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EPA's BEACH Report:
Connecticut 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 State of
Connecticut for the 2010 swimming season.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health collects
beach monitoring data for 65 marine beaches located
along its shoreline with Long Island Sound. Local
health departments monitor 61 of these beaches. The
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
monitors the remaining four State Park marine
beaches.
Connecticut has adopted a set of beach monitoring
guidelines that are based on U.S. EPA criteria for
recreational bathing waters. These guidelines have
been in effect since May 1989. They were revised most
recently in April 2003.
Questions about a municipal beach should be
directed to the shoreline local health department
that monitors it. Questions about a State Park beach
should be directed to the Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection.
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2010.
County
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitored
FAIRFIELD
28
28
0
MIDDLESEX
5
5
0
NEW HAVEN
19
19
0
NEW LONDON
14
13
1
TOTALS
66
65
1
Middlesex
New Haven
Fairfield
Figure 1. Connecticut coastal counties.
New London

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2010 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported and
how long were they?
When water quality standards are exceeded at a
particular beach, Connecticut issues a beach advisory or
closure to warn people to avoid contact with the ocean
water. A total of 39 monitored beaches had at least one
notification action issued during the 2010 swimming
season. About 78 percent of Connecticut's 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 Connecticut's 2010 swimming season, actions were
reported about two percent of the time (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?
Figure 4 displays the percentage of Connecticut's
investigated monitored beaches possibly affected by
various pollution sources. In 2010, 78 percent of the
beaches included storm-related runoff as a possible
source. No pollution sources were identified at 16 percent
of the beaches.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Connecticut:
www.ct.gov/dph/publicbeaches
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.

40 i

35-

30-
V)

c
o
25-
o
<
20-


o
15-
o

z
10-

5-

0-
37
15
15
I I I
1	2	3-7	8-30
Duration of Actions (days)
>30
Figure 3:
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2008-2010.

2008
2009
2010
Number of monitored
beaches
66
65
65
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
24
30
39
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
36%
46%
60%
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
2%
2%
2%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (55 beaches).
Percent of beaches
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Investigated / no sources found
Non-storm related runoff
Storm-related runoff
Agricultural runoff
Boat discharge
Cone, animal feeding operation
Combined sewer overflow
Sanitary sewer overflow
Publicly-owned treatment works
Sewer line leak or break
Septic system leakage
Wildlife
Other (identified) source(s)
Unidentified source(s)
16
25
78
Note: A single beach may
have multiple sources.
Beach days
with no action
__ 6,227
(97.8%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days with
an action:
143
(2.2%)

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