&EFA
     United States
     Environmental Protection
     Agency
          EPA's  BEACH  Report:
          Louisiana  2011  Swimming  Season
         July 2012
                       EPA820-F-12-012
  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 Louisiana for the 2011 swimming season.


  2011 Swimming Season
  Monitoring and Notification
  Actions
  Louisiana reports 28 coastal beaches located in
  six parishes (Figure 1). Louisiana monitored 24 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, Louisiana 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.

  How many beaches had notification actions?
  In 2011 of the 24 coastal beaches that Louisiana
  monitored, 22 (92 percent) had at least one
  notification action (Figure 2). This is an increase in
  percentage from 2010 when 20 of 27 (74 percent)
  monitored beaches had actions. In total numbers,
  however, it is only an increase of two beaches.
   Figure 1.  Louisiana coastal parishes.
Table 1.
Number of monitored and unmonitored
coastal beaches by parish for 2011.

County







CALCASIEU
CAMERON
JEFFERSON
LAFOURCHE
ST. MARY
ST. TAMMANY
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
2
13
7
4
1
1
28

Monitored
2
12
7
1
1
1
24
Not
Monitored
0
1
0
3
0
0
4

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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

                       Over 30 days
                           40%
                                  3-7 days
                                    42%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Louisiana issued 57 notification actions during the
2011 swimming season. Typically Louisiana lifts
an action when follow-up monitoring indicates that
water quality complies with applicable standards.
Notification action durations in Louisiana in 2011
ranged from 3 days (2 actions) to over 100 days
(14 actions).

What percentage of days were beaches under
a notification action?
EPA calculates the total available beach days and
the number of beach days with notification actions
to better track trends over time. 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
                                                    2011

                                                    2010

                                                    2009

                                                    2008

                                                    2007
         • To the Beach )
         • To the Beach)
         • To the Beach
         • To the Beach}
                                                          • To the Beach
     44.9%

     44.7%

      47.4%
33.6%
                                                                                       64.2%
that 4,392 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 24 monitored Louisiana
beaches. Louisiana reported notification actions
on 2,421 days, meaning that beaches were open
and safe for swimming about 45 percent of the
time. (Figure 4). Unfortunately, Louisiana beaches
continued to experience lingering impacts from
recent hurricanes and the 2010 explosion of the
BP-leased Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling
platform.


For More Information
For information about the Louisiana beach
program contact:
Chris Lemaire
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
Tel: 225-342-7540
e-mail: chris.lemaire@la.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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