Survey digs up some dirt about safety of beaches
Report breaks down days with bad bacteria counts
A study of beaches in coastal states and along the Great Lakes estimates high bacteria counts can sicken an estimated 75,000 swimmers a year.
LOS ANGELES – Gerry Klatt gazes across the beach toward a peaceful bay at Cabrillo Beach, seemingly the perfect place for his daily dip. But he won’t swim there.
Instead, Klatt braves the pounding waves about 100 yards away on the side of the beach exposed to open ocean where he believes the seawater is cleaner.
On many days, he’d be right. The inner side of Cabrillo Beach in Los Angeles’ port town of San Pedro leads the list of California beaches that saw the highest percentage of days with a bacteria count deemed potentially dangerous. It’s part of a report released Tuesday that lists the most troubled beaches in 29 coastal and Great Lakes states.
The study looked at the number of days in 2018 that the water had bacteria counts exceeding Environmental Protection Agency standards. The Environment America Research and Policy Center report says the high counts can sicken about 75,000 swimmers a year.
Most days of the year, beaches are safe, but researchers found bacteria counts can spike on certain days, and fecal matter from people or animals is the chief culprit. It comes when sewers overflow or when fecal waste on streets washes into streams or creeks that flow to lakes or the ocean. A co-author of the study said more work needs to be done to clean up lakes and oceans.
“It’s hard to believe that 47 years after we passed the Clean Water Act that we are still concerned with poop in the water when people want to go swimming,” said John Rumpler, clean water program director for the center.
In Chicago, 19 of 19 beaches sampled had at least one day last year when beaches were potentially unsafe for swimming. South Shore Beach showed contamination on 93 of the 98 days in which samples were taken.
There are plenty of other examples in the report. The Gulfport East beach in Mississippi showed high levels on 44 out of 66 days sampled. Tanner Park in New York’s Suffolk County registered high on 48 out of 71 samples. Cupertino Park near Milwaukee was unacceptable on 40 out of 60 samples.
The bayside of Cabrillo Beach registered unsafe on 85 occasions in one section and 43 in another out of 175 samples last year, the report says. It’s not the first time it came in high, having been cited by other groups for issues more than a decade ago.
The city’s recreation department, which operates the beach, referred inquiries to the California Coastal Commission, which issued a statement that curtailing pollution is a high priority.
Cabrillo is challenged because its inner beach stretches at the end of a narrow bay near an industrial port where water doesn’t circulate as easily as on the ocean side. It’s hemmed in by a large marina complex on one side and the port’s breakwater on other. It’s within sight of large ships and barges making their way into the wharves in one of the nation’s busiest ports.