&EFA
    United States
    Environmental Protection
    Agency
          EPA's  BEACH  Report:
          Connecticut 2012 Swimming  Season
         September 2013
                       EPA820-F-13-024
  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
  Connecticut for the 2012 swimming season.


  2012 Swimming Season
  Monitoring and Notification
  Actions
  Connecticut reports 73 coastal beaches in four
  counties (Figure 1). Connecticut monitored 72 of
  these beaches during the 2012 swimming season
  (Table 1).
  When monitoring results at swimming beaches
  show that levels of specific indicator bacteria in the
  water exceed applicable water quality standards,
  Connecticut 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.
 Figure 1. Connecticut coastal counties
Table 1.  Number of monitored and
        unmonitored coastal beaches by
        county for 2012
County





FAIRFIELD
MIDDLESEX
NEW HAVEN
NEW LONDON
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
28
5
27
13
73
Monitored
28
5
27
12
72
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
1
1

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  Figure 2: Percent of beaches with one or
            more notification actions
   Figure
ure 3:  Duration of beach notification
       actions in 2012
              8-30 days
                 5%
                    Over 30 days
                        1%
        3-7 days
          10%
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2012, of the 72 coastal beaches that Connecticut
monitored, 37 (51 percent) had at least one
notification action (Figure 2). This is a decrease
from 2011, the year of Hurricane Irene.

How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Connecticut issued 92 notification actions during
the 2012 swimming season. Typically Connecticut
lifts an action when follow-up monitoring indicates
that water quality complies with applicable
standards. For the majority of cases (84 percent)
water quality returned to normal and beaches were
deemed safe for swimming within one or two days
(Figure 3). Only rarely (six percent) did notification
actions last more than a week.
                                              Figure 4:  Percent of beach days open
                                                        and safe for swimming
                                                              • To the Beach  1
                                                              Ji To the Beach >

                                                                        l-re^'
                                                         2008
                                                                             95.8%

                                                                             91.0%

                                                                             97.8%

                                                                             98.4%

                                                                             97.9%
                                           What percentage of days were beaches under
                                           a notification action?
                                           EPA calculates the total available beach days
                                           and the number of beach days with advisories
                                           or closings 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 2012 EPA
                                           calculated that 7,056 beach days were associated
                                           with the swimming seasons of the 72 monitored
                                           Connecticut beaches. Connecticut reported
                                           notification actions on 298 days, meaning that
                                           beaches were open and safe for swimming about
                                           96 percent of the time (Figure 4).


                                           For More Information
                                           For information about the Connecticut beach
                                           program contact:
                                           Jon Dinneen, Connecticut Department of Public
                                           Health
                                           Tel: 860-509-7305
                                           e-mail: jon.dinneen@ct.gov
                                           For general information about beaches visit:
                                           http://water.epa.goy/type/oceb/beaches/.
                                           For information about a specific beach visit:
                                           http://watersgeo.epa.gov/beacon2/.

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