America's most polluted beaches

By Allison Van Dusen

updated 12:07 p.m. ET June 14, 2007

You've got your high-tech sunscreen, umbrella and ultra-violet protective bathing suit. You're avoiding the sun during peak exposure hours. You're ready for a health-conscious trip to the shore.

But despite those precautions your day at the beach could still end up making you feel sick — thanks to pollution affecting the nation's waters. Two miles of beach in New Jersey closed recently after a pipe broke at the Asbury Park sewage treatment plant, releasing about half a million gallons of partly treated sewage into the water.

Closures and health advisory days at nationwide ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches topped 20,000 in 2005, the highest number since the Natural Resources Defense Council started tracking the problem 16 years ago. At fault? Sewage and storm water runoff reaching our beaches are a big part of the problem, along with people crowding the nation's shores without paying enough attention to their impact.

The national nonprofit organization, which aims to protect public health and the environment, found in its most recent 2006 "Testing the Waters" report that 200 beaches in 24 states had beach water samples that exceeded health standards at least 25 percent of the time. Those standards, set by the federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000, limit the daily maximum of enterococci in marine water and E. coli in fresh water. Violations mean beach waters were contaminated with human and animal waste.

Swimming in polluted waters puts people at risk for a host of health problems, including gastroenteritis, respiratory infections — illnesses common in the Third World countries — as well as pink eye, ear infections and skin rashes. The consequences tend to be worse for children, the elderly, pregnant women, cancer patients and other people with weakened immune systems.

More from Forbes.com Click below for more slide shows World's dirtiest cities Spring breaker-free beaches Hottest Caribbean hotels World's most remote travel destinations Most unusual restaurants in the world

A 2005 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study of two beaches affected by discharges from waste treatment plants looked at the health of beachgoers 10 to 12 days after their visits. Among swimmers at a Lake Michigan beach in Indiana the incidence of GI illness was 10 percent, compared with 5 percent for nonswimmers. Of swimmers at a beach near Cleveland on Lake Erie, 14 percent of those who immersed their head under water got sick compared with 10 percent of nonswimmers.

It's hard to tell just how many people are getting sick from swimming in dirty water, however, because not everyone with symptoms makes the connection or bothers going to the doctor. After a day of burgers, chips and ice cream, they might just assume it was something they ate.

"They don't know whether it was the hot dog vendor, swimming in the beach [water] or if they caught a virus," says Nancy Stoner, director of NRDC's Clean Water Project.

How it happens
The biggest source of pollution, Stoner says, is storm water runoff. After a heavy rainfall, runoff carries pollutants on the ground's surface into beach water, making it the most dangerous time to take a swim. The amount of rain an area gets can make a big difference, causing variations in its beach water quality year to year.

It's possible some of the beaches in NRDC's report have improved since 2005, the latest year for which data is available. Obvious sources of pollution, such as a storm water pipe discharging onto a beach, can be simple to address, and dry weather also helps. But for most places, Stoner says, there's a continual problem of discharges associated with storm water that occur every time it rains.

In 2005, according to the NRDC, polluted runoff and storm water contributed to 5,333 closing/advisory days, or 23 percent of the year's total. Sewage spills and overflows caused or contributed to 898 closing/advisory days, or 4 percent of the year's total.

Some of the beaches affected by known sewage contamination from spills, storm drains, runoff or leaky septic systems in 2005 included Malibu Beach in California, 10 beaches in Hawaii and Princess Beach in the Virgin Islands, according to the NRDC.

Other states with problem beaches in 2005 included Rhode Island, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts and Georgia. Each had a beach in which at least 25 percent of its water samples exceeded the national standard in 2005.

MORE FROM SUMMER TRAVEL

Summer Travel Section Front

Museum Day showcases culture at no cost Travel’s inconvenient convenience Get your motor running Top 10 national park lodges FirstPerson: Readers share their summer fun Getting through the dog days of summer Summer fun on the slopes Rock out at the world’s coolest music festivals Discover the granddaddy of scenic road trips World's sexiest beaches Summer Travel Section Front   Add Summer Travel headlines to your news reader: