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EPA's BEACH Report:
New York 2007 Swimming Season
July 2008
Introduction
The BEACIT 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 New York for the 2007 swimming
season.
Each summer, New York monitors
bacteriological indicator levels at bathing
beaches along Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Long
Island Sound, and the Atlantic Ocean as part
of EPA's BEACH Grant Program. Indicator
bacteria are used to detect pollution sources,
such as sewage or stormwater runoff that
could affect water quality at a beach. The New
York State Department of Health contracts
with local health departments, the New
York City Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene, and the New York State Office of
Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation
to provide up-to-date information regarding
beach water quality conditions to the public.
In 2007, 9,379 beach water samples were
collected from the State's 353 monitored
beaches and analyzed for E. coli (freshwater
beaches) or Enterococcus (marine beaches).
Sample analysis and local predictive models
resulted in 803 instances of beach closures or
advisory postings to protect the public from
swimming in potentially contaminated water.
Public notification occurs if a sample exceeds
the threshold of 235 E. coli colonies per lOOmL
or 104 Enterococcus colonies per lOOmL of
water. New York's beach water quality is
generally excellent; in 2007 the State's coastal
beaches were open 96% of the time.
Figure 1. New York coastal counties.
Jefferson
Monroe
Wayne
Oswego
Cayuga
agara
Chautauqua
vveslchester
Bronx
Kings
Richmond
Queens
Nassau
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored beaches by county
for 2007.
County
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitored
BRONX
10
8
2
CAYUGA
1
1
0
CHAUTAUQUA
9
9
0
ERIE
10
10
0
JEFFERSON
3
3
0
KINGS
11
11
0
MONROE
4
4
0
NASSAU
65
65
0
NIAGARA
2
2
0
OSWEGO
7
7
0
QUEENS
11
11
0
RICHMOND
3
3
0
SUFFOLK
201
194
7
WAYNE
3
3
0
WESTCHESTER
25
22
3
TOTALS
365
353
12*
* I hese beaches were not in operation in 2007.

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2007 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported
and how long were they?
New York'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 ocean water. A total of 141 monitored
beaches had at least one advisory issued during
the 2007 swimming season. About 84 percent of
New York's 803 notification actions lasted two
days or less. Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of
notification action durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
For New York's 2007 swimming season, actions were
reported about 4 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?
Figure 4 displays the percentage of New York's
monitored beaches potentially impacted by various
pollution sources. In 2007, 53 percent of the beaches
included storm-related runoff as a known potential
source. No known pollution sources were identified
at 42 percent of the beaches.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
http://www.epa.gov/beaches/
Figure

800 -

700 -
in
600 -
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o
500 -
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<
400 -
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300 -
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200 -

100 -

o -
2: Beach notification actions by duration.
678
108
16
1
1 - 2 Days
3 - 7 Days 8 - 30 Days
Duration of Actions (days)
> 30 Days
Figure 3:
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2005-2007.

2005
2006
2007
Number of monitored
beaches
347
354
353
Number of beaches
affected by advisories or
closings
106
132
141
Percentage of beaches
affected by advisories or
closings
31%
37%
40%
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
3%
4%
4%
Figure 4: Percent of monitored beaches potentially impacted by pollution sources (353 beaches).
Percent of beaches
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
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
~ 1
Note: a single beach may
have multiple sources.
I 53
] 42
Beach days
with no action
- 35,531
(96%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
1,534
(4%)

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