Pollution Still a Hazard to U.S. Beaches

(CBS/AP)  Last updated at 6:53 p.m. EDT

A report on water quality at U.S. beaches shows a 10 percent decrease in closing or advisory days last year compared to 2007, but indicates pollution remains serious.

The Natural Resources Defense Council says in Wednesday's report that there were 20,341 days on which ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches were closed or were the subject of health advisories.

That's the fourth year in a row that the number has topped 20,000.

"Pollution from dirty stormwater runoff and sewage overflows continues to make its way to our beaches. This not only makes swimmers sick - it hurts coastal economies," said Nancy Stoner, NRDC Water Program Co-Director.

Click here to read the full report

Rain plays a big role in flushing pollutants into the oceans, but last year it was relatively dry in California, Hawaii and from Delaware to the southeastern states and the Gulf of Mexico.

The NRDC also says some of the overall decline was due to decreased funding for monitoring.

Five-Star Beaches include:

Gulf Shores Public Beach (Alabama),

Laguna Beach-Main Beach, Bolsa Chica State Beach, Newport Beach (California)

Ocean City (Maryland),

Park Point - Community Club Beach in Duluth (Minnesota)

Hampton Beach State Park in Rockingham County (New Hampshire)

One-Star Beaches include:

Zach's Bay at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh (New York)

Ocean Beach Park in New London (Connecticut)

Venice Public Beach (Florida)

Central Beach in Point Pleasant (New Jersey)

Wetter than usual conditions increased closings and advisories in the Great Lakes, New England and the New York-New Jersey region.

"Nobody wants their trip to the beach to send them to the bathroom or, worse, the emergency room," said Stoner. "It is vitally important to remember that if it has recently rained - or you see or smell a pipe discharging onto the beach - keep your head above water or avoid swimming altogether."

Swimming in contaminated water causes hundreds of thousands of cases yearly of skin rash, pink eye and gastrointestinal diseases, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace

"What we saw this year is that we are not doing any better at addressing the sources of beach water pollution," Stoner told Wallace. "There were 7 percent of the samples that violated public health standards nationwide. That's the same thing we saw last year and the year before."

[gstanden]

It is a fact that sewer reconstruction and water treatment projects in this country are sorely needed. These projects unfortunately have huge I mean really huge price tags. Many cities are using sewage infrastructure built in the late 19th or early 20th century and there are many many untreated outfalls into seas and lakes and oceans. I do think that money that was spent in Iraq war and other wars of questionable value to this nation could have been better spent on US infrastructure projects like this. I wonder when we will get a congress and a president who will simply say wasteful use of oil must end, i.e 18-year olds can just walk to high school instead of driving to high school alone in the family SUV etc. We fight these middle east wars for oil. We neglect infrastructure in the USA which requires alot of money to rebuild. Where is the leadership - why are kids who are perfectly healthy driving around in cars which wastes billions of barrels of oil. Perfectly healthy people should be walking, taking the bus, biking. Let cars be reserved for the elderly and the sick, and let's get started rebuilding this country and creating jobs.

[Heartlight]

I use my backyard pool. Going to the beach these days is like a deathmarch! The litter in the sand, jellyfish, other inconsiderate bathers, and dearth of clean bathroom facilities.Parking? Don't even get me started! I live 1/2 mile from a small community beach. If I get the urge I'll go there-til then, my pool is clean, and the convenience is a delight!

[debinok1]

For years industry has been dumping pollution into our air and our water, the regualtion of these industries is laughable, they get a slap on the wrist and a fine, they are NEVER held responsible for cleaning up what they pollute. It washes into our lakes, oceans and ground water, that water is then pumped onto our food, which transfers the pollutants into our food and into the ground. This never ending cycle has been allowed by the government, they will NEVER put a stop to it, they will NEVER put real teeth in the regulations to control it. They are more concerned with the industries ability to continue to line their wallets, with no regard for the HUMAN lives at stake.

Time to take BACK our government.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/are-we-confident-our-government-is-working-for-us

[connunism]

The Republicon Congress of 1994 - 2006, along with Bill Clinton and GW Bush can all be blamed for the increase in pollution is US waters.