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Bring on the Heat! The Beaches Are Better than Ever; EPA’s Beach Surveillance Helicopter Takes Up Its Summer Vigil

Release Date: 05/30/2001
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(#01059) New York, New York – Area beaches are clean, safe and ready for beach goers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is geared up to make sure they stay that way throughout the summer beach season. EPA’s surveillance helicopter, "The Coastal Crusader," took to the skies this weekend to patrol the beaches and sample coastal waters to make sure they are safe. The information collected is used, along with data collected by the states and local health departments, to protect the millions of beach goers that flock to our shores every summer. New grants, totaling $2 million nationally and given to the states for the first time ever under the new Beach Act, will further help New York and New Jersey’s beach monitoring programs. This year’s grants will be used by some states to start beach monitoring programs. In the case of New York and New Jersey, which already have strong beach monitoring programs, the money will be used to make improvements. "Our beaches and coastal waters have never been cleaner," observed Dore LaPosta, Chief of the Monitoring and Assessment Branch at EPA Region 2, "Beaches in New York and New Jersey used to have a bad reputation, but now vacationers from all over the country and even the world come to New Jersey, New York City and Long Island to bask on the beaches. Thanks to "The Coastal Crusader," their beach experience is a safe and pleasurable one." Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, EPA scientists use the Twin Star helicopter to take hundreds of water samples, which are analyzed in EPA’s lab, and to keep a watchful eye out for floating debris that could spoil summer fun. The sampling results are shared with federal, state and local agencies to help them determine if beach closures are necessary. Garbage slicks are immediately reported to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), which dispatches vessels to skim the debris from the water and prevent washups on bathing beaches. New York and New Jersey coastal waters have all been in very good shape in recent years, thanks in large part to the efforts of federal, state and local governments to control the sources of pollution. Working cooperatively, they have established a network, which includes EPA’s helicopter and New Jersey and New York’s surveillance aircraft and monitoring boats, and the Corps’ and New York City skimmer vessels, to monitor and immediately respond to any potential pollution problems that could affect beaches in New Jersey and New York. In the past, New Jersey and New York beaches and coastal waters were plagued with high bacterial levels, huge algal blooms and extensive garbage and medical waste washups. Now, these incidents are very rare. There has not been a single New Jersey ocean beach closing caused by floating debris and garbage for the past nine years. Excluding one brief closure last summer, there has not been a New York ocean beach closed due to floating debris in many years. Since 1995, there have been fewer than fifty beach closings due to bacteria – a far cry from the more than 800 such closings in 1988 alone. The grants EPA is awarding to states this year are available under a new federal law passed by Congress last October, the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act). The new law established a national program for monitoring beach water quality and notifying the public of unsafe conditions. In 2000, in response to EPA’s annual National Beach Health Survey, states voluntarily submitted data on approximately 2000 beaches. One-third of the reported beaches issued a beach advisory or closing at least once during the swimming season. EPA estimates that Americans make a total of 910 million trips to coastal areas each year, spending about $44 billion. The surveys and additional beach information, including information for states interested in applying for the beach grants, are available online. EPA’s Helicopter, "The Coastal Crusader," in action. For information on this page, contact: habib.nina@epa.gov