Schools Out!

As school lets out for the summer, many of the BWTF water testing programs that are based in high schools also take a break. Both the West LA/Malibu and the South Bay Chapters recently held year-end events to celebrate another successful year of beach water testing. These events serve as a means to reward the students' participation, raise awareness in the community of their program and local water quality issues, and provide a venue for the students to present their water quality data. The West LA/Malibu BWTF program includes students at Santa Monica High School. The South Bay Chapter reaches students at El Segundo, Mira Costa, Redondo Union, South and Westchester High Schools through the SEA Lab at Redondo Beach. Congratulations to all the students!

Source Tracking Guide Just Released!

The Maine Healthy Beaches Program has just released the Municipal Guide to Clean Water: Conducting Sanitary Surveys to Improve Coastal Water Quality

This resource is focused on finding, fixing and preventing sources of fecal bacteria contamination in low density, coastal watersheds. Elements of this guide will also be useful for freshwater beaches and urban watersheds. While this guide was design with local government and agency staff in mind, most covered topics will also be relevant for volunteer groups. Just beware that some areas – such as directions on how to inspect private residences- are not appropriate for volunteers.

In addition to covering how to identify bacteria hot spots and track sources in a watershed, this guide also includes excellent overviews of many water testing issues including: indicator bacteria, sources of pollution, source tracking methods, waste disposal systems, stormwater issues, solutions and best management practices.

Whether you are looking to investigate a local water pollution issue yourself or want to learn more about what you should be asking your local authorities to do, this guide is a great resource! Or use it as an educational tool for students or new volunteers. It has great photos of many of the steps involved in water testing.

Pictured above is Sarah Mosley, Maine Healthy Beaches Water Quality Testing trainer, and Northern New England Chapter member. Sarah, along with Keri Lindberg, are responsible for training all the volunteers that collect samples for the Maine Healthy Beaches program, including a team of NNE Chapter volunteers. More info on NNE Chapter's water testing program is available on their website.

Leaking Septic Systems Implicated in Bellingham, WA

The Northwest Straits Chapter's BWTF tests between 5-8 sites throughout the year. During the summer of 2009, they discovered a spike in fecal coliforms in a water sample collected from Larrabee State Park (pictured above & below). The chapter alerted the local authorities to the suspected pollution. The Washington State Department of Ecology’s BEACH Program and Whatcom County Department of Health, responded to the chapter’s concern by performing a source tracking study, which led to the discovery of a failing septic system in the nearby neighborhood. Since then, the septic system has been repaired and bacteria levels at Larrabee State Park have returned to normal.

Meanwhile, the Chapter’s efforts towards sharing their data and forming good relationships with their local environmental and health agencies, may bear even more fruit as another source of pollution is tracked down. The Department of Ecology is tracing the source of another event of high bacterial pollution after being alerted by the Chapter that their Nooksack River Delta sites have been testing high as well. Although not confirmed as of yet, another leaking septic system is suspected.

Thanks to the Chapter volunteers for continuously testing the sites around Bellingham, sometimes covering 30+ miles by bicycle to do so in a "green" manner. Thanks also goes out to Post Point for sharing their laboratory space with the Chapter. Read more about the Chapter's BWTF program here.

A new BWTF program begins tackling pollution in Seattle

The Seattle Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation recently relaunched their BWTF program. Dr. J. Scott Meschke, PhD, MS, JD, Assistant Professor in the University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences is assisting the chapter with their water testing program. Dr. Meschke has provided the Blue Water Task Force with the use of lab space and training in lab procedures. Chapter volunteers are collecting and running their own water samples, as well as collecting sand samples from the intertidal zone for research on the retention of MRSA and other pathogens in the environment that Dr. Meschke’s and Dr. Marilyn Roberts are undertaking. The Chapter started sampling freshwater sites at the end of 2009 and have added some marine beaches to their sampling program this spring. They are now currently monitoring nine sites, including beaches, streams, and marinas. Their most recent water quality data are posted online.

