&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
Massachussetts 2011 Swimming Season
August 2012
EPA820-F-12-031
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
Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the 2011
swimming season.
2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
Massachusetts monitored 599 coastal beaches in
eight 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, Massachusetts 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.
In some cases, advisories and closings are issued
preemptively (i.e., without having actual bacteria
monitoring results) due to storms or other
conditions that might affect swimmer safety.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011, of the 599 coastal beaches that
Massachusetts monitored, 213 (36 percent) had
Figure 1. Massachusetts coastal counties.
Naffitucket
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2011.
County
BARNSTABLE
BRISTOL
DUKES
ESSEX
NANTUCKET
NORFOLK
PLYMOUTH
SUFFOLK
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
265
44
48
89
18
24
87
24
599
Monitored
265
44
48
89
18
24
87
24
599
Not
Monitored
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
8-30 days
5%
Over 30 days
1%
at least one notification action (Figure 2). This is
approximately the same as in previous years.
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Massachusetts issued 483 notification actions
during the 2011 swimming season. Typically
Massachusetts lifts an action when follow-up
monitoring indicates that water quality complies
with applicable standards. For the majority
of actions (73 percent) water quality returned
to normal and beaches were deemed safe for
swimming within one or two days (Figure 3). Only
rarely (6 percent) did notification actions last more
than a week.
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
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
• To the Beachy
• To the Beachy
• To the Beach);
To the Beach
97.6%
97.7%
97.1%
97.9%
98.7%
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
that 63,494 beach days were associated with
the swimming seasons of the 599 monitored
Massachusetts beaches. Massachusetts reported
notification actions on 1,549 days, meaning that
beaches were open and safe for swimming about
98 percent of the time. This continues the trend of
consistently high percentages of open beach days at
state beaches (Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the Massachusetts beach
program contact:
Mike Beattie
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Tel: 617-624-5757
e-mail: mike.beattie@state.ma.us
For general information about beaches visit:
http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/beaches/.
For information about a specific beach visit:
http://watersgeo.epa.goy/beacon2/.
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