Revision as of 00:33, 20 April 2011

Indicator Type	Information	Status
Beach Access	6	4
Water Quality	5	4
Beach Erosion	6	-
Erosion Response	-	5
Beach Fill	5	-
Shoreline Structures	5	4
Beach Ecology	2	-
Surfing Areas	2	7
Website	5	-
Coastal Development	{{{19}}}	{{{20}}}
Sea Level Rise	{{{21}}}	{{{22}}}

Water Quality Monitoring Program

BEACH Act
The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act) signed into law on October 10, 2000, amends the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), incorporating provisions intended to reduce the risk of illness to users of the Nation's recreational waters. The BEACH Act authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to award program development and implementation grants to eligible States, Territories, Tribes, and local governments to support microbiological testing and monitoring of coastal recreation waters, including the Great Lakes, that are adjacent to beaches or similar points of access used by the public. BEACH Act grants also provide support for development and implementation of programs to notify the public of the potential exposure to disease-causing microorganisms in coastal recreation waters. EPA encourages coastal States and Territories to apply for BEACH Act Grants for Program Implementation (referred to as Implementation Grants) to implement effective and comprehensive coastal recreation water monitoring and public notification programs. CWA section 406(i) authorizes appropriations of up to $30 million per year to develop and implement beach programs. Unfortunately, only about one-third that amount has been authorized each year since the program's inception. In recent years, the total funding available for BEACH Act grants has been about $9.5 million. Funding beyond 2012 has been in jeopardy, since EPA's budget requests for this program in FY2013 and FY2014 were ZERO (money for testing in 2013 and 2014 was ultimately allocated as part of Continuing Resolutions to resolve the Federal Budget impasse) and there was also no money for beach testing in the FY2015 budget. Again, it was restored at the last minute as part of a Continuing Resolution. It is very discouraging to have to fight for this basic funding to protect the public's health at the beach every year. Thankfully, there is a growing movement to provide stable funding. Unfortunately, in 2017 the situation is even more dire. If available, funds are allocated to the states and territories based on a formula which uses three factors that are readily available and verifiable: (1) Length of beach season, (2) miles of beach and (3) number of people that use the beaches. New York was eligible for a $326,000 grant in fiscal year 2016. New York City provides funding for its beach monitoring program to supplement the BEACH Act grant monies that the city receives.

Much of the following discussion is taken from NRDC's report Testing the Waters, A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches, July 2010.

New York is the only state in the nation with ocean, estuarine, and Great Lakes coastline. There are 127 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline, 231 miles of shorefront on Long Island Sound, 548 miles of Long Island bayfront, and 83 miles of shorefront on islands off the Long Island coast. In addition to these marine waters, there are at least 200 miles of freshwater shoreline on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Nearly all of the state’s beaches are on Atlantic waters; only 39 are on Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. The New York State Department of Health administers the coastal beach monitoring program in New York.

More than 70% of New York City’s 6,000 miles of sewer system is combined with stormwater pipes, which can discharge a mixture of rainfall runoff and raw sewage into area waterways during and immediately after precipitation. These excess flows contain floating debris comprised of litter and toilet-generated waste such as hygiene products, as well as heavy pollutant loads. When discharged to the New York/New Jersey Harbor Complex, the floating debris tends to collect into slicks that can wash up on beaches. The multi-agency Floatables Action Plan employs several means of controlling floating debris, such as: helicopter surveillance to locate slicks, skimmer vessels fitted with nets that collect floating debris, floating booms that trap debris near sewer-system discharge points for later collection, and sewer-system improvements intended to maximize the ability to retain floating debris. These methods have prevented tons of floating debris from reaching area beaches.

Monitoring

Sampling Practices: The monitoring season generally extends from May to September. Sampling practices, locations, and notification protocols for coastal beaches in the state have been established by each of the administering agency’s 11 contractors in accordance with the U.S. EPA’s guidance criteria for the requirements of the BEACH Act grant. Water samples are collected 18 inches below the surface in water that is approximately three feet deep. Monitoring locations and sampling frequency are determined by a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, potential pollution sources, historical water quality and physical characteristics of the beach property. Samples taken as part of sanitary surveys and special studies may be taken at outfalls and other sources. Some jurisdictions sample more frequently once an exceedance of standards is found.

