EPA's BEACH Report:
Connecticut 2008 Swimming Season
May 2009
Introduction
The BEACH Act of 2000 requires that coastal and
Great Lakes states and territories report to EPA on
beach monitoring and notification data for their
coastal recreation waters. The BEACH Act defines
coastal recreation waters as the Great Lakes and
coastal waters (including coastal estuaries) that states,
territories, and authorized tribes officially recognize or
designate for swimming, bathing, surfing, or similar
activities in the water.
This fact sheet summarizes beach monitoring and
notification data submitted to EPA by the State of
Connecticut for the 2008 swimming season.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health collects
monitored beach data for 66 marine beaches located
along its shoreline with Long Island Sound. Local
health departments monitor 62 of these beaches. The
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
monitors the remaining four State Park marine
beaches.
Connecticut has adopted a set of beach monitoring
guidelines that are based on U.S. EPA standards for
recreational bathing waters. These guidelines have
been in effect since May 1989. They were revised most
recently in April 2003.
Questions about a municipal beach should be
directed to the shoreline local health department
that monitors it. Questions about a State Park beach
should be directed to the Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection.
Figure 1. Connecticut coastal counties.
Middlesex New London
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2008.
County
FAIRFIELD
MIDDLESEX
NEW HAVEN
NEW LONDON
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
28
5
19
14
66
Monitored
28
5
19
14
66
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0
0
-------
2008 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported and
how long were they?
When water quality standards are exceeded at a
particular beach, Connecticut's approach is to issue
a beach advisory or closure to warn people to avoid
contact with the ocean water. A total of 24 monitored
beaches had at least one notification action issued
during the 2008 swimming season. About 85 percent of
Connecticut's notification actions lasted two days or less.
Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of notification action
durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
For Connecticut's 2008 swimming season, actions were
reported about 2 percent of the time (Figure 3).
How do 2008 results compare to previous years?
Table 2 compares 2008 notification action data with
monitored beach data from previous years.
What pollution sources possibly affect investigated
monitored beaches?
Figure 4 displays the percentage of Connecticut's
investigated monitored beaches possibly affected by
various pollution sources. In 2008, 71 percent of the
beaches included storm-related runoff as a possible
source. No pollution sources were identified at 23 percent
of the beaches.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Connecticut:
www.ct.gov/dph/publicbeaches
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
50 -|
45 -
40 -
« 35-
.1 30 -
| 25 -
o 20 -
| 15-
10 -
5 -
0 -
10
2 3-7 8-30
Duration of Actions (days)
>30
Figure 3: Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days with
an action:
135
(2%)
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2006-2008.
Number of monitored
beaches
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
2006
67
40
60%
3%
2007
66
33
50%
2%
2008
66
24
36%
2%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (56 beaches).
Percent of beaches
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Investigated / no sources found
Non-storm related runoff
Storm-related runoff
Agricultural runoff
Boat discharge
Cone, animal feeding operation
Combined sewer overflow
Sanitary sewer overflow
Publicly-owned treatment works
Sewer line leak or break
Septic system leakage
Wildlife
Other (identified) source(s)
Unidentified source(s)
23
25
71
Wofe: A single beach may
have multiple sources.
------- |