&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
South Carolina 2011 Swimming Season
August 2012
EPA 820-F-12-028
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 South Carolina for the 2011 swimming
season.
2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
South Carolina monitored 23 coastal beaches in
5 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, South Carolina officials
issue a beach advisory, warning people of possible
risks of swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011, of the 23 coastal beaches that South
Carolina monitored, six (26 percent) had at least
one notification action. This is approximately the
same as in previous years with the exception of
2010 when only one beach had an action (Figure 2).
Figure 1. South Carolina coastal counties.
County
BEAUFORT
CHARLESTON
COLLETON
GEORGETOWN
HORRY
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
4
5
1
5
8
23
Monitored
4
5
1
5
8
23
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0
0
0
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2011.
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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
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
South Carolina issued 7 notification actions during
the 2011 swimming season. Typically South
Carolina lifts an action when follow-up monitoring
indicates that water quality complies with
applicable standards. For all actions (100 percent)
water quality returned to normal and beaches were
deemed safe for swimming within one or 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)
• To the Beach \
• To the Beach)
99.7%
99.9%
99.8%
99.0%
98.0%
beaches in the state. For 2011 EPA calculated
that 3,519 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 23 monitored South
Carolina beaches. South Carolina reported
notification actions on 10 days, meaning that
beaches were open and safe for swimming over
99 percent of the time. This continues the annual
trend of consistently high percentages of open
beach days at state beaches (Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the South Carolina beach
program contact:
Richard Welch
South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control
Tel: 803-898-3542
e-mail: welchra@dhec.sc.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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