As New Yorkers rush to beaches around the tri-state area this scorching summer a new report may have some folks afraid to jump in the water.
This year’s Natural Resources Defense Council’s Testing the Waters report found that 7 percent of beach water samples nationwide in 2009 violated health standards. But in New York the water violations reached 11 percent -- a three percent increase from 2008. This increase gives New York State the nation’s seventh worst beach water.
The report, now in its 20th year, tested the water at more than 560 New York and New Jersey beaches in addition to 3,000 beaches nationwide. The report confirms that last summer, our nation’s beach water continued to suffer from serious contamination that can make people sick, these include human and animal waste.
“New York and New Jersey are home to some of the country’s most popular beaches, but each summer they continue to be plagued with bouts of sewage and storm water pollution,” said Sarah Chasis, director of the councils Oceans Initiative.
The report cites storm water runoff and sewage overflow as contaminants in beach water, causing 1,955 closing and advisory days in the New York/ New Jersey region in 2009.
“Once again this critical report highlights the growing need for aggressively addressing polluted storm water runoff,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
Esposito also noted that Long Island beaches were closed or under advisory for 888 days in 2009, a 10% increase from 2008. The Testing the Waters notes that the number of closing and advisory days increased 10% from 2008 to 1,775 closing and advisory days in 2009.
A majority of closings in New York were caused by storm water runoff due to unusually heavy precipitation. The report rated the beaches on a scale of five stars. The stars are awarded on the basis water quality, monitoring frequency, and public notification of contamination.
Out of a possible 5 stars New York/ New Jersey beaches received no more than 3 stars.
The report noted that all the beaches tested failed to always issue advisories promptly after a health standard was exceeded or to test more than once a week. The council also noted that water quality was tested only 1 once a week while some only test 2 times per month.
Area beaches like the Bronx’s Orchard Beach and Robert Moses State Park Beach on Long Island, received the lowest rating of only one star, due to an uptake in health standards violations last summer.
“The remedy is simple –we need to use Green Infrastructure to slow the flow, soak it in, and spread it out. Green infrastructure harnesses nature, allowing the earth to absorb the water and slowing its release into storm systems," the report said. "These solutions are cheap, easy and effective.”
Connecticut beaches fared better with total closings decreasing 20 percent at 108 days in 2009 down from 135 days in 2008. Most of the closings were attributed to preemptive closings due to elevated bacteria levels. Contamination levels were credited to storm water runoff while the remaining 19 percent were noted to come from unknown sources of contamination.
In New Jersey, the percentage of exceeded health increased to 5 percent in 2009 from 3 percent in 2008. This allowed New Jersey keep its national rank steady at 14th in the nation
New Jersey did however see a 13 percent decrease in the amount of beach closings and advisories from 2008. But the decrease could be attributed to closings and advisories issued after medical waste washed up on Cape May.
The state of New jersey did see a 33 percent increase in closing and advisory days due to water quality tests showing an exceeded amount of health standard violations. Preemptive advisories issued after heavy rainfall also rose 128 percent due to increased rainfall.
“Smart water practices are available today to help protect our beaches, while also greening the landscapes of our cities and towns,” said NRDC senior attorney Lawrence Levine.
The council has a court case pending that challenges New York State for not doing enough to prevent and reduce runoff pollution statewide. The council did however concede that New York State recently made advances in requiring smarter water practices for new development projects. They also note that loopholes remain that undercut the effectiveness of these practices.
“These green infrastructure approaches are starting to take hold in parts of New York and New Jersey. But state and local officials throughout the region need to make them standard practice, in order to achieve environmental and economic benefits that are simply not possible if we continue in our old ways,” said Levine.