Closings and Advisories

Standards and Procedures: Both closings and advisories are issued for beaches in the state. For marine beaches, New York uses an enterococcus single-sample maximum of 104 cfu/100 ml. For freshwater beaches, New York uses an E. coli single-sample maximum of 235 cfu/100 ml or 61 cfu/100 ml for enterococcus. Whether or not geometric mean standards are applied when making closing and advisory decisions depends on the local beach authority. New York City applies a geometric mean standard for enterococcus of 35 cfu/100 ml for a series of five or more samples collected during a 30-day period.

When water quality monitoring reveals an exceedance of bacterial standards, the beach manager either notifies the public or re-samples if there is reason to doubt the validity of the original sample result. Re-sampling is performed within 48 hours after the routine monitoring results indicated an exceedance. If the re-sample exceeds the water quality standard, a closing or advisory is issued. New York City does not issue an advisory or closing based solely on monitoring results, but rather uses administrative review and management tools when evaluating beach status for the determination of the correct regulatory action. New York City conducts a re-sample or issues an advisory or closing after analyzing ongoing water quality trends, historical water quality data, reports of pollution events, and other factors that may be affecting the beach, including animal waste, septic or sewage disposal systems, and illegal sewage connections.

All of the counties with marine beaches and most of the counties with Great Lakes beaches issue preemptive rain advisories or other preemptive advisories, many of which are based on rainfall amounts.

Several of New York’s contracting entities have developed models of various designs and complexity for their beaches. For example, Monroe County uses a model based on amount of rainfall, the flow rate of the Genessee River, turbidity, algae, and other organic debris. The Interstate Environmental Commission has developed an extensive hydrodynamic loading model that is integrated into the beach monitoring and notification programs of the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene and the Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk County Health Departments.

The EPA’s Helicopter Surveillance Program monitors algal blooms along the New York City coastline during the bathing season. Information about blooms is communicated to the New York City beach program and is considered when making closing and advisory decisions for their beaches. The EPA also monitors the Atlantic coastline of Nassau and Suffolk Counties for algal blooms. Some jurisdictions use algal density in beach operation protocol due to water clarity/bather surveillance concerns (high concentrations of algae can make it difficult for rescue personnel to see swimmers in the water).

New York State Coastal Policy 30 states: "Municipal, industrial, and commercial discharge of pollutants, including but not limited to, toxic and hazardous substances, into coastal waters will conform to state and national water quality standards."

You can access county health departments via the NYDOH website. For example, check out the Suffolk County Beach Water Quality Monitoring page. Water quality monitoring at beaches in Suffolk County is conducted using a tiered, risk-based approach, with more frequent testing conducted at beaches that have historically demonstrated periods of poor water quality or are potentially at risk because of their proximity to pollution sources (e.g., streams, creeks, or stormwater outfalls), or are located on poorly flushed embayments, lakes or ponds. Sampling at these beaches is typically performed at least 1-2 times weekly, with lower risk beaches (such as those on the Atlantic Ocean) sampled on a less frequent basis. Additional sampling is performed whenever water quality criteria are exceeded, or in response to events that may adversely impact water quality, e.g., heavy rainfall, pollutant discharges, or floatable wash-ups. This page allows access to a page that shows all of their monitored beach locations and any current advisories (summer bathing season only). Currently, results of samples collected at bathing beaches are not available for downloading. To obtain copies of data printouts or inquire about the status of your beach, contact the Bureau of Marine Resources at 631-852-5822.

For water quality information for beaches in Nassau County, you can call Nassau County Department of Health weekdays, 9:00 A.M. – 4:45 P.M. at 227-9717.

Some water quality monitoring is conducted at the local level. For instance, the Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways monitors their waters, although water quality data does not appear to be available on their Website.

Surfrider Foundation's New York City chapter conducted water quality testing as part of Surfrider's Blue Water Task Force program. The test results for 90th St., Rockaway Beach for 2002 through 2007 can be viewed here.

