Report: Nation’s troubled beaches

LOS ANGELES - Gerry Klatt looks across the beach toward a peaceful bay at Cabrillo Beach in the port town of San Pedro, seemingly a good place for a daily dip, but he won’t be going swimming. Instead, he walks the length of a football field to the salt-water side of the bay facing the Pacific Ocean, He thinks it’s cleaner. He may be right. The inner side of Cabrillo Beach leads the list of California beaches that saw the highest percentage of days with a bacteria count deemed potentially dangerous. It is part of a new report released July 23 by the Environment America Research and Policy Center, a non-profit environmental and advocacy group. The report lists the most troubled beaches in 29 coastal and Great Lakes states. The study looked at the number of days in 2018 that the water had bacteria counts exceeding federal environmental standards. The EARPC report says the high counts can sicken up to an estimated 75,000 swimmers annually. Most days, the beaches are considered safe. But researchers found bacteria counts can spike on certain days with fecal matter being the No. 1 culprit. In Chicago, 19 of 19 beaches sampled had at least one day last year when beaches were considered potentially unsafe for swimming. One, South Shore Beach, showed contamination on 93 of the 98 days of the sampling period. Other examples included Gulfport (Miss.) East Beach, which showed high levels on 44 out of 66 days; and Tanner Park in Suffolk County, N.Y., registered high on 48 out of 71. Many counties and states are good about closing beaches when pollution levels are too high, and posting warning signs. Beachgoers are urged to check water-quality reports. The top five Gulf Coast sites by state, according to the report: In Alabama, four Baldwin County sites, including the Fairhope Public Beach; In Florida, two in Escambia County and two in Sarasota; In Louisiana, two in Cameron Parish and Fontainebleau State Park in St. Tammany; and in Mississippi, four in Harrison County, which includes Gulfport East. Source: USA TODAY 07/23/19)