&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
Maine 2011 Swimming Season
July 2012
EPA820-F-12-013
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 Maine for the 2011 swimming season.
2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
Maine reports 69 coastal beaches located in seven
counties. Of this total, Maine monitored 61 of
these beaches during the 2011 swimming season
(Figure 1 and Table 1).
When monitoring results at swimming beaches
show that levels of specific indicator bacteria in the
water exceed applicable water quality standards,
Maine officials issue a beach advisory, warning
people of possible risks of swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011 of the 61 coastal beaches that Maine
monitored, 18 (30 percent) had at least one
notification action. This is the lowest percentage of
beaches with actions in the past five years
(Figure 2). Maine reports that the decrease in the
number of beaches with notification actions, as well
as a decrease in the number of beach days with
actions, is likely linked to multi-year enhanced
monitoring and source-tracking efforts in rivers,
Figure 1. Maine coastal counties.
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2011.
County
CUMBERLAND
HANCOCK
KNOX
LINCOLN
SAGADAHOC
WALDO
WASHINGTON
YORK
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
9
6
4
1
7
3
0
39
69
Monitored
9
5
3
1
6
1
0
37
61
Not
Monitored
1
1
1
0
1
2
0
2
8
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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
1-2 days
88%
streams and storm drainage networks that impact
many beaches experiencing bacterial pollution.
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Maine issued 51 notification actions during the
2011 swimming season. Typically Maine lifts an
action when follow-up monitoring indicates that
water quality complies with applicable standards.
Most notification actions (88 percent) lasted only
two days (Figure 3).
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
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
• To the Beach \
• To the Beach )
MTo the Beach)
98.1%
96.3%
95.7%
97.0%
96.7%
beaches in the state. For 2011 EPA calculated
that 5,795 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 61 monitored Maine
beaches. Maine reported notification actions on
112 days, meaning that beaches were open and safe
for swimming about 98 percent of the time. This is
a slight increase from previous years (Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the Maine beach program
contact:
Keri Lindberg
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Tel: 207-832-0343
e-mail: keri.lindberg@maine.edu
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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