Wednesday morning the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released their annual Beach Quality Water Report. The 23rd edition of the report covered America's 200 most popular beaches on a scale of one to five stars, based on criteria such as water quality and beach management practices that protect the public.
“The fact is too many of America's beaches are sick and they are passing on their illnesses to families across the country, said NRDC Water Program Director Steve Fleischli in a conference call coinciding with the release. “As with any serious illness, we sought to address not just the symptoms but also the underlying causes. Thanks in part to a federal law called the Beach Act, local beach managers test their waters and issue advisories or close beaches when testing shows it's unsafe to swim, but under the recently revised EPA standards “safe to swim” means it's acceptable for 1 in 28 people to become ill after a day at the beach."
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 3, 2013.