For the past 3 months, one of their sampling sites, a fresh water stream that runs through Golden Gardens Park, has been testing extremely high for bacteria, well above state standards. This is very concerning as this site is a very popular stream for children to play in. The chapter contacted the King County's Department of Health to alert them to the problem. They sent their results as well as a picture of kids playing in the stream less than 48 hours after the most recent high result. The Department of Health took the Chapter’s concerns seriously and will begin notifying the public of the danger that this polluted water can pose to bathers. The chapter is working with the City to develop streamside signage that will educate the public about the pollution and hopefully deter families from playing in the stream. The Chapter has also received great coverage on this issue by local news reporters. Check out these links.

NWCN.com

KIROTV.com

SeattlePI.com

Ballard News-Tribune

Public notification is just the first step. The chapter is now pursuing funding options to do a source identification study. Possible pollution sources to the Golden Gardens Park include a dog park directly upstream or one of the other streams that feed into this stream from Seattle. Congratulations to the Seattle Chapter for forming good partnerships with both the University of Washington to get their water testing program off the ground and running and with the King County Department of Health to raise public awareness and look for solutions for their local water quality problems. Thanks also goes out to all the volunteers that donate their time and expertise to collect samples and help out in the lab.

Stream at Golden Gardens Park, Washington

Public Notification of Water Quality Results

The below article discusses the inconsistencies in public notification of beach monitoring results between three counties in New Jersey. There are similar inconsistencies nationwide, with some states posting or closing a beach after one bad (high bacteria) sample, and others only taking action after a second bad sample – often 2-3 days after the original sample. In California, although beaches are posted with health advisories after one bad sample, beaches are only closed if there is evidence of a sewer spill, regardless of the bacteria level. Other states, including New Jersey (except Monmouth County) and Florida only take action after a second sample. That action also varies by state – closure in NJ, an advisory in FL.

Water quality monitoring a top priority as rain gives way to clearing at beaches

Monmouth to post advisory if first test shows pollution; Ocean won't do same

By TODD B. BATES • ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER • June 2, 2010

It's a near picture-perfect day as the crew aboard the single-prop Cessna airplane looked for trouble in the

ocean below.

Outfitted with a light-based sensor to detect algae, which can cloud the water and lead to fish kills, the plane

gently cruises over the surf off Monmouth County.

As the plane flies past Manasquan Inlet, Virginia Loftin, a state research scientist, spots some floating trash

near the southern end.

"I don't know where that might have come from,'' said Loftin, a longtime state Department of Environmental

Protection staffer who oversees the state-county-local beach water monitoring program. "There's always

the possibility that some boater dumped his garbage.''

In some areas along the coast, the water looks foamy or brownish, perhaps from algae or churned up

sediment.

Overall, Loftin said the water "looks OK.''

With the 2010 beach season arriving this weekend, officials are monitoring the waters and hope oil from the BP

spill in the Gulf of Mexico doesn't spoil the summer.

There's a slight chance that oil could appear, probably in the form of tar balls, according to experts.

Meanwhile, both environmental activists and officials say beach-water quality in general depends on the

weather, with rainfall boosting pollution from runoff.

Again this year, Monmouth County will take the extra precaution of posting warning signs at beaches at

the first hint of pollution. But officials in Ocean and Cape May counties don't plan to follow Monmouth's lead.

Instead, they will follow state rules that call for two tests over 48 hours before action is taken. In short, this

means unwary swimmers risk exposure to harmful bacteria and viruses that can make them sick.

The most common illness from polluted waters is gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and

intestines that can cause vomiting, headaches and fever. Other minor illnesses include ear, eye, nose and

throat infections.

Martin Connie, principal registered environmental health specialist in the Atlantic City Health Department, said

he likes the idea of posting an advisory sign after one high count, and it would be considered.

Patricia Diamond, health officer in the Atlantic County Division of Public Health, said the oceanfront area

covered by the division has never gotten a second high bacteria count. But the division would ban bathing at a

beach after one high count if it believes there is a pollution problem, according to Diamond.

Late last summer, officials in Monmouth County began posting their own advisory signs at beaches after an

initial test showed high levels of fecal bacteria, indicators of potentially harmful pollution, in the water.

