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WARWICK—National beach closings and warnings due to bacterial contamination hit record numbers nationwide, but decreased in Rhode Island, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s annual “Testing the Waters” report released August 3 in Rhode Island by the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group (RIPIRG).

The report “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches,” tallied over 20,000 beach closing and health advisory days in 2005, a 5 percent increase from 2004 and the most since NRDC began tracking the problem 16 years ago.

In Rhode Island 65 closings were reported, which is down from 122 in 2004. The decrease in beach closings is mainly attributed to a decrease in rainfall of about half between 2004 and 2005.

“Rhode Island beachgoers shouldn’t have to worry about beach closures, swimming in sewage and fish-kills,” said RIPIRG advocate Matt Auten. “We know what most the major sources of pollution are that cause these problems and they include: rain induced storm water run-off and combined sewer overflows, effluent from wastewater treatment plants, failing cesspools and polluters that violate their discharge permits.”

This year’s report includes new information that provides a more alarming picture of the problem of beach pollution. For the first time, NRDC evaluated beachwater quality nationwide and found 200 beaches in two dozen states whose beachwater samples violated the public health standards at least 25 percent of the time, including Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett, Easton’s Beach in Newport and Conimicut Point Beach in Warwick.

NRDC also singled out Scarborough State Beach in for special criticism, naming Scarborough a “Beach Bum” in 2005 because samples collected at Burnside Pipe, Ocean Road Pipe and Black Point Pipe – all stormwater pipes- failed to meet health standards more than half the time.

In most cases, beachwater was contaminated with bacteria, and beachgoers were either swimming in it or banned from swimming because of the health risks. Overall, 8 percent of the beachwater samples taken nationwide violated health standards, while samples at Rhode Island beaches exceeded health standards 13 percent of the time, the 8 th worst compliance record nationwide.

“To solve these problems it is going to take the leadership of Rhode Island’s governor and a real commitment to clean water from our state legislature and federal Congressional delegation,” Auten continued.

This summer RIPIRG spearheaded a summer canvass operation that has fanned out across Rhode Island speaking to over 25,000 residents about the problem of pollution in the Bay and building support for solutions. “Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly support doing whatever it takes to clean up the Bay,” said Erin Malcolm, who worked on the RIPIRG canvass for over two months. “I heard a lot of stories from citizens this summer about kids getting sick, families deciding not to go to the beach because of health concerns and frustration about beach closings on hot days. All of these stories tie into the pollution problems we have,” Malcolm continued.

Based on the report’s findings, NRDC today announced 32 Beach Buddies, which monitored beachwater quality regularly, had no violations of public health standards, and took significant steps to reduce pollution. The buddies list included 2 beaches in New England:

• Connecticut : Walnut Beach in Milford.
• Maine : Pemaquid Beach in Bristol.

Even the current beachwater health standards do not adequately protect the public and must be updated, according to NRDC. Today the organization announced it is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to modernize the standards as ordered by Congress six years ago.

“A day at the beach should not turn into a night in the bathroom, or worse, in the hospital,” said Nancy Stoner, director of NRDC’s Clean Water Project. “There have been significant advances over the last two decades that we should be using to protect beachgoers, but the EPA is dragging its feet in implementing them.”

In 2000, Congress passed the Beaches Environmental Assessment, Cleanup and Health Act ( BEACH Act), which required the EPA to revise the current health standards by October 2005. The agency missed the deadline, and now says it will not be able to finish updating them until 2011.

The current beachwater quality standards are 20 years old and rely on obsolete monitoring methods and outdated science that leave beachgoers vulnerable to a range of waterborne illnesses. Risks include gastroenteritis, dysentery; hepatitis, respiratory ailments and other serious health problems. For senior citizens, small children, and people with weak immune systems, the results can be fatal.