Region 1: EPA New England
Pollution Reduction Efforts Paying Off for Maine and New England Beaches
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
By Robert W. Varney
July 15, 2004
Four years ago, only a few of Maine's coastal beaches were being monitored regularly to ensure that the water was free from pollution. Now three-dozen saltwater beaches are being sampled every week and a new web site has just been launched so residents and visitors can get up-to-date water quality information.
Meanwhile, shoreline surveys were done over the past two summers at Ferry Beach State Park, Old Orchard Beach and Portland's East End Beach to determine possible pollution sources at those beaches and additional inspections will be done this summer at several more beaches, including Kennebunk Beach.
Across Maine and New England, a three-year-old program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has led to better monitoring programs, more aggressive pollution removal and improved public notification about swimming conditions, which have made our region's beaches safer, cleaner and more enjoyable for millions of residents and visitors.
This year, as in the last three years, EPA is giving $1.2 million to New England's five coastal states to improve water quality monitoring at beaches and to better notify the public about pollution problems. Maine will receive $257,650 this year.
Last summer, 230 of the region's freshwater and saltwater beaches were closed at least one day from pollution, for a total of over 1,900 missed beach days. That's a tangible improvement from 2001, when the region's coastal and freshwater beaches were closed more than 2,400 beach days. No coastal beaches in Maine were closed last summer due to pollution, but in 2001 and 2002 saltwater beaches in the Portland area were closed or posted with advisories on 16 days and five days, respectively, due to high bacteria counts.
These closures are unacceptable and EPA New England, in coordination with municipalities and the states, remains committed to its Clean New England Beaches Initiative to eliminate "No Swimming" days. In addition to funding support, the initiative includes an increased focus on pollution assessment work, technical assistance and designating "Flagship" beaches that serve as models for improving beach water quality.
The initiative builds on significant improvements that have already been made in overall water quality and swimming beach monitoring programs. Maine, for example, has seen enormous water quality improvements in its rivers, harbors and bays. And these improvements have spawned renewed public attention on reopening areas to swimming -- attention that has led to more frequent and more sophisticated water quality monitoring to ensure that people are not at risk when they go for a swim.
Under Maine's Healthy Coastal Beaches Program, swimming beaches are closed or posted with advisories when levels of certain bacteria are too high. Bacteria pollution can come from a variety of sources, including storm water runoff, untreated sewage, combined sewer overflows, failing septic systems, leaking sewer pipes, and even animal waste from pets and wildlife. Exposure to these pollutants can cause minor illnesses such as gastroenteritis or, more rarely, serious diseases such as hepatitis.
EPA is strongly committed to helping municipalities and state agencies reverse these trends. One way is by promoting pollution assessment technologies through a newly-created regional workgroup of technical experts and scientists. We're also providing technical assistance -- and, where appropriate, enforcement support -- to help local and state agencies identify and reduce pollution sources. A primary focus in this regard is finding nonpoint pollution sources such as leaking sewers, illicit connections and runoff which can wreak havoc on water quality both in dry weather and wet weather.
We're also looking to our Flagship beaches to lead the way -- both in setting the bar in running effective beach monitoring programs, but also in showing a commitment to take the tough steps necessary to eliminate pollution sources that are undermining water quality.
Wells Beach is among the beaches we have in mind -- one of two "Flagship" beaches in Maine, along with Ferry Beach State Park in Saco. With support from the town of Wells, the Maine Healthy Beaches Program has a bacteria pollution tracking project underway in the Webhannet watershed in Wells to identify contamination sources that may be contributing to beach pollution. Efforts also are underway to educate Wells homeowners on proper septic system use and to promote the use of boat pumpout facilities in Wells Harbor.
This kind of local support is critical in bringing an end to beach closures in New England. We'll also need help from New England's citizens. If you have a beach that is not being monitored, urge your local officials to participate in the Maine Healthy Coastal Beaches Program. If problems are identified, urge your local officials to track down the pollution sources and fix them. The problem could be as simple as repairing a broken sewer pipe or cleaning catch basins. We also need to act responsibly as individuals. That means picking up pet wastes, properly maintaining our septic systems and disposing waste oil and other hazardous waste properly.
Only by working together can we achieve our goal of keeping all of New England's beaches healthy and safe.
Robert W. Varney is regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's New England Office. The state's
new web site on bathing beach conditions is www.mainehealthybeaches.org 