&EFA
    United States
    Environmental Protection
    Agency
          EPA's  BEACH  Report:
          Connecticut  2011  Swimming  Season
         July 2012
                       EPA820-F-12-010
  Introduction
  The Beaches Environmental Assessment and
  Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000 authorizes
  EPA to provide grants to coastal and Great Lakes
  states, territories, and eligible tribes to monitor their
  coastal beaches for bacteria that indicate the possible
  presence of disease-causing pathogens and to notify
  the public when there is a potential risk to public
  health. The BEACH Act requires that recipients of
  those grants report their coastal beach monitoring
  and notification data to EPA. This fact sheet
  highlights the data submitted to EPA by the State of
  Connecticut for the 2011 swimming season.


  2011 Swimming Season
  Monitoring and Notification
  Actions
  Connecticut reports 73 coastal beaches in four
  counties (Figure 1). Connecticut monitored 72 of
  these beaches during the 2011 swimming season
  (Table 1).
  When monitoring results at swimming beaches
  show that levels of specific indicator bacteria in the
  water exceed applicable water quality standards,
  Connecticut officials issue a beach advisory,
  warning people of possible risks of swimming or
  close the beach to public swimming until further
  monitoring finds that water quality complies with
  applicable standards. In some cases, advisories
  and closings are issued preemptively (i.e., without
  having actual bacteria monitoring results) due
  to storms or other conditions that might affect
  swimmer safety.

  How many beaches had notification actions?
  In 2011 of the 72 coastal beaches that Connecticut
  monitored, 63 (88 percent) had at least one
  Figure 1. Connecticut coastal counties.
Table 1.  Number of monitored and
        unmonitored coastal beaches by
        county for 2011.
County





FAIRFIELD
MIDDLESEX
NEW HAVEN
NEW LONDON
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
28
5
27
13
73
Monitored
28
5
27
12
72
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
1
1

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  Figure 2: Percent of beaches with one or
            more notification actions
   Figure 4: Percent of beach days open
            and safe for swimming
   Figure 3: Duration of beach notification
            actions in 2011
          8-30 days
                     Over 30 days
notification action (Figure 2). This is an increase
over previous years, primarily due an increase of
preemptive rainfall-based advisories in response to
Hurricane Irene's landfall in late August.

How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Connecticut issued 168 notification actions during
the 2011 swimming season. Typically Connecticut
lifts an action when follow-up monitoring indicates
that water quality complies with applicable
standards. For the majority of cases (71 percent)
water quality returned to normal and beaches were
deemed safe for swimming within one or two days
(Figure 3). Only rarely (9 percent) did notification
actions last more than a week.

What percentage  of days were beaches under
a notification action?
EPA calculates the total  available beach days
and the number of beach days with advisories
or closings to better track trends over time.
                                                         2011
                                                         2010
                                                         2009
                                                         2008
                                                         2007
              • To the Beach 1
              • To the Beach)
              • To the Beach)
              • To the Beach)
91.0%

97.8%

98.4%

97.9%

98.3%
Total available beach days are determined by
multiplying the length of the beach season by
the number of beaches in the state. For 2011 EPA
calculated that 7,056 beach days were associated
with the swimming seasons of the 72 monitored
Connecticut beaches.  Connecticut reported
notification actions on 636 days, meaning that
beaches were open and safe for swimming
about 91 percent of the time. Many of the 2011
notification actions are attributable to Hurricane
Irene, causing a decrease from previous years
(Figure 4).


For  More Information
For information about the Connecticut beach
program contact:
Jon Dinneen,  Connecticut Department of Public
Health
Tel: 860-509-7305
e-mail: jon.dinneen@po.state.ct.gov
For general information about beaches visit:
http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/beaches/.
For information about a specific beach visit:
http://watersgeo.epa.gov/beacon2/.

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