These GA Beaches May Not Be As Safe For Swimming As You Think

UPDATE: Statement from Environment America Research & Policy Center: “Since we released the beaches report, some of our data has been called into question. To ensure the utmost accuracy, we are revisiting all the data, and we will make our findings public as soon as possible.”

GEORGIA — Plenty of summer days remain for Georgia residents to enjoy the beach but a new report finds that the state’s beaches may not always safe for swimming and the filthy waters can lead to illness.

Looking at bacteria sampling data collected by authorities in 29 states and Puerto Rico, the report authors found that more than half the beaches tested were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day in 2018. The analysis also showed that 610 beaches were potentially unsafe on 25 percent of the days they were tested for bacteria.

Beaches cited in the report posed a swimming risk if the bacteria samples exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Beach Action Value,” which is a stricter threshold than recommended by the agency for recreational water. The “Beach Action Value” corresponds to an estimated 32 illnesses for every 1,000 swimmers. One of the report’s recommendations to make beaches safer is to use the stricter EPA standard for making decisions on advisories and closures.

In the East Coast, 48 percent of the 2,373 beaches tested were unsafe for swimming for at least one day in 2018.

In 2018, 26 beaches in Georgia were sampled for bacteria and 13 of those beaches were potentially not safe for swimmers on at least one day last year. The top 10 beaches by the most number of days that were potentially unsafe for swimming are:

1. St. Simons Island Lighthouse, 6 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 50 days
2. Skidaway Narrows, 3 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 8 days
3. Kings Ferry, 3 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 4 days
4. Tybee Island, Polk St., 3 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 46 days
5. Jekyll Driftwood Beach, 2 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 46 days
6. East Beach, Glynn County, 2 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 47 days
7. Jekyll Island Convention Center, 2 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 46 days
8. 4H Camp on Jekyll Island, 2 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 46 days
9. Capt. Wylly Rd. near Beachview on Jekyll Island, 1 potentially unsafe day, sampled on 45 days
10. South Dunes on Jekyll Island, 1 potentially unsafe day, sampled on 46 days

The report notes that beaches cannot be compared to each other since the testing takes place on different schedules and at different frequencies.

Waters polluted with sewage or fecal matter can make swimmers sick, and millions of waterborne illnesses are reported each year in the United States, the report says. The report by the Environment America Research & Policy Center looked at data for 2018 collected by local and federal officials from 4,523 beaches.

To make waters safer for swimming, the report says pollution from urban runoff, sewage and manure needs to be curtailed.

Read the full report from the Environment America Research & Policy Center.