fQ\ EPA's BEACH Report:
Vg*^* Maine 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
Maine for the 2007 swimming season.
The Maine Healthy Beaches (MHB) Program began
in 2002 and has recruited new coastal beaches into
the program each year. This is a voluntary program
for Maine communities which are supported by
the MHB Program staff and partnering agencies.
The Maine Healthy Beaches Program experienced
the greatest number of advisories and closures
in 2007 compared to previous seasons. The most
significant factor contributing to this was an
increase in reporting advisories and notification
by towns and state parks through an updated
database report function and intensified training
and early season rainfall. Based on our 2006
review of the program and feedback from
beach managers, town officials, and our state
agency partners, updates and revisions were
made strengthening the overall program. The
MHB Program has been assisting towns with
further assessment of the freshwater tributaries
contributing to poor beach water quality and
identification of pollution sources. This effort has
brought together local/state officials, partnering
state agencies, non-profits and citizens with a
focus of shared resources and problem solving.
The MHB Program is committed to continuing this
focus with priority towns, and improving beach
management tools including routine assessment,
notification, and data analysis.
Maine had 48 beaches in 2007. However, certain
beaches were divided into separate management
areas for a total of 58 beach management areas.
Figure 1. Maine coastal counties.
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2007.
County
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitored
CUMBERLAND
9
8
1
HANCOCK
7
5
2
KNOX
5
3
2
LINCOLN
1
1
0
SAGADAHOC
8
7
1
WALDO
1
1
0
WASHINGTON
2
0
2
YORK
35
33
2
TOTALS
68
58
10
Washington
Hancock
Lincol

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2007 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported and
how long were they?
Maine'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 30 monitored beaches had at
least one advisory issued during the 2007 swimming
season. About 52 percent of Maine's 50 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 Maine's 2007 swimming season, actions were
reported about 3 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?
Maine reports that the MHB Program is actively
working toward identification and remediation of
pollution sources with the affected communities
through special studies and sanitary surveys. The
nonpoint sources of pollution affecting Maine's
coastal beaches are covered in Figure 4. However,
they have not been quantified.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Maine:
www.MaineHealthyBeaches.org
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.

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

2005
2006
2007
Number of monitored
beaches
48
43
58
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
14
19
30
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
29%
44%
52%
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
2%
4%
3%
Figure 4: Percent of monitored beaches potentially impacted by pollution sources (58 beaches).
0 10 20
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
Any of the above/or unidentified sources
No known pollution sources
30
Percent of beaches
40 50 60 70
80 90 100
Note: a single beach may
have multiple sources.
100
Beach days
with no action
5,606
(96.7%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
194
(3.3%)

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