Report: Some Bay Area Beaches Among Most Polluted In State
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – The Bay Area has some of the most-bacteria ridden beaches in California, according to an annual report released Thursday.
According to the latest report from Heal the Bay, Northern California is home to seven out of the state's 10 most polluted beaches.
Five of them are in the Bay Area. Lakeshore Park, Linda Mar, Roosevelt, and Surfers Beach are all in San Mateo County, along with Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz County.
The reason: poor circulation and runoff from polluted rivers or storm drains.
• RELATED LINK: Heal The Bay Beach Report Card
Heal the Bay says getting in the water at a polluted beach can lead to a respiratory or gastrointestinal illness.
"No one should get sick from a day at the beach. And so, we published the beach water quality in a really simple A through F letter grade," Karen Vu of the group told KPIX 5. "It's a simple way for people to go to the beach, they can make more informed and more educated decisions about which beach they want to go to.
Heal the Bay's rankings are based on levels of weekly bacterial pollution measured by county health agencies.
On the positive side, most Bay Area beaches received A or B grades.