&EFA
    United States
    Environmental Protection
    Agency
              EPA's  BEACH  Report:
              Pennsylvania 2012 Swimming Season
              September 2013
                       EPA820-F-13-041
  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
  Pennsylvania for the 2012 swimming season.


  2012 Swimming Season
  Monitoring and Notification
  Actions
  Pennsylvania monitored 13 coastal beaches in
  one county during the 2012 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.
   Figure 1. Pennsylvania coastal county
Erie
r
 Table 1. Number of monitored and
        unmonitored coastal beaches by
        county for 2012

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 2012
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2012, of the thirteen coastal beaches that
Pennsylvania monitored, eight (62 percent) had at
least one notification action (Figure 2).

How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Pennsylvania issued 41 notification actions during
the 2012 swimming season. Typically Pennsylvania
lifts an action when follow-up monitoring indicates
that water quality complies with applicable
standards. For the majority of actions (93 percent)
water quality returned to normal and beaches were
deemed safe for swimming within one or two days
(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

                                                        2012

                                                        2011

                                                        2010

                                                        2009

                                                        2008
             • To the Beach \
             11 To the Beach)
             • To the Beach )
 94.9%

> 98.5%

 98.9%

 97.4%

 96.3%
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 1,300 beach days were associated with
the swimming seasons of the 13 monitored
Pennsylvania beaches. Pennsylvania reported
notification actions on 66 days, meaning that
beaches were open and safe for swimming about
95 percent of the time. This continues the trend of
high percentages of open beach days at beaches in
Erie County,  PA (Figure 4).


For  More Information
For information about the Erie County, PA beach
program contact:
Maria Liggett
Erie County Department of Health
Tel: 814-451-6771
e-mail: mliggett@ecdh.org

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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