Pollution-related beach closings and advisories soared last year, according to the National Resource Defense Council's eleventh annual beach report.
Pollution-related beach closings and advisories soared last year, according to the National Resource Defense Council's (NRDC) eleventh annual beach report. Across the United States, a record 11,270 closings and advisories were issued in 2000, 83 percent more than the 6,160 announced in 1999.
What caused this surge? The report says that although some states experienced heavy rainfall that prompted more closings and advisories, most of the upsurge in closings and advisories followed increased monitoring, better testing standards for bacteria and other pathogens, and more complete reporting. In other words, the country's testing policies and practices are beginning to reveal the extent of water pollution at our nation's beaches, according to the NRDC. As monitoring improves and expands - as it must do by 2004, under federal law - the report predicts that the numbers are likely to rise still higher.