Ind. beaches receive poor ranks

Indiana’s beaches are among the most polluted in the United States, according to a report released July 29 by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The report highlights incidences of beach closures due to contaminated water along Indiana’s Lake Michigan coastline for 2008.  

The report, “Testing the Waters 2009: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches,” summarizes the results of water quality studies done in states with ocean or Great Lakes coastlines.  

According to the report, Indiana ranks third among Great Lakes states with the most contaminated beaches, behind New York and Ohio. Indiana also has three of the 12 most contaminated Great Lakes beaches – Jeorse Park Beach I, Jeorse Park Beach II and Buffington Harbor Beach. All three beaches are in Lake County.

The report was based on data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s STORET database, “an operational system actively being populated with water quality data,” according to the EPA’s Web site.  

Samples of beach water are taken, tested and the results are posted to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Web site, IDEM spokeswoman Amber Finkelstein said. That data is then uploaded to the EPA’s database. Gary Recreation Director Ezra Alexander said the beaches managed by the city are tested daily. Other municipalities test more or less often, with some testing only once a week.

In order for a beach to be considered clean by EPA standards, it must contain fewer than 235 colony forming units of E. coli per 100 mL of water. If beach water E. coli levels exceed the EPA standard, the beach is closed until concentration of the bacteria recedes to an acceptable level.

Exposure to unsafe levels of E. coli and other pathogens in contaminated beach water can lead to diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis and respiratory problems, according to the Web site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

The report also found that Indiana beaches saw an increase in days closed from 213 days in 2007 to 333 days in 2008, an increase of 56 percent. IDEM reported that 2007 beach closures totaled 478 days, indicating a 30 percent decrease in 2008. IDEM had no explanation for the difference.

Defense council spokesman Josh Mogerman said the data from the report is taken directly from the EPA’s database and that the council checks and rechecks data to avoid any discrepancy.

The consequences of water contamination and beach closures are not just health-related. A study published in Environmental Science and Technology that was referenced in the council’s report estimated that closure of Lake Michigan beaches lead to economic losses of $7,900 to $37,000 for the local beach community.    

“The Great Lakes are a revenue generator,” Mogerman said. “People flock to the beaches and when the beaches are closed, that has an impact on commerce in the communities around them. People aren’t buying umbrellas, they’re not buying lunch, and they’re not buying cold drinks.”

The report found that, in 2008, 19 percent of Indiana’s reported beach monitoring samples exceeded daily maximum bacterial standards. Only five of the 28 beaches sampled did not exceed the bacterial standards during the year.  

Finkelstein said the source of E. coli contamination is difficult to determine in most cases but can often be attributed to sewage overflow, animal waste, storm water runoff
and poorly maintained septic systems.  

The report indicated that only 1 percent of beach contamination can be attributed to the above sources. The source of contamination for the other 99 percent of samples is unknown.  

“There is no one major cause. It is all non-point source pollution, or pollution that is very difficult to track because it is coming from all over the place,” Finkelstein said.