&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
Maryland 2011 Swimming Season
July 2012
EPA820-F-12-016
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 Maryland for the 2011 swimming season.
2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
Maryland monitored 70 coastal beaches in nine
counties 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, Maryland officials issue a
beach advisory, warning people of possible risks of
swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011 of the 70 coastal beaches that Maryland
monitored, 12 (17 percent) had at least one
notification action (Figure 2). This is a lower
percentage than the previous year.
Figure 1. Maryland coastal counties.
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches
by county for 2011.
1 County
ANNEARUNDEL
BALTIMORE
CALVERT
CECIL
KENT
QUEEN ANNE'S
SOMERSET
ST. MARY'S
WORCESTER
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
28
4
10
5
6
2
2
3
10
70
Monitored
28
4
10
5
6
2
2
3
10
70
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
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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
20%
8-30 days
10%
3-7 days
55%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Maryland issued 20 notification actions during the
2011 swimming season. Typically Maryland lifts
an action when follow-up monitoring indicates that
water quality complies with applicable standards.
For the majority of actions (75%) water quality
returned to normal and beaches were deemed safe
for swimming within a week or less (Figure 3).
In many cases, the length of the advisory was a
reflection of the timing between sampling events
rather than a risk to swimmers.
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
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
• To the Beach )
• To the Beach)
MTo the Beach )
jo the Beach
96.4%
94.9%
98.2%
99.1%
96.3%
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 6,768 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 70 monitored Maryland
beaches. Maryland reported notification actions on
244 days, meaning that beaches were open and safe
for swimming about 96 percent of the time. This
percentage is similar to previous years (Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the Maryland beach program
contact:
Heather Merritt
Maryland Department of the Environment,
Technical and Regulatory Services
Tel: 410-537-3618
e-mail: hmerritt@mde.state.md.us
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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