&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
Ohio 2011 Swimming Season
August 2012
EPA820-F-12-033
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 Ohio for the 2011 swimming season.
2077 Swimming Season Monitoring and
Notification Actions
Ohio monitored 56 coastal beaches in seven
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, Ohio officials issue a
beach advisory, warning people of possible risks of
swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011, all of the 56 coastal beaches that Ohio
monitored had at least one notification action
(Figure 2). This is an increase from last year when
97 percent had actions. Ohio monitored six fewer
beaches in 2011 than 2010.
Figure 1. Ohio coastal counties.
Ashtabula,
Lake i
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2011.
County
ASHTABULA
CUYAHOGA
ERIE
LAKE
LOR AIM
LUCAS
OTTAWA
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
4
19
25
2
2
2
7
61
Monitored
4
18
25
2
2
2
3
56
Not
Monitored
0
1
0
0
0
0
4
5
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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%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Ohio issued 340 notification actions during the
2011 swimming season. Typically Ohio lifts an
action when follow-up monitoring indicates that
water quality complies with applicable standards.
For the majority of actions (60 percent) water
quality returned to normal and beaches were
deemed safe for swimming within one or two days
(Figure 3). Only rarely (5 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 to better track trends over time. Total
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
To the Beach)
To the Beach)
To the Beach)
To the Beach)
|§To the Beach)
82.4%
82.3%
82.6%
82.6%
89.6%
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 6,009 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 56 monitored Ohio
beaches. Ohio reported notification actions on
1,060 days, meaning that beaches were open and
safe for swimming about 82 percent of the time.
This is consistent with percentages of open beach
days in previous years (Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the Ohio beach program
contact:
Mary Clifton
Ohio Department of Health
Tel: 614-466-4736
e-mail: mary.clifton@odh.ohio.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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