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. ------- 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. ------- |