10% of US Beaches Teeming With Bacteria

Stormwater runoff major culprit in unsafe beaches
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 26, 2014 9:03 AM CDT
10% of US Beaches Teeming With Bacteria
A swimmer holds his inflatable turtle while standing in the waves of Mission Beach in San Diego on Tuesday, June 24, 2014.   (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

They may look pristine, but one in 10 US beaches is ripe with enough bacteria to make you sick. New research shows 10% of coastal and lakefront beaches fail to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's water-safety standards and swimmers could develop a stomach bug, conjunctivitis, pink eye, or even respiratory illnesses and neurological disorders, Time and the Natural Resources Defense Council report. The worst places for pollution? The Great Lakes, the Gulf Coast, and New England.

The research from state beach coordinators at nearly 3,500 beach testing locations around the country found most of the pollution comes from stormwater runoff, which picks up garbage, oil, and human and animal waste before it ends up in oceans. But climate change, a lack of federal policies, and hundreds of billions of gallons of untreated sewage pouring into the water isn't helping matters. Time points out that in 2012, nearly 2,000 beaches were closed as a result of pollution—in New York and New Jersey alone. (More conjunctivitis stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X