EPA's  BEACH  Report:
             New Jersey  2008 Swimming  Season
             July 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 Jersey for the 2008 swimming
season.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) has been monitoring coastal
recreational bathing beaches since 1974 with
the participation of local environmental health
agencies. Water quality samples are collected
once a week at 260 ocean and bay beaches  and
analyzed for enterococci bacteria.
In addition to water quality monitoring, DEP's
Water Monitoring and Standards Bureau of
Marine Water Monitoring performs aerial
surveillance of nearshore coastal waters. These
surveillance flights enable the evaluation of
coastal water quality and the assessment of the
nature and extent of public reports of ocean
pollution. Surveillance flights continue to
record a decrease in the quantity of floatable
trash and debris in the coastal waterways
compared to the years prior to 1990.

Updated beach conditions and water quality
results are posted each day from Memorial Day
through Labor Day on the DEP web site
(www.njbeaches.org) and on the phone at
1-800-648-SAND.
Figure 1. New Jersey coastal counties.
Table 1.  Breakdown of monitored and
        unmonitored coastal beaches by
        county for 2008.
County
ATLANTIC
CAPE MAY
MONMOUTH
OCEAN
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
48
69
59
84
260
Monitored
48
69
59
84
260
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0
0

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2008 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported and
how long were they?
When bacteria results exceed the standard of 104
enterococci per 100 mL of sample, New Jersey's
approach is to resample to confirm the result. If a
second sample exceeds the standard, the beach is
closed until additional monitoring shows that bacteria
levels are again within the standard. Sample results
are posted on the DEP web site. A total of 14 monitored
beaches had at least one notification action issued
during the 2008 swimming season. All but two of
New Jersey's 71 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 Jersey's 2008 swimming season, actions were
reported about 0.2 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 impact
investigated monitored beaches?
In 2008, New Jersey reports that the majority of beach
closings are caused by contaminated stormwater
following periods of intense rainfall. All beach
samples with results above the standard are followed
by a  sanitary survey investigation at that beach.


For More  Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in
New Jersey:
www.njbeaches.org or 1-800-648-SAND
 Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
o
IB
O
     70 -i
     60 -
     50 -
     40 -
            62
  t  30-
     20 -
     10 -
                    2       3-7     8-30
                    Duration of Actions (days)
                                             >30
  Figure 3:  Beach days with
            and without
            notification
            actions.
               Beach days
              with an action:
                  84
                 (0.3%)
                                    with no action:
                                       32,676
                                       (99.7%)
  Table 2.   Beach notification actions, 2006-2008.
   Number of monitored
   beaches
                        325
                                 264
                                          260
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
Percentage of beach days
affected by notification
actions
22
7%
0.3%
15
6%
0.4%
14
5%
0.3%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (260 beaches).
                                                     0   10   20   30
                  Percent of beaches
                   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)
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0






























































Wofe: A single beach may
have multiple sources.













































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