"That's, of course, what we've been calling for for years, and it's nice to see that it's finally happening,'' said

John Weber of Bradley Beach, a surfer and northeast regional manager for the Surfrider

Foundation, a nonprofit environmental group. "It's definitely more protective of the public health.''

William Simmons, environmental health coordinator in the Monmouth County Health Department, said the

four health agencies in the county that began posting signs last summer "got nothing but positive feedback from

the public.''

Activists want state officials to better protect beachgoers from polluted water and increase monitoring. Officials say

they're working on amendments to state rules and looking into additional monitoring.

In Monmouth County last year, officials closed various beaches to swimming a total of 114 times,

according to the DEP. If, for example, five beaches were closed just for a day, that would count as five lost

beach days.

Nearly all of the swimming bans … 108 … were precautionary after rainfall at four beaches near the ocean outfall from polluted Wreck Pond in Spring Lake and Sea Girt.

In Ocean County, no ocean beaches had to be closed to swimming due tobacteria.

But a beach in Long Beach Township was closed for three days as a precaution after a pleasure boat sank,

releasing debris, according to the DEP. And an Island Beach State Park beach was closed for a day as a precaution

after an unarmed torpedo washed up.

Some of the many bay beaches in Monmouth and Ocean counties were closed for a day a total 56 times last

year, largely because of high bacteria levels or as a precaution following rain.

Beachwater testing

Under the state-coordinated Cooperative Coastal Monitoring Program, county and local health

officials take ocean, bay and tidal river samples on Mondays and results come back the next day.

If levels of fecal enterococci bacteria hit more than 104 per 100 milliliters of water at a beach, officials take more

samples and results come back in 24 hours. If bacteria levels remain high, officials close the beach to swimming

until counts drop.Last year, four health agencies in Monmouth County asked the state Department of Health and Senior

Services to amend its rules covering beachwater testing to allow officials to post advisory signs warning of pollution.

The agencies include the county health department, Monmouth County Regional Health Commission No. 1 and the Long Branch and Middletown health departments.

Agency officials thought a 48-hour wait to close a beach was too long, said Simmons, of the county health

department.

In July, the DEP said state health department rules do not prohibit local health agencies from posting

advisories at bathing beaches.

Loftin, the DEP research scientist, said it's up to county and local health departments to decide whether to post

advisory signs. But the DEP supports health agencies that choose to do so, she said.

In Ocean County, however, officials do not plan to post advisories at beaches after getting initial high

counts of bacteria, said Leslie Terjesen, county health department spokeswoman.

"We follow the (state) code,'' she said. "We don't close the beaches. The municipalities close the beaches'' after

two days of high counts.

Meanwhile, the state health department has "not yet offered local health departments any guidance on

the upcoming beach season but plan to do so before the season begins,'' according to spokeswoman MarilynRiley.

As of last week, the department had not issued any guidance.

The department's goal is to propose rule amendments by late summer or early fall, she said in an email.

Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a Sandy Hook-based environmental coalition, said "The

program we have right now is woefully inadequate. The old rules can literally make you sick because.... They're not

providing full information in a timely manner.''

This story originally published First

In Print in the May 30, 2010 edition

of The Sunday Press.

Todd B. Bates: 732-643-4237;

tbates@app.com; www.twitter.

com/ToddBBatesAPP

Advances in Beach Monitoring

Beach bacteria battle goes high-tech

Chicagoland effort to keep water safe hits digital age

Jehreal Webster pours water into an oasis in the sand as his daughter Jahnahn , 3, plays at the 57th Street Beach. (Scott Strazzante, Chicago

By Joel Hood, TRIBUNE REPORTER

10:38 a.m. CDT, May 28, 2010

Chicago Tribune

So much for the old warning flag on a stick.

Confronting an almost unwinnable battle against E. coli and other bacteria on public beaches, Chicago and some of its suburbs have taken the fight into the digital age.

From computer models that can predict conditions where bacteria will thrive, to swimming alerts and beach closures sent out via Twitter, Facebook and text message, officials have adopted high-tech strategies to better inform beachgoers of unhealthy conditions.

