EPA's   BEACH  Report:
               New York  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 New York for the 2008 swimming
season.
Each summer, New York monitors
bacteriological indicator levels at bathing
beaches along Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Long
Island Sound, and the Atlantic Ocean as part
of EPA's BEACH Act  grant program. Indicator
bacteria are used to detect pollution sources,
such as sewage or stormwater runoff that
could affect water quality at a beach. The New
York State Department of Health contracts
with local health departments, the New
York City Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene, and the New York State Office of
Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation
to provide up-to-date information regarding
beach water quality conditions to the public.
In 2008, 8,720 beach  water samples were
collected from the State's 353 monitored
beaches and analyzed for E. coll (freshwater
beaches) or Enterococcus (marine beaches).
Sample analysis and  local predictive models
resulted in 848 instances of beach closures or
advisory postings to  protect the public from
swimming in potentially contaminated water.
Public notification occurs if a sample exceeds
the threshold of 235 E. coll colonies per lOOmL
or 104 Enterococcus colonies per lOOmL of
water. New York's beach water quality is
generally excellent; in 2008 the State's coastal
beaches were open 96% of the time.
Figure 1. New York coastal counties.
                         Bronx
                          Kings
                   Richmond
                           Queen
  Table 1.  Breakdown of monitored and
          unmonitored beaches by county
          for 2008.
County
BRONX
CAYUGA
CHAUTAUQUA
ERIE
JEFFERSON
KINGS
MONROE
NASSAU
NIAGARA
OSWEGO
QUEENS
RICHMOND
SUFFOLK
WAYNE
WESTCHESTER
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
10
1
9
10
3
11
4
65
2
7
11
3
201
3
25
365
Monitored
8
1
9
10
3
11
4
65
2
7
11
3
194
3
22
353
Not
Monitored
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
0
3
12*
    ' These beaches were not in operation in 2008.

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2008 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported
and how long were they?
When water quality standards are exceeded at a
particular beach, New York's approach is to issue a
beach advisory that warns people to avoid contact
with the ocean water. A total of 138 monitored
beaches had at least one advisory issued during
the 2008  swimming season. About 89 percent of
New York's 848 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 New York's 2008 swimming season, actions were
reported  about 4 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 New York's
monitored beaches possibly affected by various
pollution sources. In 2008, 54 percent of the beaches
included  storm-related runoff as a known potential
source. No pollution sources were identified at 42
percent of the beaches.

For More  Information
For general information about beaches:
http://www.epa.gov/beaches/
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
   600-|
          508
                   2       3-7     8-30
                  Duration of Actions (days)
                                             >30
Figure 3:  Beach days with
          and without
          notification
          actions.
              Beach days
            with an action:
                1,610
                (4%)
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2006-2008.

Number of monitored
beaches
Number of beaches
affected by advisories or
closings
Percentage of beaches
affected by advisories or
closings
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
2006
354
132
37%
4%
2007
353
141
40%
4%
2008
353
138
39%
4%
                                                      Figure 4: Percent of monitored beaches potentially
                                                             affected by pollution sources (353 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)
                             54
                             Note: A single beach may
                              have multiple sources.

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