An interesting document (historical perspective) is the Coordinated Water Resources Monitoring Strategy for the South Shore Estuary Reserve, prepared by Ecologic, LLC (January 2000). This report recommends adding analysis for enterococcus at bathing beach sites during the recreation season to protect public health and allow a correlation between new and existing indicators. Chapter 4 of the report summarizes the existing Federal, County, and Town monitoring programs in tabular form, including bathing water quality programs in Nassau County and Suffolk County. The report is available in Adobe Acrobat format from the CMP website: http://www.nyswaterfronts.com/Final_Draft_HTML/Tech_Report_HTM/PDFs/Chap2/Coord_Resources_Monitoring.pdf

Water Quality Contact

Kendel Dunham
Email: Kcd01@health.state.ny.us

New York State Department of Health
Bureau of Community Environmental Health and Food Protection
New York Beach Water Quality Program Quality Assurance Officer
Room 515 Flanagan Square
547 River Street
Troy, New York 12180-2216
(518) 402-7600 FAX (518) 402-7609

New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Environmental Management Bureau (17th Floor)
Empire State Plaza, Agency Bldg. 1
Albany, NY 12238
Phone (518) 474-0409
Fax (518) 474-7013

Beach Closures

Information on beach closures in New York is reported to the public by county health departments, using a variety of media. They maintain records of closures for their jurisdictions. General closure information and, if the county health department made notification, specific closure sites can be obtained from the NYDOH hotline (800) 458-1158.

A study by Martin Cantor of Dowling College indicated that municipal and state beach closures from Memorial Day through Aug. 3, 2007 cost Long Island's tourism industry $60 million.

NRDC reported:

Number of Closings and Advisories: Total closing/advisory days for 964 events lasting six consecutive weeks or less increased 10% to 1,775 from 1,610 days in 2008, 1,547 days in 2007, 1,280 days in 2006, and 827 days in 2005. In addition, there were 2 extended events (153 days total) and 4 permanent events (1,460 days total) in 2009. Extended events are those in effect more than 6 weeks but not more than 13 consecutive weeks; permanent events are in effect for more than 13 consecutive weeks. In 2008, there were two extended events (141 days total) and no permanent ones. In 2009, precipitation was unusually heavy in New York, which may have contributed to the increase in the number of closing and advisory days.

Beach Closure Data

Year	Temporary	Extended	Permanent
2009	1,775	2	4
2008	1,610	2	0
2007	1,547	0	0
2006	1,280	0	0
2005	827	2	0
2004	1,503	1	0
2003	692	0	4
2002	291	1	2
2001	229∗	2	4
2000	388∗	0	1
1999	104∗	1	0
1998	178	3	0
1997	273	1	0
1996	219	4	0
1995	283	3	0
1994	227	1	0
1993	212	1	0
1992	799	1	0

Source: NRDC, 2010 ∗ Actual closures may have exceeded this number due to lack of reporting by some jurisdictions

In May 2010, U.S. EPA released its latest data about beach closings and advisories for the 2009 swimming season. Note that for some states the data is incomplete, making state-to-state or year-to-year comparisons difficult.

NRDC reported:

In 2009, New York reported 350 coastal beaches, of which 3 (1%) were monitored daily, 80 (23%) more than once a week, 125 (36%) once a week, 72 (21%) every other week, 67 (19%) once a month, and 3 (1%) which were not monitored. For the fifth consecutive year, NRDC looked at the percent of monitoring samples that exceeded the state’s daily maximum bacterial standards (all reported samples were used to calculate the 2009 percent exceedance rates, including duplicate samples and samples taken outside the official beach season, if any). In 2009, 11% of all reported beach monitoring samples exceeded the state’s daily maximum bacterial standards. The beaches with the highest percent exceedance rates in 2009 were Krull Park in Niagara County (57%), St. Vincent de Paul Beach in Erie County (52%), Lake Erie State Park Beach (38%) and Blue Water Beach in Chautauqua County (38%), Ontario Beach in Monroe County (38%), Wright Park East in Chautauqua County (38%), Tanner Park in Suffolk County (36%), Lake Erie Beach in Erie County (36%), and Sunset Bay Beach Club in Chautauqua County (36%).

Niagara County had the highest exceedance rate (39%) in 2009 followed by Chautauqua (33%), Monroe (31%), Erie (30%), Wayne (25%), Bronx (15%), Queens (8%), Nassau (8%), Westchester (6%), Kings (6%), Suffolk (6%), Cayuga (5%), Jefferson (4%), Oswego (3%), and Richmond (1%).

