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EPA's BEACH Report:
American Samoa 2010 Swimming Season
May 2011
Introduction
The BEACH Act of 2000 requires that coastal
and Great Lakes states and territories report
to EPA on beach monitoring and notification
data for their coastal recreation waters. The
BEACH Act defines coastal recreation waters as
the Great Lakes and coastal waters (including
coastal estuaries) that states, territories,
and authorized tribes officially recognize or
designate for swimming, bathing, surfing, or
similar activities in the water.
This fact sheet summarizes beach monitoring
and notification data submitted to EPA by
the territory of American Samoa for the 2010
swimming season.
Figure 1. American Samoa coastal districts.
Eastern
Manu'a
Western
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
district for 2010.
District
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitored
EASTERN
36
36
0
MANU'A
5
5
0
WESTERN
9
9
0
TOTALS
50
50
0

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2010 Summary Results
How many beaches had notification actions?
When water quality standards are exceeded at a
particular beach, American Samoa requires beach
managers to post an advisory or closure. An advisory
warns people that there is an increased health risk
associated with entering the water and a closure
warns people to completely avoid contact with the
water. A total of 47 monitored beaches had at least one
advisory issued during the 2010 swimming season.
Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of notification
actions.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
In 2010, about 32 percent of American Samoa's total
beach days were under an advisory or closing
(Figure 3).
How do 2010 results compare to previous years?
Table 2 compares 2010 notification action data with
monitored beach data from previous years.
What pollution sources possibly affect investigated
monitored beaches?
American Samoa indicates that storm-related runoff
possibly affects all beaches.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in American Samoa:
http://asepa.gov/default.asp
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
250
200
(n
O 150
4-1
o
<
o 100
6
z
50

204



¦
151

-



36
0 0




I I I I I
2	3-7	8-30
Duration of Actions (days)
>30
Figure 3: Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
5,930
(32.5)
Beach days
with no action
12,320
(67.5%)
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2008-2010.

2008
2009
2010
Number of monitored
beaches
42
50
50
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
42
47
47
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
100%
94%
94%
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
32%
30%
32%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (50 beaches).
Percent of beaches
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Investigated I no sources found	o
Non-storm related runoff	0
Storm-related runoff	100
Agricultural runoff	o
Boat discharge	o
Cone, animal feeding operation	o
Combined sewer overflow	o
Sanitary sewer overflow	o
Publicly-owned treatment works	o
Sewer line leak or break	o
Septic system leakage	o
Wildlife	o
Other (identified) source(s)	o
Unidentified source(s)	o
Note: A single beach may
have multiple sources.

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