Heal the Bay's End of Summer Beach Report Card is out for 2012 and the good news: LA's beaches are mostly un-gross! The bad news: a few are still kind of gross (Catalina, we're side-eyeing you). According to a release, this was \"one of the cleanest summers for beach water quality ever recorded in the state.\" The org gave A or B grades to 96 percent of California beaches, 4 percent more than last year (they rated 446 beaches \"based on bacterial pollution data collected by 20 local health agencies and dischargers from Humboldt through San Diego counties\"). In Los Angeles County, water quality was up 2 percent--77 sites earned As or Bs. But they're not all good; here are the three grossest:<\/p>\n
-- Avalon. The Catalina beach \"has experienced chronically polluted water for more than two decades,\" but recently upgraded its corroded sewer infrastructure and is working on further water quality improvements. Meanwhile, its five testing points earned three Fs, a D, and an A+ (between the storm drain and the Pier, if you want to go for it). <\/p>\n
-- Malibu Pier. This is Malibu Pier's third straight year of grossness--it earned an F for 2012. And it's not even clear why: \"Despite numerous site visits by Heal the Bay staff, a pollution source has yet to be identified.\" <\/p>\n
-- Cabrillo Beach. The San Pedro beach also earned an F grade \"despite extensive water quality improvement projects throughout the past few years including: replacement of beach sand in the intertidal zone, removal of the rock jetty, installation of water circulation pumps, and installation of bird exclusion devices.\" The city's agreed to do even more, with new bird exclusion measures scheduled to be in place by the end of the year. <\/p>\n
If you're curious about a particular beach, Heal the Bay has a handy map report card. SUMMER BEACH WATER QUALITY ON RISE STATEWIDE [Heal the Bay] <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Read the original post:<\/p>\n
Beaches: Here Are LA County's 3 Grossest Beaches For Water Quality<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Heal the Bay's End of Summer Beach Report Card is out for 2012 and the good news: LA's beaches are mostly un-gross! The bad news: a few are still kind of gross (Catalina, we're side-eyeing you). Continue reading