"That's how people live now," said Cathy Breitenbach, manager of the Chicago Park District's Office of Green Initiatives. "People have an expectation today to get information quickly and in multiple ways. We're doing our best to meet that expectation."

As thousands across Chicago and the suburbs hit the beach this Memorial Day weekend, health officials warn of the dangers lurking out of sight.

The popular beaches that line the lakefront in Chicago and communities to the north have long been a melting pot for E. coli and other harmful bacteria. Stormwater runoff, pet waste, bird droppings and urban trash contribute to microscopic mountains of filth that can lead to sore throats, stomachaches and all kinds of ailments.

The number of swimming bans has increased in recent years, officials say, likely due to more frequent testing for bacteria than an actual drop-off in water quality. Twice a day, researchers walk the city's 31 beaches collecting water samples in small plastic tubes and sending them to a lab for analysis.

The trouble with that method of water sampling is that results aren't known until the next day. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Geological Survey are pioneering research off Chicago's beaches, using DNA analysis to test for bacteria, that will one day shorten the lab work to a couple of hours, allowing for almost instantaneous water monitoring, said Richard Whitman, a USGS ecologist.

"The results we've been living with are yesterday's numbers, and that's not always good enough," Whitman said. "We know water conditions can change pretty quickly."

This month, Whitman and other scientists dumped red dye into the water a half-mile off 63rd Street Beach, one of the most problematic waterfronts in the city, to track the speed and direction of lake currents in the hopes of better understanding how bacteria builds up along the shoreline.

Thanks to EPA funding, the scientists have developed computer models that can calculate weather data, wave height, wind direction, rainfall and other measurements to project when and where bacteria counts will rise to unsafe levels.

This software, launched in Lake County in 2005, has revolutionized beach research. Instead of having to wait 18 or 20 hours to issue a swimming alert to beachgoers, predictive modeling can anticipate unsafe swimming conditions.

"It's keeping people out of the water when they should be, and not a day after the testing is done," said Mike Adam, a senior biologist for Lake County, which oversees 15 public beaches along the lakefront and several dozen inland beaches. "E. coli levels can change dramatically just between morning and afternoon tests. Imagine how much they change a day later."

Officials in Chicago and Evanston are now compiling data that will enable them to use predictive modeling in a year or two. It is a step toward the ultimate goal of being able to predict high bacteria levels days in advance, Whitman said.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to know on Friday what the water conditions will be like at your favorite beach on Saturday or Sunday?" Whitman asked. "That's where we want to be."

Until that day arrives, the best defense of our beaches involves a mix of high- and low-tech solutions, Breitenbach said.

Last year the Chicago Park District debuted a specially crafted titanium rake with four-inch teeth capable of turning over deeper layers of sand, reducing bacteria by exposing it to UV light and oxygen. Think of it as a sand Zamboni that refreshes Chicago's beaches each morning.

This spring, the Chicago Park District board unanimously passed an ordinance banning the feeding of birds and wildlife along city beaches. The ordinance is designed to reduce the number of gulls, particularly the most common ring-billed gulls, that congregate and defecate on the sand, Breitenbach said.

And once again this summer, the park district plans to station rescued border collies and their handlers on a few of the city's beaches to disrupt gulls when they try to land. The dogs have proven to be a simple, effective and popular answer to the bird problem, Breitenbach said, and is about as low-tech as it gets.

"They stay in the open areas and try to prevent birds from landing and loafing," Breitenbach said.

The time-honored practice of flying brightly colored flags on the beach, to warn swimmers of dangerous water, has not yet gone the way of the typewriter. Flags will still fly this summer, officials said, but park district two years ago set out to modernize how it reached the public.

District officials set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account, @chicagoparks. In addition to the automated phone line (312-742-3224) that for years has offered recorded messages about beach conditions, this spring the district plans to send swim-ban notifications via text message.

As scientists learn more about the relationship between waterborne bacteria and public health, getting out the information as quickly as possible becomes the next great challenge, Breitenbach said.

"We've made this a commitment because we know it's a public service," she said. "These beaches are meant for all to enjoy."