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Beach Health: Safe to Swim?

Beach Health: Safe to Swim?. Dr. Shannon Briggs Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. June 19, 2009. We enjoy looking at beautiful beaches …. Lake Michigan near Brevort. Head over heels in love with our water!. We just don’t look at it or drink it, we play in it!.

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Beach Health: Safe to Swim?

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  1. Beach Health: Safe to Swim? Dr. Shannon Briggs Michigan Department of Environmental Quality June 19, 2009

  2. We enjoy looking at beautiful beaches … Lake Michigan near Brevort

  3. Head over heelsin love with our water! We just don’t look at it or drink it, we play in it!

  4. Field Gear for Collecting Samples TRAINED STAFF SAMPLE BOTTLE WADERS COOLER WITH WHEELS SAMPLING POLE ICE PACKS GLOVES, etc IDENTIFIED MONITORING POINTS

  5. Water samples collected, store on ice, < 6 hour holding time Give lab 2 hours to prepare samples

  6. C. botulinum Salmonella C. perfringens Campylobacter Recreational Water Illness enterococci E. coli

  7. Some of the E. coliMethods approved by the US EPA Current methods requires incubation time m-Tec, 24 to 48 hours IDEXX Colilert, 24 hours IDEXX Colilert-18, 18 hours

  8. Some of the enterococciMethods approved by the US EPA Current methods requires incubation time USEPA Method 1600 (mEI agar) 24 hours IDEXX Enterolert, 24 hours

  9. Example of Posted Sign

  10. Monday, June 15, 2009

  11. WATER WAS BAD YESTERDAY DON’T KNOW ABOUT TODAY COME BACK TOMORROW

  12. TOMORROW WATER WAS BAD AGAIN YESTERDAY WE STILL DON’T KNOW ABOUT TODAY WE CAN TELL YOU THAT TOMORROW

  13. THE NEXT DAY IF YOU SWAM YESTERDAY, YOU’RE OKAY, WATER WAS FINE! TODAY “MIGHT” BE OKAY TOO BUT - WE WON’T SAMPLE AGAIN UNTIL NEXT THURSDAY HAVE A NICE DAY

  14. Water Quality Daily Forecasts Beach Message Signs Maintained by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) Courtesy of Calum McPhail, SEPA www.spea.org.uk

  15. Aberdeen beach 3 advisories Excellent, Good, or PoorGuideline / Mandatory / Fail

  16. How daily signage is posted Website Phone line Phone TEXT

  17. What happens when your beach is closed?

  18. Questions raised due to beach closings: Why? Who’s responsible? When will it re-open? Public Meeting for Sugar Island Beach

  19. “I just couldn’t believe how bad the situation was.” McDowell contacted Congressman Bart Stupak

  20. Congressman Bart Stupak

  21. Senator Levin’s office set up meeting to include Members of the Canadian Embassy, Senator Stabenow’s office, and Congressman Stupak’s office.

  22. Investing in Beaches = Investing in Community Time Enjoyment Expertise Confidence Efforts Beaches Growth Research Public Health Funding Revenue Collaboration Experience

  23. “Therefore, we strongly encourage you to reconsider the formula used to distribute BEACH Act grants to states.”

  24. “Michigan with 3,224 miles of shoreline and 4.8 million people living near the coast gets less money than American Somoa which has 126 miles of shoreline and 57,291 people living near the coast.”

  25. Great Lakes Success Stories Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (37 beaches in Duluth) City of Marquette, MI Chippewa County HD, MI 16 State Parks in NY Presque Isle St Pk, PA Milwaukee HD, WI City of Racine HD, WI Lake County HD, IL Indiana Dunes Natl Lakeshore Gary Sanitation District, IN Cuyahoga County HD, OH

  26. USEPA invested $522,824 into Great Lakes Beach Sanitary Surveys for 61 beaches Unknown Sources caused beach closures Before 84% After 24% Help us find $8,570 for your local beach Opportunities

  27. http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/sanitarysurvey/

  28. Memorial Day 2008, the GLRC Clean Beaches Initiative… encourages increased use of sanitary survey forms for tracking down sources of pollution causing beach closings and will provide information on other beach monitoring and man management resources through the GLRC Website.

  29. http://www.great-lakes.net/glba/index.html

  30. beachnet@great-lakes.net Great Lakes Beach Association Your link to 800 beach buddies! We transfer our expertise and experience in successful collaborations.

  31. Great Lakes Public Beaches 79 191 39 602 12 48 73 31

  32. Good News Approx 80% of sample results meet water quality standards Goal is to have a beach open 95% of the season National average = beaches are open 95% of the time Approx 68% of the beaches can do this

  33. Bad News, er… an opportunity National average 32% of beaches were closed in 2007

  34. The Public Demands Action!

  35. Predictive Models multiple factors, provides answers now, potential for regional model (unmonitored areas) Need sufficient monitoring data (4-5 days/wk) Improve access to data (NOAA, etc) Need equipment (e.g., monitoring buoys) Need training and technical support Highest Priority Issues for Beach Monitoring in Great Lakes

  36. Affordable Rapid Tests reduce delay, potential for source tracking Need to invest in technology Develop new technology Modify existing technology Highest Priority Issues for Beach Monitoring in Great Lakes

  37. …this is who we work for.

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