/q\ EPA's BEACH Report:
South Carolina 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.
South Carolina's beaches are important
components of the state's tourism industry.
The South Carolina Department of Health
and Environmental Control, in conjunction
with local governments, regularly monitors
coastal beaches for the bacterial indicator
enterococcus to assure residents and tourists
that the water is safe for wading, swimming,
surfing, and other activities. The program's
goal is to allow the public to make informed
decisions about their ocean water recreational
activities and the potential for bacteria-related
health effects.
This fact sheet summarizes beach monitoring
and notification data submitted to EPA by
the State of South Carolina for the 2010
swimming season.
The beach program staff in South Carolina
invite you to log onto our website: www.
scdhec.gov/beach. where you will find up-
to-date monitoring and advisory data and
information to make your beach going
experience happy and healthy.
Also, South Carolina now has one full year of
sanitary survey data. Future decisions about
sampling stations will be made and reported
on the website based on these data.
Figure 1. South Carolina coastal counties.
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2010.
County
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitored
BEAUFORT
4
4
0
CHARLESTON
5
5
0
COLLETON
1
1
0
GEORGETOWN
5
5
0
HORRY
8
8
0
TOTALS
23
23
0
Ileton

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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
South Carolina sampling site, an advisory is issued
for 200 feet on either side of the sampling point,
warning people to avoid contact with the ocean
water. A single beach can have multiple sampling
points. For the purposes of this report, an action
is recorded for a beach even if only one sampling
station on the beach is affected. One beach had two
advisories issued during the 2010 swimming season,
both lasting two days. Figure 2 presents a breakdown
of notification action durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
For South Carolina's 2010 swimming season, actions
were reported less than 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?
Figure 4 displays the percentage of South Carolina's
investigated monitored beaches possibly affected by
various pollution sources. In 2010, 48 percent of the
beaches were listed as having no known sources of
pollution.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
Information regarding sample results is available at the
South Carolina DHEC website at www.scdhec.gov/
beach, or by contacting DHEC at (803) 898-3541.
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
4 i

c
O
*->
o
<
o
o
~r
~r
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
23
23
23
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
7
4
1
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
30%
17%
4%
Percentage of beach days
affected by notification
actions
1%
< 1%
<1%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches
affected by possible pollution sources (23 beaches).
o
10 20
30
Percent of beaches
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)
35
35
65
Note: A single beach may
have multiple sources.
Beach days
with no action
3,515
(99.9%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
4
(0.1%)

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