&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
Alaska 2011 Swimming Season
September 2012
EPA820-F-12-047
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 Alaska for the 2011 swimming season.
2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
Alaska monitored three coastal beaches in three
communities 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, Alaska officials issue a
beach advisory, warning people of possible risks of
swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011, none of the 3 coastal beaches that Alaska
monitored had a notification action (Figure 2). This
is consistent with previous years.
Figure 1. Alaska coastal communities.
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches
for 2011.
Community
NAKNEK
DILLINGHAM
JUNEAU
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
1
1
1
3
Monitored
1
1
1
3
Not
Monitored
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
2011 I 0%
2010 I 0%
2009 I 0%
2008 I 0%
2007 I 0%
Figure 3: Duration of beach notification
actions in 2011
0 days
100%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Alaska issued no notification actions during
the 2011 swimming season. If an action were to
occur, Alaska would lift the action when follow-up
monitoring indicates that water quality complies
with applicable standards. In 2011 Alaska beaches
were deemed safe for swimming 100 percent of the
time (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
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
To the Beach V
|§To the Beach V
MTo the Beach \
To the Beach }
To the Beach 1
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
length of the beach season by the number of
beaches in the state. For 2011 EPA calculated that
270 beach days were associated with the swimming
seasons of the 3 monitored Alaska beaches. Alaska
reported notification actions on 0 days, meaning
that beaches were open and safe for swimming
100 percent of the time. This continues the trend of
100 percent open beach days (Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the Alaska beach program
contact:
Jim Powell
Department of Environmental Conservation
Tel: 907-451-2881
e-mail: jim powell@dec.state.ak.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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