fQ\ EPA's BEACH Report:
Ohio 2007 Swimming Season
July 2008
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
State of Ohio for the 2007 swimming season.
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2007.

Total
Not
County
Beaches
Monitored Monitored
ASHTABULA
4
4
0
CUYAHOGA
17
17
0
ERIE
21
21
0
LAKE
2
2
0
LORAIN
2
2
0
LUCAS
3
3
0
OTTAWA
6
6
0
TOTALS
55
55
0
Lucas
Figure 1. Ohio coastal counties.
ke
Cuyahoga

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2007 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported
and how long were they?
Ohio's approach is to issue a beach advisory when
water quality standards are exceeded at a particular
beach that warns people to avoid contact with the
water. A total of 37 monitored beaches had at least
one advisory issued during the 2007 swimming
season. Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of
notification action durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
For Ohio's 2007 swimming season, actions were
reported about 10 percent of the time (Figure 3).
How do 2007 results compare to previous years?
Table 2 compares 2007 notification action data with
monitored beach data from previous years.
What pollution sources impact monitored
beaches?
Sources of pollution impacting Ohio's monitored
beaches were not identified in 2007 (Figure 4).
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.

90
fin
Irt
ou
70
c

0
60
o
<
50
0
40
0
30
z


20

10

0

73
80











.


_

_
¦
0
1 - 2 Days 3-7 Days 8-30 Days > 30 Days
Duration of Actions (days)
Figure 3: Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
657
(10%)
Beach days
with no action
5,663
(90%)
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Ohio:
www.odh.ohio.gov, (614) 466-1390, or
l-(866) OHIO BCH
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2005-2007.

2005
2006
2007
Number of monitored
beaches
47
52
55
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
14
42
37
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
30%
81%
67%
Percentage of beach days
affected by notification
actions
9%
12%
10%
Figure 4: Percent of monitored beaches potentially impacted by pollution sources (55 beaches).
o
Pollution sources not investigated
Agricultural runoff
Boat discharge
Cone, animal feeding operation
Publicly-owned treatment works
Non-storm related runoff
Septic system leakage
Sewer line leak or break
Sanitary/Combined sewer overflow
Storm-related runoff
Wildlife
Other and/or unidentified sources
No known pollution sources
10 20
30
Percent of beaches
40 50 60 70
80 90 100
Note: a single beach may
have multiple sources.

O
I









100

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