A new report says the nation’s beaches were closed a record number of times last year because of high bacteria levels in the water. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams reports:
Transcript
A new report says the nation’s beaches were closed a record number
of times last year because of high bacteria levels in the water. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams reports:
The Natural Resources Defense Council releases a beach report every
year. It’s based on data from the previous summer. The NRDC says,
last season, there were more than 18,000 closings or advisories –
that’s more than any summer in the past 14 years.
Nancy Stoner is with the NRDC. She says health officials are doing a
better job of testing beaches and that has lead to more beach closings.
Stoner says it’s good that more beaches are being tested… but she
says most communities are failing to control pollution sources.
“We know where the problem comes from and that’s contaminated
storm water and sewage. One of the big problems this year is that the
Clean Water State Revolving Fund has been slashed in the White
House budget. And Congress has not restored that funding.”
Stoner calls the funding critical for cities to repair aging sewer and
storm water systems. The NRDC is calling on Congress to restore the
cuts to the fund in the fall.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Rebecca Williams.