bridges to gastro: Swimmers: beware of bacteria

[Guest guest]

The bridge collapse in Minnesota illustrates a more general problem. Many

domains of infrastructure have been neglected on behalf of an accelerated

rate of economic growth. Water treatment has lagged behind population

density. Too many industries have polluted air, earth, and water. Numerous

intra-body toxins are found in every person thus far tested. Concurrently,

so-called " regulatory " agencies tout the shibboleth " safe levels " ; and

corporate media (ie, mainstream media) tell us that the autism epidemic is

either a construct of " better diagnosis " or is a Mystery. Bottom line, we

are engulfed by CYA strategies enacted on behalf of investores in growth

and in the patenting and sales of toxic molecules.

- - - -

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Swimmers, beware of bacteria

Environmental group urges tougher procedures to protect beach users

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/NEWS01/70\

8070331

WASHINGTON - Beaches across the country closed or posted warnings to

swimmers a record number of times last year because of high levels of

harmful bacteria, evidence communities should do more to keep vacation

beaches clean and safe, according to a national environmental group.

The Natural Resources Defense Council's annual " Testing the Waters " guide

portrays the nation's favorite beaches as increasingly susceptible to

contamination from storm water runoff, sewage spills and other sources of

pollution.

" We are still not doing everything possible to protect the public, " said

Stoner, director of the group's Clean Water Project. " Pollutants

continue to foul our waters, threatening human and ecological health. "

Tamika Humphreys, a 31-year-old City of Poughkeepsie resident, views the

measures to close beaches as a blessing.

" At least I know, " said Humphreys, who has been swimming at beaches in

Long Island and Florida.

The report, to be released today, analyzed data collected by state and

local government officials and compiled by the federal Environmental

Protection Agency.

The report, considered the most authoritative analysis of government

testing at ocean and freshwater beaches, shows just how vulnerable beaches

are to pollutants flushed through storm pipes, many of which empty

directly into the ankle-deep water where children play.

" You could hardly design a more effective way of delivering pollution to

the beach, " Stoner said.

The group found:

- More than 1,600 beaches temporarily closed or posted a swimming advisory

last year because of bacteria levels exceeding federal public health

standards.

- Water samples from 92 beaches in 19 states exceeded public health

standards 25 percent of the time or more.

- The number of days beaches were closed or advisories were posted

increased 28 percent to a record high of 25,643 nationwide last year.

(Each day a beach is closed counts as one closure day, so if 1,000 beaches

were each closed one day, that equals 1,000 closure days.) Much of the

increase was because of heavy rains in Hawaii that caused a rise in

contaminated storm water.

- Not counting Hawaii, the number of closure and advisory days nationwide

was up 7 percent last year, a record for the 17 years the group has been

tracking beach water quality. It was the second straight record year.

- Storm water runoff is by far the most significant source of

contamination. It was cited as the reason for 10,597 closing or advisory

days in 2006, nearly double the number from 2005.

- Of the more than 100,000 water samples taken at beaches last year, about

7 percent exceeded federal bacteria standards.

- Closure and advisory days were up more than 90 percent on the New

York-New Jersey beaches and the West Coast, largely because of storm water

runoff and sewage system overflows.

Art Fritz, a retired Town of Poughkeepsie resident, said he used to take

his family to Wildwood, N.J.

" We never thought about the quality of the water, " he said. " We read the

paper and heard about closed beaches, but we were pretty lucky. "

Government officials note swimming at most coastal and Great Lakes beaches

is safe most of the time, and the data confirm that. The group's

cautionary report stands in sharp contrast to the EPA's more optimistic

assessment, which pronounced the nation's recreational shorelines " in good

shape " at the start of this summer.

" We're seeing progress in keeping America's beaches clean, but significant

challenges remain, " said Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator

for water. " We want to move from a B-plus to an A. "

EPA: More beaches tested

EPA officials say monitored beaches had contamination-related closures or

swimming advisories only 5 percent of available beach days last year. They

say more beaches in more states are being tested since a federal beach

water quality monitoring program was created.

Still, swimmers are often one rainstorm or sewage overflow away from being

exposed to contaminated water, much of the time unknowingly. That's

because not all beaches are monitored, test results of water samples can

take up to 24 hours, and officials aren't required to notify swimmers of

higher-than-recommended bacteria levels.

Several studies have established a link between swimming in water

contaminated with human or animal waste and illness, including ear, nose,

throat and eye problems, gastroenteritis, hepatitis and respiratory

ailments.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention review for 2003 and 2004

reported 62 outbreaks of waterborne diseases associated with recreational

water - not just beaches but also swimming pools and water parks - in 26

states and Guam. A total 2,698 people fell ill, including 58 who were

hospitalized and one who died.

Data gathered by the CDC and other agencies reveal gradual increases in

gastroenteritis outbreaks associated with recreational swimming.

Most studies are localized.

Last fall, several surfers reported severe sinus infections after spending

time in the water near Rehoboth Beach, Del., where a storm water pipe

funnels water from a small inland lake with a large goose population.

" I got a call from a buddy of mine who surfs, and he said he had the worst

sinus infection of his life, " said Mark , a local kayak instructor

and chairman of the Delaware chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a

conservation group. " I put out a little notice and about 10 people

responded saying they had gotten ill. "

Assessing exactly how many people get sick from swimming in polluted beach

water is difficult because it's rare for beachgoers to cite that as a

source of illness, health officials say.

" It's a nebulous phenomenon, " said Beach, acting associate

director for healthy water at the CDC.

The EPA is studying water quality and illness rates among swimmers in

Alabama, California and Rhode Island as it tries to update bacteria

standards.

Monitoring on the rise

Each year, the EPA gives about $10 million to states for a federal beach

water-quality monitoring program Congress created in 2000. All 30 coastal

and Great Lakes states participate. More than 3,500 beaches are monitored

today, up from 2,182 in 2000, the group says.

That's still not every beach. State and local officials test water at

beaches most popular with swimmers and those most likely to experience

bacterial contamination. The officials decide how often to test. Some do

it daily, others once a week.

Distrust is one reason why 18-year-old Jack Pneuman, a clerk at the

Kingston & Noble, refuses to go to Hudson River beaches.

" I stopped swimming once I got some cognition of what's in the river, like

PCBs, sludge, crap, dead fish, trash - pollution in general, " he said.

All states have adopted the EPA's standards for unhealthy bacteria levels

or use their own tougher standards. Under EPA standards, beach water is

considered unhealthy when it contains a specified amount of enterococcus

or E. coli.

Those levels are designed to make sure no more than eight people in 1,000

become ill after swimming in freshwater and no more than 19 in 1,000

become ill after swimming in salt water.

But even at beaches where the threshold is exceeded, the federal

government has no authority to require states and local governments to ban

swimming or post advisories.

Not everyone does. In Corpus Christi, Texas, for example, officials have a

policy of keeping warning signs off local beaches, said Jim Suydam, a

spokesman for the Texas General Land Office.

Such policies are potentially hazardous, said Mark Gold, president of Heal

the Bay, a Los Angeles group. He said warning signs should be required

when the public's health is at risk.

" Inadequate monitoring and poor public notification can lead to millions

of swimmers unknowingly exposed to unacceptable health risks, " Gold said

at a congressional hearing in July.

Congress is considering increasing funding for beach water quality

monitoring and requiring states to quickly adopt new standards and testing

technology that would alert beach officials right away if water contains

harmful levels of bacteria.

The EPA is testing new DNA-based technology that offers results within

three hours of when a water sample is lifted from the surf.

Journal staff writer Bradshaw contributed to this report.

*

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