/*%\ EPA's BEACH Report:
New York 2010 Swimming Season
***1 PBO^
May 2011
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 2010 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 Act 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 2010, beach water samples were collected
from the State's 346 monitored coastal beaches
and analyzed for E. coli (freshwater beaches)
or enterococcus (marine beaches). Sample
analysis and local predictive models resulted
in 449 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 2010 the State's coastal beaches
were open 97% of the time.
Figure 1. New York coastal counties.
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored beaches by county
for 2010.
County
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitored
BRONX
10
10
0
CAYUGA
1
1
0
CHAUTAUQUA
9
9
0
ERIE
8
8
0
JEFFERSON
2
2
0
KINGS
11
11
0
MONROE
4
4
0
NASSAU
69
69
0
NIAGARA
2
2
0
OSWEGO
6
6
0
QUEENS
12
12
0
RICHMOND
3
3
0
SUFFOLK
183
183
0
WAYNE
3
3
0
WESTCHESTER
23
23:
0
TOTALS
346
346
0
Jefferson
Chautauqua
Westc lester
Bronxi SuffolJ
King^', tjajiaau
Richmonddi^Qi^nr
Cayuga

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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, New York issues a beach
advisory that warns people to avoid contact with
the ocean water. A total of 132 monitored beaches
had at least one advisory issued during the 2010
swimming season. About 86 percent of New York's
449 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 2010 swimming season, actions were
reported about 3 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. In 2010,
there were fewer beaches affected by advisories
or closings, and fewer beach days affected by
notification actions than in 2008 and 2009.
What pollution sources possibly affect
investigated monitored beaches?
Figure 4 displays the percentage of New York's
monitored beaches possibly affected by various
pollution sources. In 2010, 55 percent of the
beaches included storm-related runoff as a known
potential source. No pollution sources were found at
42 percent of the beaches.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
http://www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about Suffolk County beaches:
www.co.suffolk.ny.us/Home/
departments/healthservices/
environmentalqualitv/
ecologv/marinereources/
bureauofmarinreources.aspx
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
292
300
250-
200-
150.
100
50
0
2	3-7	8-30
Duration of Actions (days)
Figure 3:
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2008-2010.

2008
2009
2010
Number of monitored
beaches
353
346
346
Number of beaches
affected by advisories or
closings
138
156
132
Percentage of beaches
affected by advisories or
closings
39%
45%
38%
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
4%
5%
3%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (343 beaches).
o
10 20
30
Percent of beaches
40 50 60 70
80 90 100
Investigated / no sources found
For information about New York
City beaches:
www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/
beach/beach.shtml
Non-storm related runoff 1
Storm-related runoff
Agricultural runoff
Boat discharge
42
Cone, animal feeding operation 1
Combined sewer overflow	¦ 5
Sanitary sewer overflow 4
Publicly-owned treatment works	¦ 3
Sewer line leak or break	¦ 3
Septic system leakage	1
Wildlife
16
Other (identified) source(s) | 4
Unidentified source(s)
24
12
55
Note: A single beach may
have multiple sources.
Beach days
with no action:
- 35,274
(97.1%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
1,056
(2.9%)

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