Since 2008, North Carolina has had some of the cleanest beaches in the nation — and 2012 was no exception.
A report released last week by the Natural Resource Defense Council detailed the environmental health of thousands of vacation beaches nationally and rated them depending on how safe they were for swimmers.
Rated third in the nation, out of 30 states, North Carolina’s monitored beach samples exceeded national standards in 2012 only 2 percent of the time, according to the report, “Testing the Waters.”
The nation’s worst state in the report, Ohio, had samples that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards 21 percent of the time, according to Jon Devine, the NRDC’s senior water attorney, in a conference call.
In North Carolina, elevated bacteria levels on beaches led to beach closings or advisories for 91 days in 2012, down from 126 days in 2011, according to the report.
Erin Bryan-Millush, an environmental specialist with the N.C. Department of Natural Resources who monitors beaches, attributed the clean water to proactive local governments and lower rain amounts than usual in 2012.
Storm water runoff and sewer overflow are two of the top contaminators of beach water nationwide, Devine said.
Both are more of a problem in years where hurricanes batter the North Carolina coast, Bryan-Millush said.
Across the state, only 14 percent of monitored beaches exceeded state standards in 2012, while none exceeded more than 10 percent of state standards, according to the report.
Statewide, 60 percent of contamination stemmed from storm water runoff, 48 percent from wildlife and 9 percent from unknown contamination sources.
Concerns over EPA funding of beach monitoring programs also highlighted the NRDC’s presentation of the report.
“For the relatively small federal investment of less than $10 million, 30 states are monitoring their coastal and Great Lakes beaches,” Devine said. “That’s an investment we should keep.”
Bryan-Millush said that if EPA funding were cut to the state’s Beach Water Quality Program, her staff would go from monitoring 240 sites to less than 100.
“Statewide, North Carolina generally has pristine water,” she said.
Breakout box:
2012 fast facts
n North Carolina beaches are third cleanest in the nation
n 2 percent of samples exceeded national standards for designated beach areas in 2012
n 1 percent of samples exceeded the state’s daily maximum bacterial standard for the 229 reported beaches
North Carolina percent of samples exceeding the state’s daily maximum bacterial standard for 229 beaches reported in 2008-2012:
2008: 1 percent
2009: 2 percent
2010: 2 percent
2011: 1 percent
2012: 1 percent
Source: Natural Resource Defense Council 2012 beach water quality report, ‘Testing the Waters’