m
EPA's BEACH Report:
Maryland 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 moni-
toring 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 notifi-
cation data submitted to EPA by the State of Maryland for
the 2008 swimming season.
Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE)
works with local health departments and Maryland
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH)
Laboratory to enhance beach water quality monitoring
and improve the public notification process for beach
water quality in Maryland.
Water quality assessment begins prior to the beach
season when local health departments collect water
samples from beaches and perform beach Pollution
Source Surveys to ensure that there are no nearby pol-
lution sources that may adversely impact water quality.
MDE has been working with local health departments
to utilize a recently developed technology-based data
collection system to conduct beach Pollution Source
Surveys. This system facilitates the collection of detailed
geo-referenced information, and improves data manage-
ment and analysis. This data system has provided MDE
and local health departments with a unique view on how
land-based activities can impact water quality at beaches
and provides the information needed to quickly correct
or mitigate problems identified.
Local health departments collect water quality samples
from beaches before and during the beach season.
These samples are sent to the DHMH Laboratory for
analysis. Water quality results that exceed the criteria
are immediately reported to local health departments so
that beach managers can issue a notification if needed.
MDE assembles and submits the monitoring and notifi-
cation data to EPA.
In 2008, MDE launched a website,
MarylandHealthyBeaches.com, to provide information
to beachgoers about Maryland's Beaches program
and environmentally healthy practices at Maryland's
beaches.
Figure 1. Maryland coastal counties.
Table 1.
County
ANNE
ARUNDEL
Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches
by county for 2008.
Total Not
Beaches Monitored Monitored
29
29
BALTIMORE
CALVERT
CECIL
KENT
QUEEN
ANNE'S
SOMERSET
ST MARY'S
WORCESTER
TOTALS
4
9
5
8
1
2
3
10
71
4
9
5
8
1
2
3
10
71
0
0
0
0
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, Maryland's approach is to issue a
beach advisory that warns people to avoid contact
with the beach water. A total of 10 monitored
beaches had at least one advisory issued during
the 2008 swimming season. The majority of the
notification action durations that are 3 to 7 days,
shown in Figure 2, reflect the timing between
sampling events rather than risk to swimmers or
pollution. Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of
notification action durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
For Maryland's 2008 swimming season, there were
notifications reported about 1 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 Maryland's
investigated monitored beaches possibly affected by
various pollution sources. In 2008, 70 percent of the
beaches had unidentified sources.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Maryland:
MarylandHealthyBeaches.com
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
in
c
.g
•s
d
2 3-7 8-30
Duration of Actions (days)
>30
Figure 3: Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
61
(1%)
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2006-2008.
with no action:
6,897
(99%)
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
81
18
22%
4%
2007
68
20
29%
4%
2008
71
10
14%
1%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (71 beaches).
o
10
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)
30
Percent of beaches
40 50 60 70
80 90 100
Note: A single beach may
have multiple sources.
70
------- |