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Category Archives: Beaches

Group ranks Lake Erie beaches worst in nation for water quality

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By Spencer Hunt

The Columbus Dispatch Monday July 1, 2013 2:44 PM

A new water quality survey ranks Lake Erie's beaches last in the nation.

The Natural Resources Defense Councils annual report has never been good news for the 61 public beaches along Erie. Last year, the council ranked those beaches 29th of 30 for ranked states in 2011. The beaches along Erie ranked 30th in 2012.

The group bases its rankings on routine water tests that found concentrations of E. coli bacteria that can cause illness and death.

Unhealthy concentrations of the bacteria were detected in 21 percent of water tests conducted last year in Ohio, the report found. Thats a slight decrease from 2011, when bacteria were found in 22 percent of the tests.

The worst state in 2011 was Louisiana, where bacteria were detected in 29 percent of the samples. For 2012, it ranked 16th.

Second-worst in this years report was Wisconsin, with a 14 percent failure rate for 116 public beaches.

The high bacteria counts typically come from raw and partially treated sewage that rains wash into lakes and nearby streams.

@CDEnvironment

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Group ranks Lake Erie beaches worst in nation for water quality

Ventura County beaches draw crowds during heat wave

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Ivan Pan and his family needed just one piece of information before deciding on a daylong trip to a Ventura beach: The temperature where they live in Valencia was expected to reach 102 degrees.

Pan, his wife, Erin, and son Juninho were enjoying the clear, breezy weather at San Buenaventura State Beach on Saturday afternoon and said they would be milking their time in the area before having to return to the heat.

The Pans were not alone. With forecasters predicting record-breaking temperatures throughout Ventura and Los Angeles counties this weekend, thousands of others flocked to area beaches for a brief reprieve from the heat, as well.

The increase in heat means more work for Brendan Delear, a lifeguard working at Tower 8 near the Ventura Pier.

Photo by Carmen Smyth, Ventura County Star

CARMEN SMYTH/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Megan Lee rides the waves on an inflatable mattress with her friend Michelle Miller as they try to beat the heat at San Buenaventura State Beach on Saturday afternoon.

We dont want to react, we want to prevent, Delear said. Youre running all day.

Delear said on a typical day the citys beaches would see around 1,500 visitors, but because it is the beginning of summer and the heat wave had arrived, there could be more than 6,000 people at the beaches in a single day. This ups the chance of being called on water rescues, he said.

Delear said during a normal summer, he would see five to 10 rescue calls, but by Saturday afternoon, he already had responded to two calls. To avoid any scary moments in the water, Delear said the best thing for swimmers to do is to avoid testing their abilities.

Know your limit, Delear said. The waves arent always consistent.

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Ventura County beaches draw crowds during heat wave

Bacteria on Maui beaches low, says report

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Maui County beaches have some of the state's lowest bacteria contamination rates, with only 2 percent of surveyed Valley Isle beaches exceeding the state's daily maximum bacterial standards, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Natural Resources Defense Council said that Hawaii County also had only 2 percent of its surveyed beaches go beyond the allowed standards. Kauai County had the highest rate in the state with 7 percent and Oahu had a 3 percent rate. All percentages were derived from 2012 sample testing data.

NRDC is an international nonprofit environmental organization with 1.4 million members and online activists. It issued its annual beach report Wednesday. High bacteria levels in water indicate the presence of human or animal waste, with storm water runoff identified as the highest known source of this pollution, the report said.

Lokelani Intermediate School student Jaedan Correll, 11, tosses a baseball to his mom, Linsay Ono, on Thursday at Charley Young Beach. They were playing catch at the waters edge while Jaedan worked on his skills. He said his mom knows her stuff. Shes really good. She said she learned from her dad. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Ocean water testing samples show that Maui County beaches have some of the states lowest bacteria contamination rates. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Overall, Hawaii ranked fourth in beach water quality out of 30 states, with 4 percent of samples exceeding national standards of designated beach areas in 2012. In all, Hawaii reported counting 470 coastal beaches and beach segments, although not all beaches were sampled.

"I still think our beaches are some of the better in the nation," said Dale Mikami, of the state Department of Health's Clean Water Branch.

The report details water quality findings from some of the country's best beaches and describes best practices for testing and public notification. No Hawaii beaches made the list, but states that had beaches on the list include Alabama, California, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire.

States that made the "repeat offenders" list for having persistent contamination problems included California, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. Hawaii did not have any beaches on the repeat offenders list.

In Maui County, beaches that were sampled and had incidents of exceeding the state's daily maximum bacterial standards were: Hanakao'o Beach Park, Honolua Bay, Kahului Harbor, Kahana, Kamaole Beach Park I, Kanaha Beach Park, Maliko Bay, Olowalu, Puamana Beach Park and the Kihei beach near St. Theresa Church.

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Bacteria on Maui beaches low, says report


  1. Beaches