&EFA
    United States
    Environmental Protection
    Agency
              EPA's  BEACH  Report:
              Mississippi  2012 Swimming  Season
              September 2013
                      EPA820-F-13-050
  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 Mississippi for the 2012 swimming season.


  2012 Swimming Season
  Monitoring and Notification
  Actions
  Mississippi monitored 22 coastal beaches in
  three counties 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, Mississippi officials issue
  a beach advisory, warning people of possible risks
  of swimming.

  How many beaches had notification actions?
  In 2012, of the 22 coastal beaches that Mississippi
  monitored,  21 (96 percent) had at least one
  notification action (Figure 2). This increase was
  due to Hurricane Isaac which caused widespread
  flooding and debris hazards at practically all the
  beaches along the Mississippi coast.
 Figure 1. Mississippi coastal counties
1 County




HANCOCK
HARRISON
JACKSON
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
4
13
5
22
Monitored
4
13
5
22
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0
Table 1.  Number of monitored and
        unmonitored coastal beaches
        by county for 2012

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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
         1-2 days
>30 days
  36%
                                 3-7 days
                                   31%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Mississippi issued 36 notification actions during the
2012 swimming season. Typically Mississippi lifts
an action when follow-up monitoring indicates that
water quality complies with applicable standards.
Twenty-one of the actions were triggered by
Hurricane Isaac which hit the Mississippi coast
on August 29. Beaches were closed between 14
and 60 days, depending on the location. Figure 3
displays action durations for all the actions issued
in the swimming season.

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

                                                        2012

                                                        2011

                                                        2010

                                                        2009

                                                        2008
                                M To the Beach)
                                • To the Beach
                                • To the Beach
,     80.0%

      98.6%

   k.
                                  To the Beach)
      98.6%

      98.2%

      95.4%
                   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 4,686 beach days were associated with the
                   swimming seasons of the 22 monitored Mississippi
                   beaches. Mississippi reported notification actions
                   on 929 days, meaning that beaches were open and
                   safe for swimming about 80 percent of the time.
                   This lower percentage is reflective of the impact of
                   Hurricane Isaac (Figure 4).


                   For More Information
                   For information about the Mississippi beach
                   program contact:
                   Emily Cotton
                   Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
                   Tel: 228-432-1056
                   e-mail: Emily Cotton@deq.state.ms.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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