Texas beaches tank in quality

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With the Fourth of July weekend coming up, thousands of Texans will be heading to the beach.

But they shouldn't assume the water quality is good.

Among the 30 states that have coastal or Great Lakes beaches, Texas ranks 21st in beach water quality.

According to a report released Wednesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council, nine percent of beach water samples at Texas beaches exceeded national standards for contamination in 2012.

In last year's report on the 2011 season, Texas ranked eighth among the 30 states.

This year's report presents information on water quality as well as the frequency of beach closings and swimming advisories at more than 3,000 U.S. beaches on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes.

Texas has about 2,500 miles of coastal, bay and estuary shoreline, with 336 miles covered by monitoring and notification provisions of the federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000.

In addition, the Texas Coastal Management Program under the Texas General Land Office funds a project to create a standard sanitary survey program for the state's beaches, according to the NRDC report.

In 2012, Texas reported 169 coastal beaches, with 9 percent of all reported beach monitoring samples exceeding the daily maximum bacterial standard. Beaches with the highest percentage in 2012 were Palacios-Palacios Pavilion in Matagorda County with 33 percent; Cole Park and Poenisch Park, both at 32 percent; Ropes Park at 31 percent in Nueces County; and Sargent Beach at 29 percent in Matagorda County.

The report calls upon the Environmental Protection Agency to set beach water quality standards that protect human health and provide states with support they need to monitor beach pollution and notify the public when pollution levels are high.

The report decries the EPA's new standards for allowable bacterial levels in recreational water, which deem it acceptable for 36 of every 1,000 beachgoers to contract gastrointestinal illnesses.

"That means EPA would find it acceptable if one in 28 swimmers got sick," the report states. "(Just imagine a restaurant where one in 28 people were allowed to get sick - these are simply unacceptable standards.) NRDS is fighting EPA on this reckless and illegal failure to protect the public and you can help by speaking out."