&EFA
     United States
     Environmental Protection
     Agency
          EPA's  BEACH  Report:
          Louisiana  2012 Swimming Season
          September 2013
                       EPA820-F-13-029
  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 Louisiana for the 2012 swimming season.


  2012 Swimming Season
  Monitoring and Notification
  Actions
  Louisiana reports 30 coastal beaches located
  in six parishes (Figure 1). Louisiana monitored
  25 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, Louisiana 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.

  How many beaches had notification actions?
  In 2012, of the 25 coastal beaches that Louisiana
  monitored, 21 (84 percent) had at least one
  notification action (Figure 2). Hurricane Isaac,
  which made landfall on August 28, 2012, caused
  extended closures of beaches in Jefferson and
  St. Tammany Parishes. Jefferson Parish's eight
  monitored beaches reopened after 24 days and
  St. Tammany's lone monitored beach reopened
  after 65 days.
   Figure 1. Louisiana coastal parishes
                      St. Tammany

                      Jefferson

Parish







CALCASIEU
CAMERON
JEFFERSON
LAFOURCHE
ST. MARY
ST. TAMMANY
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
2
13
9
4
1
1
30

Monitored
2
12
8
1
1
1
25
Not
Monitored
0
1
1
3
0
0
5
Table 1.  Number of monitored and unmonitored
        coastal beaches by parish 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
                          Over 30 days
                             10%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Louisiana issued 52 notification actions during the
2012 swimming season. Typically Louisiana lifts
an action when follow-up monitoring indicates that
water quality complies with applicable standards.

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
length of the beach season by the number of
beaches in the state. For 2012 EPA calculated
that 4,392 beach days were associated with the
                                                    2012

                                                    2011

                                                    2010

                                                    2009

                                                    2008
         • To  the  Beach
• To the Beach )
         • To the Beach 1
         • To the Beach
         • To the Beach}
                           >
                            V
84.3%

44.9%

44.7%

47.4%

33.6%
swimming seasons of the 25 monitored Louisiana
beaches. Louisiana reported notification actions
on 688 days, meaning that beaches were open and
safe for swimming about 84 percent of the time.
(Figure 4). This increase in open days indicates
that Louisiana beaches are overcoming the impacts
from previous hurricanes and the 2010 explosion of
the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling
platform.


For  More Information
For information about the Louisiana beach
program contact:
Chris Lemaire
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
Tel: 225-342-7540
e-mail: chris.lemaire@la.gov
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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