Comparing percent exceedance rates to previous years, NRDC includes only those beaches monitored and reported each year between 2006 and 2009. For this consistent set of 314 beaches, the percent of samples exceeding the standard in 2009 was 10%, up from 8% in 2008, 11% in 2007, and 10% in 2006.

The City of New York has published a 2009 NYC Beach Surveillance and Monitoring Program Summary which contains the following discussion (slightly edited):

Water Quality Results and Illness Reporting

Routine water quality monitoring and sample collection was performed at all nineteen permitted beaches. Approximately 1550 samples were collected and analyzed from these beaches between April and September. A total of nine complaints related to swimmers itch were reported to DOHMH. Swimmers itch is a type of skin rash caused by snails which naturally occur in the area. The allergic reaction of swimmer's itch can be extremely annoying but is not likely to be dangerous and will not spread. Swimmer's itch occurs throughout New York State and many other regions. For more information about swimmers itch please go to this link on the city's website.

Advisories and Closures
The Department has continued to maintain the dissemination of public information about beach quality and safety through on-going communication with beach operators, updating of the beach water quality website, and by providing information through 311. During the 2009 beach season there were a total of 162 Pollution Advisory days (up from 16 days in 2008), 87 Beach Closure days (up from 40 days in 2008), and 198 Wet Weather Advisory days (down from 299 days in 2008).

A sewage leak was reported by DEP on June 6th 2009 at the Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. This incident resulted in one beach Closure day and two Pollution Advisory days at Coney Island, Manhattan, Kiddie Gerritsen, Kingsborough and Breezy Point beaches. These beaches were first placed under beach Closure status as a precautionary measure until DEP identified the cause of the problem and were able to assess the level of possible contamination through both field investigations and computer modeling. Subsequently, these beaches were classified as open for swimming and bathing after field samples confirmed no exceedences of the water quality standards.

Compared to 2008, the 2009 bathing season was cooler and wetter (frequent low intensity rainfall events) at the start to the bathing season. For example, June 2009 with 10 inches of total rainfall had twice the total rainfall in June 2008. From the end of May through June, Douglaston Manor in Queens had 31 beach Closure days and 7 Pollution Advisory Days due to localized elevated bacteria levels. Kingsborough Community College beach experienced isolated elevated bacteriological levels not found at other beaches during August and the beach was given 6 closure days and 14 pollution advisory days.

From August 20th to September 9th, Morris Yacht Club on City Island had an unusually high frequency of Advisories and Closures (16 Pollution Advisory days and 6 Closure days) while the property was under major construction. Based on the historical information for this beach, it is likely that the construction activity was the contributing factor.

In addition to the Closures and Advisories discussed above, south facing beaches in New York City were closed twice during the 2009 season due to high RIP currents, very high surf and localized coastal erosion associated with Hurricanes Bill and Danny unrelated to water quality.

Compliance Inspection
During the season, a total of 80 inspections were conducted by DOHMH at permitted beaches, 52 at public beaches and 28 at private beaches. Both general violations and public health hazard violations were observed at both public and private beaches. Out of all violations observed, the majority were general violations. The outcome of the inspections, including violations observed, were submitted to the facilities and posted on the DOHMH website for public notification.

The EPA has information on water quality in New York, including a fact sheet that notes that 99% of New York's bays and tidal waters have good water quality that fully supports aquatic life uses. Swimming is fully supported in 94% of the Great Lakes shoreline and more than 93% of estuarine waters. Sixty-five percent of New York's Great Lakes shoreline does not fully support fish consumption use because of a fish consumption advisory. http://www.epa.gov/ow/states/NY/

The United States Geological Survey maintains a website, USGS Water Resources of New York. This site is a valuable source of information including current projects, online reports, publications, maps, real-time water conditions, and educational outreach material for teachers and students. http://ny.water.usgs.gov/

New York Sea Grant is another source of information on water quality http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/

In July 2006 it was announced that a Clean Ocean Zone bill had been introduced in Congress by Reps. James Saxton and Frank Pallone of New Jersey. The bill would seek permanent protection of the New York/New Jersey bight, which consists of the New Jersey and New York ocean coasts. It will prohibit new ocean dumpsites, discharges of pollutants from old or new sites, and the creation of any nonrenewable energy facility, pipeline, or deepwater port. It also prevents the extraction of any nonrenewable natural resource for commercial or industrial use, unless it contributes to navigation channels, beach replenishment, flood control, erosion control, or habitat restoration.

