last year violated health standards. In California, 9 percent of beachwater samples violated state health standards in 2009 – indicating the presence of human or animal waste. Sewage spills and stormwater runoff are the major known sources of pollution in California beach water.

NRDC's report also provides a 5-star rating guide for the nation's most popular beaches, based on indicators of beachwater quality, monitoring frequency, and public notification of contamination. In 2009, California ranked 20th out of 30 coastal states in beachwater quality. Northern California beaches, including some of San Francisco's most frequented beaches, Baker Beach and Ocean Beach, fared relatively moderate, receiving 2 and 3 star ratings, respectively.

While the report found a 30 percent decrease in closing and advisory days at California beaches from 2008, closing and advisory days increased dramatically in northern California counties. Closing and advisory days were influenced by heavy first flush rain events in October 2009, and the October 30, 2009 bunker fuel spill, in which a tank vessel spilled an estimated 400 to 800 gallons of bunker fuel into the San Francisco Bay, causing extended beach closings.

"The Pacific coastline is one of America's most stunning natural treasures and it supports vital tourism and fishing industries," said California's 10th Congressional district representative John Garamendi and author of the West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2010, a bill that would permanently ban all new oil and natural gas drilling from platforms in federal waters off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington. "All of us have a stake in the health of our ocean and a responsibility to protect it."

San Francisco County had the highest percent exceedence rate in northern California in 2009 (17 percent), followed by Mendocino (14 percent), Santa Cruz (11 percent), Humboldt (11 percent), San Mateo (10 percent), Contra Costa (10 percent), Alameda (8 percent), Monterey (5 percent), Marin (4 percent), and Sonoma (4 percent).

Medocino County's jump in exceedances from 1% in 2008 to 14% in 2009 was mostly due to 2009 monitoring of Pudding Creek Beach at Pudding Lagoon, a warm standing lagoon with no outlets for water to pass to the ocean during summer months. 2008 monitoring of Pudding Creek Beach did not include the lagoon, thus returning a much lower exceedence rate for Mendocino County.

New this year is a Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Beach Closures, Advisories, and Notices supplement about oil related beach closings and advisories as a result of the tragic oil disaster in April. As oil washes ashore, closures, advisories, and notices have been issued at many Gulf beaches – nearly 10 times as many closing and advisory days as were issued at these beaches for any reason by this time last year. So far this year, there have been a total of 2,239 beach closing, advisories, and notices in the Gulf region as a result of the oil disaster.

NRDC is maintaining a frequently updated map of current oil spill beach closures, advisories, and notices, which can be accessed here: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/gulfspill/beaches.asp.

Beachwater pollution makes swimmers vulnerable to a range of waterborne illnesses including stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye, ear, nose and throat problems, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments, neurological disorders and other serious health problems. For senior citizens, small children and people with weak immune systems, the results can be fatal.

In the wake of the Gulf oil disaster, this year's report reveals that polluted ocean water not only threatens our health but can also devastate coastal economies. Coastal tourism and recreation is one of the fastest growing business sectors in the nation. When beachwaters become polluted due to oil contamination, stormwater runoff, sewage spills and other causes, millions of Americans in coastal communities across the country stand to suffer.

The best way to protect swimmers from beachwater pollution is to prevent it. Federal, state and local governments can make this a priority by requiring better controls on stormwater and sewage. A key solution is to utilize green infrastructure techniques in communities to retain and filter rainwater where it falls, letting it soak back into the ground rather than running off into waterways. This includes strategically placed rain gardens in yards, tree boxes on city sidewalks, green roofs that use absorbent vegetation on top of buildings, and permeable pavement that allows water to penetrate the material, instead of asphalt or concrete.

Another solution is the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act currently pending in Congress, which would provide money for more beachwater sampling and require use of faster testing methods so people get timely information about whether it is safe to swim. Additionally, since climate change is expected to make pollution worse, Congress should pass comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation to cap global warming pollution and help communities prepare for the effects of climate change, including flooding, sea level rise, increased stormwater pollution and sewer overflows.

Read the full report at www.nrdc.org/beaches, and for tips for a safe trip to the beach this summer go to http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/gttw.asp.

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