&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
American Samoa 2012 Swimming Season
September 2013
EPA820-F-13-022
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
American Samoa for the 2012 swimming season.
2012 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
American Samoa monitored 50 coastal beaches in
three districts 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, American Samoa officials
issue a beach advisory, warning people of possible
risks of swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2012, of the 50 coastal beaches that American
Samoa monitored, 47 (94 percent) had at least one
notification action. This is approximately the same
as in previous years (Figure 2).
Figure 1. American Samoa coastal districts
Eastern
Manu'a
Western
District
EASTERN
MANU'A
WESTERN
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
36
5
9
50
Monitored
36
5
9
50
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
district for 2012
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Figure 2: Percent of beaches with one or
more notification actions
Figure 3: Duration of beach notification
actions in 2012
Over 30 days
8%
-7 days
60%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
American Samoa issued 418 notification actions
during the 2012 swimming season. Typically
American Samoa lifts an action when follow-up
monitoring indicates that water quality complies
with applicable standards. For the majority of
actions (60 percent), water quality returned
to normal and beaches were deemed safe for
swimming within a week or less. No actions lasted
less than three 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
to better track trends over time. Total available
Figure 4: Percent of beach days open
and safe for swimming
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
• To the Beach V
• To the Beach)
• To the Beach)
• To the Beach)
69.4%
70.1%
67.5%
69.8%
68.1%
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 18,250 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 50 monitored American
Samoa beaches. American Samoa reported
notification actions on 5,592 days, meaning that
beaches were open and safe for swimming about
69 percent of the time. This is consistent with
percentages of open beach days in previous years
(Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the American Samoa beach
program contact:
Christianera Tuitele
Environmental Protection Agency
Tel: 684-633-2304
e-mail: christianatuitele3@gmail.com
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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