Storm Drains and Sewage Outfalls

Information on the location or number of storm drains and sewage outfalls in New York was not readily available. The NYDEC does not maintain a statewide inventory of outfalls or storm drains. An increasing number of municipalities, however, are mapping drains and control structures, a process which is anticipated to accelerate with the adoption of the Phase II stormwater regulations. For example, Nassau County has plotted outfalls. Other locations are working on similar projects with financial support from the State. All existing data is kept with the entity doing the mapping (typically, county, town, or village).^[1]

New York State Coastal Policy 33 states: "Best management practices will be used to ensure the control of stormwater runoff and combined sewer overflows draining into coastal waters." http://nyswaterfronts.com/downloads/Coastal_Policies/POLICY33.HTM

New York State Coastal Policy 37 states: "Best management practices will be utilized to minimize the non-point discharge of excess nutrients, organics and eroded soils into coastal waters." http://nyswaterfronts.com/downloads/Coastal_Policies/POLICY37.HTM

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regulates all storm and wastewater outfalls under their State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. Under the State's Discharge Notification Act, major outfalls must be identified with a sign that states the nature of the discharge and contact information. Permits may be reviewed at the DEC regional offices. Many municipalities also regulate stormwater runoff through local land use authorization.

The New York State Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program (CNPCP) was fully approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on December 1, 2006. This program sets forth an effective approach to the management of nonpoint pollution affecting coastal water from forestry, agriculture, marinas, hydro-modifications, urban, and other sources, as well as the protection of wetlands and management of critical coastal areas. The focus of the CNPCP is now primarily on watershed protection, reducing pollution from existing development, wastewater management, and mitigating hydrologic modification. The NYSCMP formerly administered funds from the New York State Clean Water Clean Air Bond Act that are directed to the Department of State for award to local municipalities and other entities. (The funds are now depleted.) Since 1996, 75 projects addressing stormwater management and aquatic habitat protection have been or are being managed by the Division of Coastal Resources: 20 have been completed since 2003, and 35 were under way as of early 2008. The state’s Environmental Protection Fund (a permanent fund dedicated to addressing a broad range of environmental and coastal issues that is funded from real estate transfer tax revenues) has funded local waterfront revitalization programs, many of which have prepared and implemented watershed plans. As of early 2008, 12 watershed plans had been completed and 13 plans were in progress. Other special planning tools, such as harbor management plans, also are funded, in part, to protect water quality.

Sewage Treatment and Disposal

In Nassau County, the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant is permitted to discharge 72 million gallons per day into the Atlantic Ocean, 2.5 miles off Tobay Beach on Jones Island. The current average discharge is about 57 million gallons per day. There have been complaints raised for years about deferred maintenance at the Cedar Creek plant, as well as concerns about inadequate staffing. Local newspaper articles were written about these problems in 2005 Disastrous Sewage Plant Threatens Health and again in 2010 Nassau’s Cedar Creek Sewage Plant is a Time Bomb (4/29/10) and Problems Still Rampant At Cedar Creek Sewage Plant (7/29/10). These articles raise concerns about both inadequate treatment (poor condition of bar screens, grit chambers, chlorination system) and safety (potential methane gas releases and explosions). A 2009 Powerpoint Presentation Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant Master Plan Community Informational Meeting, by Nassau County paints a rosier picture of the plant's condition.

Similar problems plague the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant, also in Nassau County. An article Bay Park Sewage Plant Still Dumping Waste In Fishing Waters appeared in the Long Island Press on December 16, 2010. The article discusses the frequent discharge of poorly-treated wastewater into Reynolds Channel. Many residents, environmentalists, civil leaders and politicians are concerned about both the discharge and the lack of public notification of the human health hazards the discharge could represent.

Additional sewage treatment plants (STPs) discharge into Reynolds Channel and South Oyster Bay, which lie between the barrier islands and Long Island.^[2]

An article Pollution from sewage found off Long Beach appeared at Newsday.com on February 10, 2011. The article (subscription required) begins: "New data from studies measuring pollution in Hempstead Bay indicate water there is laden with nitrogen and awash in treated effluent from five nearby sewage plants."

