Greenbytes: July 22, 2004 Edition

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Feature: New England Beaches Benefitting from EPA Support

Launched three years ago, EPA’s Clean New England Beaches Initiative has led to better water quality monitoring programs, more aggressive pollution abatement efforts and improved public notification about swimming conditions at the region’s coastal beaches.

Backed by more than $1 million of EPA grants each of the past three years, New England’s five coastal states have all made dramatic progress in expanding the scope and breadth of their coastal beach monitoring programs. An additional $1.2 million of grants were announced earlier this summer. Here are a few of the highlights from around the region:

• 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 can get up-to-date water quality information. Meanwhile, shoreline surveys were done over the past two summers at Ferry State Beach, Old Orchard Beach and Portland’s East End Beach to determine possible pollution sources at those beaches.

• Three years ago, a half-dozen of New Hampshire’s coastal beaches were 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. The state is also 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.

• In Massachusetts, more than 7,000 water quality samples were collected and analyzed last summer alone to ensure that the state’s coastal beaches were safe for swimming. There’s also been a strong push to eliminate pollution sources at Bay State beaches – efforts that, in turn, are leading to cleaner waters.

Quincy’s Wollaston Beach has seen a $24 million investment by the city to repair six miles of leaking sewer pipes and a state push to replace more than 100 dilapidated catch basins near the beach. In the wake of these repairs, water quality at the beach has improved. Eleven percent of the water samples collected from Wollaston Beach in 2003 had unhealthy bacteria levels. In 2001, 15 percent of the samples collected had high levels.

Similar improvements have been seen at Salem’s Willows Pier Beach, where eight percent of the water samples collected last summer had high bacteria levels, compared to 24 percent in 2001. The turnaround is largely the result of best management practices by the city of Salem to reduce storm water discharges near the beach.

These local success reflect improvements all across the region. Last year, about one fifth of New England’s 1,300 coastal beaches were closed at least one day last summer due to pollution, for a total of about 1,100 missed beach days. That’s compared to nearly 1,400 beach closure days in 2001.

For more information about EPA’s Clean New England Beaches Initiative, visit the agency’s web site at www.epa.gov/ne/eco/beaches

Press Releases

EPA Seeks Penalties From Maine Military Authority for Air Violations in Limestone, ME

Ipswich River Restoration Project Awarded Over $1M in Targeted Watershed Initiative

Nashua River Restoration Project Awarded Over $770,000 in Targeted Watershed Initiative

EPA Settles Enforcement Case with Seabrook, NH for Clean Water Act Violations

EPA Seeks Penalties from State of MA for Hazardous Waste Violations in Lawrence

Meat Processing Plant Faces Civil Penalties for Inadequate Risk Management Planning at Manchester, N.H., Facility

EPA Extends Comment Period to Aug 25, 2004 for Shpack Site and Reschedules Public Hearing to Aug 4, 2004

EPA Extends Comment Period to Aug 11, 2004 for Dover, NH Municipal Landfill

RI Jewelry Finishing Company Ordered to Comply With Clean Air Act

EPA Funding Assists Creation of Children’s Environmental Health Center

RI Company to Pay $500,000 Penalty for Hazardous Waste Violations

Events and conferences are not archived. Please refer to the Regional Calendar for upcoming events and conferences.

Beede - liable and settled parties lists

EPA NE Laboratory - new images in photo gallery

GE Pittsfield Superfund Site - 1.5 monthly report

Marinas - stormwater management pdf added

Paul G. Keough Earth Artists Program - new art gallery

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