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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