There is also a state-owned sewage treatment plant that treats the waste generated by visitors to Jones Beach and the waterfront amphitheater. That plant discharges to the shallow back bays and marsh islands north of the park and then into Zachs Bay. The Jones Beach plant has the capacity to treat 2.5 million gallons per day, but typically receives less than half that even on busy days, according to parks officials. As of late 2007, the plant had logged 32 water-quality violations since 2004. One option being considered is to connect the plant's discharge to Nassau County's Cedar Creek facility, which empties into the Atlantic. The plan to send Jones Beach's treated sewage out to the ocean instead of discharging it in the bays behind the barrier island received tentative approval from state environmental officials in August 2009. The $2.5 million project would connect the state park's sewage plant - which now empties into Sloop Channel about a mile north of Jones Beach - with the ocean outfall pipe from Nassau County's Cedar Creek treatment facility in Wantagh.

In Suffolk County, one STP discharges directly into the Atlantic. This outfall is offshore of Gilgo Beach. The STP is permitted to discharge 30.5 million gallons per day and the waste receives secondary treatment. Over the past year the average discharge was 21 million gallons per day.^[3]

New York state officials announced in March 2003 an $83.2 million agreement to continue protection and restoration efforts at Long Island Sound. The funding is being provided under New York's 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, which authorizes $1.75 billion for a variety of environmental programs. It includes $200 million to improve the water quality of Long Island Sound, and some $186.6 million of this total has been allocated. The agreement will fund 12 projects, including wastewater treatment, stormwater control, nonpoint source pollution control and wetlands restoration. These projects all designed to address priorities outlined in the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Long Island Sound. These priorities are nitrogen control, habitat restoration, stormwater controls, sewer overflow abatement and sediment remediation.

On July 20, 2005, New York Mayor Bloomberg signed a City Council bill requiring the Department of Environmental Protection to create a watershed protection plan for the watershed/sewershed of Jamaica Bay. The legislation established a plan for restoring and maintaining the water quality and ecological integrity of the Bay by evaluating threats and coordinating environmental remediation and protection efforts.

The preservation of the Jamaica Bay watershed is essential to maintaining its function as an ecological wetland as well as a recreational location for City residents who use the Bay for fishing and boating. Over the years, Jamaica Bay has been harmed by overdevelopment and pollution. DEP’s current mission is to investigate sources affecting pollution and to develop an action plan for the future.

In early 2006, New York State and New York City reached an agreement that will sharply reduce nitrogen discharges from wastewater treatment plants on the East River. The purpose of the agreement is to improve water quality in Long Island Sound.

Under this settlement, the City of New York will upgrade its sewage treatment plants and improve water quality from Jamaica Bay to the East River to Long Island Sound. The City and State of New York had been engaged in discussions and legal actions concerning reductions in nitrogen discharges from City wastewater treatment facilities to Long Island Sound since 1999. Under the new agreement, New York City will undertake a phased approach that, by 2017, will result in a 58.5 percent reduction in nitrogen discharges from its wastewater treatment plants.

The agreement also provides for the City to construct upgraded wastewater facilities at the 26th Ward Water Pollution Control Plant on Jamaica Bay, conduct further studies on Jamaica Bay, and submit by October 2006 a comprehensive plan to achieve water quality standards for Jamaica Bay.

The consent judgment includes compliance dates for all construction activities; penalties in the event of noncompliance in the future; and interim targets for nitrogen reduction. The City is also required to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $2.7 million to the New York State Marine Resources Account, a funding source dedicated to the management of marine resources and habitat.

In addition to the civil penalty, the City has agreed to provide $5.3 million to perform Environmental Benefit Projects that will support the restoration of waters in and around New York City. Among the proposed projects are: controlling stormwater pollutants, restoring tidal wetlands, and undertaking comprehensive efforts to remove litter and debris from stream banks around Jamaica Bay and other waters.

Combined Sewer Overflows

The problem of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) is a huge one in New York City and elsewhere in New York state. Combined sewers are ones that accept both storm drain flow and sewage. These systems may work well in dry weather, but during periods of substantial rain, the sewers can overflow, releasing large quantities of untreated sewage to inland waterways and the ocean.

Long Island Soundkeeper and New York Riverkeeper claim that New York City's Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO) System discharges 27 billion gallons of untreated sewage to the Sound each year.

An excellent summary article on the problem of CSOs titled Our Secret Epidemic appears on the website of Riverkeeper.

