&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
Pennsylvania 2011 Swimming Season
September 2012
EPA820-F-12-044
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
Erie County, Pennsylvania for the 2011 swimming
season.
2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
Pennsylvania monitored 13 coastal beaches in
one county 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, Pennsylvania officials
issue a beach advisory, warning people of possible
risks of swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011, of the 13 coastal beaches that Pennsylvania
monitored, 8 (62 percent) had at least one
notification action (Figure 2). This is approximately
the same as in 2007 and 2010 and less than in 2008
and 2009.
Figure 1. Pennsylvania coastal counties.
Erie
r
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2011.
County
ERIE
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
13
13
Monitored
13
13
Not
Monitored
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
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Pennsylvania issued 18 notification actions during
the 2011 swimming season. Typically Pennsylvania
lifts an action when follow-up monitoring indicates
that water quality complies with applicable
standards. For the majority of actions (94 percent)
water quality returned to normal and beaches were
deemed safe for swimming within one day
(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}
98.5%
98.9%
97.4%
96.3%
97.7%
beaches in the state. For 2011 EPA calculated
that 1,287 beach days were associated with
the swimming seasons of the 13 monitored
Pennsylvania beaches. Pennsylvania reported
notification actions on 19 days, meaning that
beaches were open and safe for swimming about
99 percent of the time. This continues the trend of
consistently high percentages of open beach days
(Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the Pennsylvania beach
program contact:
Scott White
Erie County Department of Health
Tel: 814-451-6758
e-mail: c-swhite@state.pa.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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