Beach
Blahs?
Feeling sick after
that beach picnic? Before you blame the potato salad,
consider what you swam in. Waters polluted by
stormwater can cause stomach illness, respiratory disease
and eye, ear and skin infections in swimmers.
Lakes, rivers, streams and oceans can all be contaminated
when germs from animal waste, poorly maintained septic
systems and other sources pour in after a rainstorm. Parents
in particular should not allow their children to play
in the pools and streamlets these outfalls make.
What looks like a safe play zone away from waves and currents
is a potential health hazard.
 |
E.Coli |
The
culprits fall into three main classes: bacteria, protozoa
and viruses.
Bacteria can cause typhoid fever, cholera and even a mild
case of E. Coli can cause intestinal troubles at best.
Protozoa problems tend to revolve around giardia and cryptosporidium,
whose symptoms range from nausea to—in immune-compromised
people—death. Viruses like Hepatitis A cause
jaundice and fever, and other viruses can transmit conjunctivitis
(better known as pink eye). According to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control, “recreational
water illnesses [RWIs] can cause a wide variety of symptoms,”
but “the most common reported RWI is diarrhea.”
 |
| Salmonella |
An
Expensive Problem
In 2004, pollution caused nearly
20,000 days of closings and advisories at ocean and Great
Lakes beaches. The majority of the closings (85
percent) came about when bacteria associated with fecal
material were detected.
Using
data from two California beaches, Newport and Huntington,
University of Irvine California researchers estimated
the cost of swimming there cost the public $3.3 million
in health-related expenses.
The tally included lost wages and medical costs associated
with treating stomach, respiratory, eye, ear and skin
infections.* It did not include anyone who did not seek
out help or simply used over-the-counter medicines, so
the true cost may be higher.
In addition to the
human impact, businesses lose out, too. The cost of closing
a Lake Michigan beach could be as high as $37,000 per
day.** In North Carolina,
shellfish beds are also impacted by stormwater.
If you added up all the acres of closed
beds, you’d get an area the size of Wayne County.
In 1997, the USEPA calculated stormwater runoff costs
paid by the shellfish and commercial fish industries in
the $17 million to $31 million range. That’s a lot
of clams!
What’s
Being Done?
The federal Beaches Environmental Assessment, Closure
and Health (BEACH) Act went into effect in early 2004
to address the increasing numbers of sick swimmers. The
Act required states to adopt federal bacteria standards
and provides support to monitor water and notify the public.
To check out beach quality in North Carolina, the Division
of Environmental Health created this handy Web
site, so check it out before you pack the boogie board.
Checking
the water and notifying the public are a good start, but
a reactive one. Why not just stop all that nasty
stuff from entering the water in the first place? There’s
work on that front, too. Stormwater outfalls that allow
water directly on to the beach are being replaced with
other, less contaminating systems. State
and local public health departments are working with septic
tank users to ensure proper maintenance. Staff from the
Divisions of Water Quality and Environmental Health staff
sample and test water. They also work
to create new ways to address the problem. One N.C. State
project in the pilot stage is testing the use of old,
cleaned septic tanks to capture stormwater runoff and
then release it slowly into filtering sand. Now there’s
a role reversal! And a fine piece of recycling if it works.
All of us can help.
Pick up after your pets
when you walk them. Give children swimming in diapers
frequent checks to ensure they don’t have an “accident,”
and dispose of used diapers properly.
To protect
yourself, check the beach for stormwater outfalls. If
you see any, do not swim near them. Avoid swimming
after a heavy rain. Check the water for trash or oil slicks—both
can enhance the chance of contaminants in the water. Don’t
swallow the water or even get it in your mouth, if at
all possible.
It’s
been along time since we could drink untreated water from
area lakes or rivers, but who knew swimming could make
you sick? Now we do.
Working together is the only way to improve the situation.
Until then, take a few extra steps for safety’s
sake. And next time, pack potato chips.
*Dwight, Ryan, Linda
Fernandez, Dean Baker, Jan Semenza, and Betty Olson. “Estimating
the economic burden from illnesses associated with recreational
coastal water pollution—a case study in Orange County,
California.” Journal of Environmental Management
76 (2005): 95–103.
**Murray, Chris, and Brent Songhen. 2000. “Valuing
Water Quality Advisories and Beach Amenities in the Great
Lakes.” Agricultural, Environmental, and Development
Economics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. 
Chrystal
Bartlett currently works as Stormwater Awareness & Outreach Coordinator
for the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources where she
recently launched a new stormwater Web site, www.ncstormwater.org. She
is also a freelance voiceover talent and image management consult. Before
working at DENR, she worked as a DJ, news reporter and at several ad
agencies. Chrystal graduated from N.C. State University with a B.A.
in Communication and an M.A. in Public Relations.