RI Beaches Not As Clean As You Think: Report

Plenty of summer days remain for Rhode Island residents to enjoy the waters, but a new report finds that the Ocean State’s beaches might not always be safe for swimming.

Looking at bacteria sampling data collected by authorities in 29 states and Puerto Rico, the report's authors found that more than half the beaches tested nationwide 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 U.S. EPA’s “Beach Action Value,” which corresponds to an estimated 32 illnesses for every 1,000 swimmers.

Along the East Coast, from south Florida to central Maine, 48 percent of the 2,373 beaches tested were unsafe for swimming for at least one day in 2018.

In Rhode Island, of 129 beaches sampled for bacteria in 2018, 54 of them were potentially unsafe for swimmers on at least one day. The top three beaches by the most number of days that were potentially unsafe for swimming are:

• Easton's Beach, 10 potentially unsafe days of 29 sampled
• Conimicut Point-West beach, 6 potentially unsafe days of 25
• Goddard Memorial State Park beach, 5 potentially unsafe days of 27 sampled

The report warns that beaches should not be compared to each other because 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.

2019 has seen a lot of beach closures in Rhode Island. According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, heavy rain is often to blame, carrying animal waste and other contaminants into the water in runoff. On Wednesday, seven beaches across Rhode Island were closed following several days of heavy rain.

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