Report Says Nations’ Beaches Soiled By Bacteria Washington, Oregon Named As ‘Beach Bums’ Or Failing To Monitor Water Quality

America’s sandy beaches might look like a refreshing way to escape the hot days of summer, but a report released Thursday shows a rising number of closings and advisories due to unsafe bacteria levels.

The nationwide survey also singles out four states, including Washington, as “beach bums” for failing to regularly monitor their coasts.

Despite drought conditions, there were 6,610 beach closings and advisories nationwide in 1999, with 70 percent due to bacteria associated with sewage or polluted runoff, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s 10th annual report, “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches.”

The report presents a mixed picture of the coasts, beaches and Great Lakes, noting that better monitoring may account for part of the increase but many states still don’t follow federal guidelines or don’t monitor at all.

“The good news is that America’s waters are generally cleaner than they were 25 years ago, when rivers were burning and lakes were dying,” the authors wrote.

“The bad news is that, at the dawn of the 21st century, about 40 percent of U.S. waters are still too polluted for uses such as swimming and fishing and for supporting aquatic life.”

Louisiana, Oregon, Texas and Washington were deemed “beach bums” for lacking both regular beach monitoring and a public notification system when the water is polluted.

While the report applies only to coastal beaches and the Great Lakes, Washington does not monitor any beaches, whether freshwater or saltwater, according to the state Department of Health.

Some Western Washington counties take it upon themselves to regularly monitor beaches. No Eastern Washington counties monitor beaches on a regular basis.

Five “beach buddies” were found to have regular monitoring that based pollution levels on federal guidelines, always closed beaches when appropriate and had few closings or advisories. The “beach buddies” were East Haven Town Beach in Connecticut; North Beach and Oceanside at the Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland; and Revere Beach and Short Beach in Massachusetts.

While last year’s 6,160 advisories and closings is down from 1998, the report notes that 1998 was an El Nino year that caused a spike in beach closings and advisories in California. A better comparison to 1999 would be 1997, when there were 4,153 beach closings and advisories nationwide.