fQ\ EPA's BEACH Report:
Vjjg,* Virginia 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 Commonwealth of Virginia for the 2010
swimming season.
Figure 1. Virginia coastal counties.
King
George
Mathews
Gloucester
York
Newport
News
Hampton
Norfolk
Accomack
Northampton
Virginia
Beach
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2010.
Total	Not
County	Beaches Monitored Monitored
ACCOMACK
1
1
0
GLOUCESTER
1
1
0
HAMPTON
3
3
0
KING GEORGE
1
1
0
MATHEWS
1
1
0
NEWPORT NEWS
4
4
0
NORFOLK
9
9
0
NORTHAMPTON
2
2
0
VIRGINIA BEACH
22
22
0
YORK
1
1
0
TOTALS
45
45
0

-------
2010 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported
and how long were they?
When water quality standards are exceeded at a
particular beach, Virginia issues a beach advisory
that warns people to avoid contact with the ocean
water. A total of 16 monitored beaches had at least
one advisory issued during the 2010 swimming
season. Eighty-two percent of Virginia'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 Virginia's 2010 swimming season, actions were
reported about one 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?
Possible sources of pollution affecting Virginia's
investigated monitored beaches were not identified
in 2010 (Figure 4).
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Virginia:
www.vdh.virginia.gov/epidemiology/DEE/
BeachMonitoring/
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.

30

25
in

c

o
20
o

<
4—
15
o

o
10
z


5

0
25





6
6



¦
¦
1 0
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
44
44
45
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
6
9
16
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
14%
20%
36%
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
< 1%
<1%
1%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (45 beaches).
o
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)
10 20
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
6,804
(98.8%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
81
(1.2%)

-------