&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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