Administrators of the two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regions responsible for the health of the Long Island Sound and the environmental commissioners of New York and Connecticut signed agreements in September 2006 that support ongoing efforts to protect and restore this important body of water. As members of the Long Island Sound Policy Committee, the officials adopted a stewardship initiative focused on areas of the Sound with significant ecological and recreational value, and authorized a fund that will disburse $6 million for research and restoration.

The officials also approved a Memorandum of Understanding to restore, by 2011, 300 acres of coastal habitats and 50 river miles of fish passages to spawning sites. In addition, they signed a directive calling for an evaluation of the management plan for hypoxia to assure that the states and federal government are on target to meet water quality standards for sufficient levels of dissolved oxygen in the Sound.

In October 2010 the administration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to invest up to $1.5 billion over the next 20 years on new environmental techniques to reduce the flow of sewage into the city’s waterways. The plan (24 MB PDF) calls for building an infrastructure to capture and retain storm water before it reaches the sewer system and overloads it. The city would foster investments in projects like green roofs with plantings, porous pavement for parking lots, rain barrels, wetlands and depressions for collecting water in parks. Such strategies would complement more traditional methods to control sewage overflows like underground storage tanks and tunnel systems. The plan is intended to block the overflow of untreated sewage and storm water into bodies of water like New York Harbor, Jamaica Bay and Newtown Creek when it rains.

Perception of Causes

NRDC reported:

Causes of Closings and Advisories: For the 964 events lasting six consecutive weeks or less, 38% (679) of closing/ advisory days in 2009 were due to monitoring that revealed elevated bacteria levels, 56% (994) were preemptive (i.e., without waiting for monitoring results) due to heavy rainfall, 5% (82) were preemptive due to known sewage spills/leaks, and 1% (20) were preemptive due to other reasons.

Reported sources of beachwater contamination: 76% (1,349) of closing/advisory days were from stormwater runoff, 14% (243) were from unknown sources of contamination, 13% (237) were from sewage spills/leaks, 1% (20) were from wildlife, and 1% (23) were from other sources of contamination. Totals exceed total days and 100% because more than one contamination source was reported for some events.

NYSDOS staff believes that non-point source pollution, specifically urban runoff, is the greatest threat to coastal water quality for the south shore of Long Island and New York City.^[4]

New Yorkers for Parks inspected all seven City beaches (Coney Island/Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn; Midland Beach, South Beach and Wolfe's Pond Beach on Staten Island; Orchard Beach in the Bronx; and Rockaway Beach in Queens) for their 2009 Report Card on Beaches, examining for cleanliness and safety. The report discusses the conditions of the beaches and recommends strategies for improvement.

Following is a link for the 2003 New York Harbor Water Quality Report. http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/coastweb/NYCDEPHarbor_survey/index.htm The report itself can be downloaded from this website.

In a letter from Commissioner Christopher O. Ward of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that accompanies the report, Commissioner Ward states:

Over the next ten years, DEP will be spending approximately $6.5 billion over the next ten years to upgrade wastewater treatment plants around the City and to improve the capture of combined sewer overflows. These investments will help to ensure that the waters surrounding New York City remain healthy for marine life and accessible for New Yorkers’ recreational use.

The 2003 Report states:

New York Harbor is directly connected to the open ocean, and tidally driven saltwater flows are about four times the volume of freshwater discharged by the rivers and wastewater treatment plants of the region. The Harbor discharges a total mean flow of nearly 16 billion gallons per day of fresh water, including 2.3 billion gallons per day from wastewater treatment plants, storm drains, and combined sewer overflows (CSOs). In addition, there is an estimated 7 billion gallons per day net flow of salt water from Long Island Sound into New York Harbor, transported through the East River. With tides entering the harbor, mixing with fresh water and leaving, there is an annual daily outflow of approximately 80 billion gallons per day of estuarine water flowing out of the harbor, and about 57 billion gallons per day of saline waters from the Bight entering into the Harbor.

