EPA's BEACH Report:
New Jersey 2009 Swimming Season
May 2010
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 2009 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 241 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 2009.
County
ATLANTIC
CAPE MAY
MONMOUTH
OCEAN
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
48
69
58
66
241
Monitored
48
69
58
66
241
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0
6
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2009 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 18 monitored
beaches had at least one notification action issued
during the 2009 swimming season. All but one of
New Jersey's 170 notification actions lasted one day 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 2009 swimming season, actions were
reported about 0.6 percent of the time (Figure 3).
How do 2009 results compare to previous years?
Table 2 compares 2009 notification action data with
monitored beach data from previous years.
What pollution sources possibly impact
investigated monitored beaches?
In 2009, 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.
169
1
2 3-7 8-30
Duration of Actions (days)
>30
Figure 3: Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
171
(0.6%)
Beach days
with no action:
30,195
(99.4%)
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2007-2009.
Number of monitored
beaches
264
260
241
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
Percentage of beach days
affected by notification
actions
15
6%
0.4%
14
5%
0.3%
18
7%
0.6%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (11 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.
100
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