Region 1: EPA New England
Pollution Reduction Efforts Paying Off for New England's Beaches
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
By Robert W. Varney
July 18, 2004
Three years ago, a half-dozen of New Hampshire's coastal beaches were not being monitored and even when they were sampled it took two days to get the water quality results back. Now all 16 of the state's coastal beaches are being sampled weekly, the results are coming back more quickly and "Swimming Advisories" are being posted immediately on a state web site.
Across New Hampshire 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 past three years, EPA is providing $1.2 million to New England's five coastal states to improve water quality monitoring at beaches and better notify the public about pollution problems. New Hampshire will receive $204,770 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. Since 2000, there has been only one swimming advisory issued at a New Hampshire saltwater beach due to elevated bacteria levels. The advisory was issued in June 2003 at New Castle Town Beach.
Still, any 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. New Hampshire, for example, has seen enormous water quality improvements in its rivers, harbors and bays. And these improvements have spawned renewed public attention 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.
In New Hampshire, public swimming beaches must be closed or posted with advisories when levels of certain bacteria are too high. Bacterial pollution can come from a variety of sources, including stormwater 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.
While communities and states are doing a better job of monitoring
and sharing the results with the public -- a great example
is the NH Department of Environmental Services beach monitoring
web site at www.des.state.nh.us/Beaches/index.asp 
--
there are still too many beaches that are closed on too many days
in the summer.
EPA is 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 to 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 state partners 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.
NH DES is showing such leadership. In addition to collecting and analyzing over 500 water samples last summer, DES is working with local communities to establish volunteer "Adopt a Beach" monitoring programs and is collaborating with the University of New Hampshire to use innovative DNA technologies to trace pollution sources at several coastal beaches, including North Hampton Beach, Bass Beach and Pirate's Cove. DES has also been working closely with local officials to study and minimize bacterial pollution sources at Hampton Beach, one of the 11 Flagship beaches we designated two years ago in New England.
This kind of 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 has been closed due to unhealthy bacteria levels, don't accept it. Urge your local officials to diagnose the problem and then fix it! The problem could be as simple as fixing 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 materials 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 EPA's New England Office.