EPA's BEACH Report:
South Carolina 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 South Carolina for the 2008
swimming season.
The beach program staff in South Carolina
wants your input. Please log onto our Web
site, look at the data that is posted, and let us
know if we can provide information that is
more helpful. Our Web site address is:
www.scdhec.gov/beach.
And, come to South Carolina—beautiful places
and smiling faces await you.
Figure 1. South Carolina coastal counties.
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2008.
Total
County Beaches
BEAUFORT
CHARLESTON
COLLETON
GEORGETOWN
HORRY
TOTALS
4
5
1
5
8
23
Monitored
4
5
1
5
8
23
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0
0
0
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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, South Carolina's approach is to
issue a beach advisory that warns people to avoid
contact with the ocean water. A total of 7 monitored
beaches had at least one advisory issued during
the 2008 swimming season. About 72 percent of
South Carolina's 18 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 South Carolina's 2008 swimming season, actions
were 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 South Carolina's
investigated monitored beaches possibly affected by
various pollution sources. In 2008, 70 percent of the
beaches were listed as having no known sources of
pollution.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
Information regarding sample results is available at the
South Carolina DHEC Web site at www.scdhec.gov,
www.earth911.com or by contacting DHEC at
(843) 238-4378.
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
2 3-7 8-30
Duration of Actions (days)
>30
Figure 3: Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
36
(1%)
Beach days
with no action
3,483
(99%)
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
23
9
39%
8%
2007
23
10
43%
2%
2008
23
7
30%
1%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (23 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)
• 4
—
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
r
•
9
I 22
70
Note: A single beach may
have multiple sources.
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