Clean beach water? Not always, survey finds

What's the water like where you swim — not the temperature, but the quality? An annual report released Wednesday concluded that beach water quality is not improving across the country.
Nationally, 7 percent of water samples in 2008 violated health standards — indicating the presence of human or animal waste, according to the report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. That's zero improvement over 2007 and 2006.
"Pollution from dirty stormwater runoff and sewage overflows continues to make its way to our beaches," Nancy Stoner, co-director of the council's water program, said in a statement marking the 19th annual "Testing the Waters" report.



"Americans should not suffer the consequences of contaminated beach water," she added. "From contracting the flu or pink eye, to jeopardizing millions of jobs and billions of dollars that rely on clean coasts, there are serious costs to inaction."
The report, compiled using data from the Environmental Protection Agency, looked at more than 6,000 beaches and found several states well above that national average of 7 percent:
Louisiana (29 percent of samples violated standards).
Ohio (19 percent).
Indiana (18 percent).
Illinois (15 percent).
Delaware, New Hampshire and Virginia had the lowest violation rates, all with 1 percent.

Five-star guide to U.S. beaches
Below's a quick look at how the 200 U.S. beaches rated by the Natural Resources Defense Council fared, with five stars being the highest ranking. Beaches are followed by their state abbreviation.
•
1 star
•
2 star
•
3 star
•
4 star
•
5 star
CT: Ocean Beach ParkFL: Bayview ParkFL: Monument BeachFL: Newman Brackin Wayside ParkFL: Venice Public BeachFL: Venice Fishing PierNJ: Avalon Beaches at 30th NJ: Belmar BeachNJ: Spring Lake (Essex)NJ: Point Pleasant Beach (Central)NY: Jones Beach State Park at Zach's BaySC: Myrtle BeachSC: Surfside Beach
Source: Natural Resources Defense Council
• Print this
Orange County beaches rate highestThe report also provides a five-star rating guide for 200 popular U.S. beaches, based on indicators of beach water quality, monitoring frequency and public notification of contamination.
Fourteen beaches rated five stars, and nine of those were in Orange County, Calif. The others were in Alabama, Maryland and Minnesota and New Hampshire





hirteen beaches rated just one star. Five were in Florida, four were in New Jersey, two in South Carolina and one each in Connecticut and New York.
Illnesses from polluted beach water include stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye, ear, nose and throat problems, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments, neurological disorders and other serious health problems, the defense council said. "For senior citizens, small children and people with weak immune systems, the results can be fatal," it added.
The report did find a 10 percent drop in days that beaches were closed or advisories issued, but attributed the decline to dry conditions and decreased funding for monitoring — not to any improvement in water quality.
"When the rains return," Stoner said, "so will pollution, forcing beaches to issue more closings and advisory days