The long-term picture is one of vast water quality improvements over the past three decades throughout New York Harbor and the broader Hudson-Raritan Estuary. This is primarily a result of the construction, upgrading, and operational improvements of regional treatment plants and abatement of untreated municipal discharges. All but one of New York City’s treatment plants have been upgraded to include secondary treatment, with the final plant upgrade, in Newtown Creek, to be completed in 2007. Water quality improvements include reductions of fecal and total coliform concentrations from levels in the thousands (per unit of water) down to levels in the tens, and significant increases in dissolved oxygen concentrations, particularly in surface waters. Marine and bird species are in resurgence in the area.

Levels of pathogenic indicators (fecal coliform and enterococcus) were on average also very low throughout the Harbor in 2003. In the New York/ New Jersey metropolitan region, there are at least 27 significant water pollution control plants (WPCPs) in operation. On average, the major NYCDEP and NJ treatment plants discharged over 1.9 billion gallons per day of treated wastewater into New York Harbor. Despite high rainfall levels in June and September and the blackout in August 2003 (during which time raw sewage was discharged into the Harbor), overall averages for fecal coliform and enterococcus were generally consistent with ten-year averages. However, relatively confined waterways such as Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal experienced high levels of FC and Enterococcus, particularly after significant rainfalls.

Having made the major investment into city-wide secondary treatment and seeing its dramatic results, however, major water quality gains have largely leveled out over the past ten years, and additional gains will come more slowly through solving a diverging set of problems. NYCDEP has begun this approach toward additional gains through its Use and Standards Attainment Program that designates acceptable uses and standards for 26 specific water bodies and implementing a program for their attainment.

In an article in New Jersey's Asbury Park Press on February 20, 2003, Joseph E. Seebold, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers chief of harbor programs stated that he believes that New York Harbor is cleaner today than at any time since the birth of the republic.

On the other hand, NRDC released a report in December 2002 titled Cape May To Montauk: A Coastal Protection Report Card which warns "Much of the progress made in cleaning up the waters in the New York-New Jersey harbor area is now imperiled by widespread pollution and unchecked coastal development." NRDC identified several municipal wastewater treatment facilities and industrial facilities in New York that had numerous pollutant discharge violations, including:

Jamaica Water Pollution Control Plant in New York City
Plum Island Animal Disease Center in Plum Island
SCSD #3-Southwest Plant in the Town of Babylon
Watergate Garden Apartments in Patchogue (Brookhaven)
LaGuardia Airport Petroleum Bulk Stations in New York City
Eagle Oil in the Town of Hempstead
Yonkers Joint Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant in Yonkers
NCSD #2, Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in Hempstead
Floyd Bennett Field Sewage Treatment Plant in New York City
Wards Island Water Pollution Control Plant in New York City
Long Beach Water Pollution Control Plant in Long Beach (Hempstead)

The New York State Water Quality Report (Section 305(b) Report) is a compilation of water quality assessment information contained in the Waterbody Inventory/Priority Waterbodies List Basin Reports.

The list of Impaired/TMDL Waters (Section 303(d) List) is a list of those waters that do not meet water quality standards and support uses, and that require the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) or other appropriate strategy to restore the water use.

The EPA notes that urban runoff is a major source of pollution in the state's estuaries. Bacteria from urban runoff and other sources close about 104,000 acres (11%) of potential shellfishing beds in the New York City-Long Island region. Contaminated sediments are a primary source of impairment of Great Lakes shorelines and state estuarine waters. Sediments are contaminated with PCBs, chlorinated organic pesticides, mercury, cadmium, mirex, and dioxins that bio-concentrate in the food chain and result in fish consumption advisories. http://www.epa.gov/ow/states/NY/

Public Education

A good general discussion on water quality, sources of water quality problems, methods used to address water quality problems, plus several links to additional sources of information can be found at: http://nyswaterfronts.com/waterfront_natural_waterquality.asp

The New York Department of State Division of Coastal Resources, in partnership with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, released a watershed planning multimedia informational package in 2009 to meet the growing demand for assistance in watershed planning. The multimedia package includes a guidebook, motivational video, and Web pages. The guidebook Watershed Plans: Protecting and Restoring Water Quality, summarizes how to help characterize watersheds, assess water quality and natural resources, evaluate local controls and practices, develop actions and recommendations, and create implementation strategies. For more information, visit http://www.nyswaterfronts.com/watershed_home.asp or contact Ken Smith at Kenneth.Smith@dos.state.ny.us.

New York City’s beach monitoring program maintains a website that provides the public with information about how to keep the beaches clean. This website has information about what can be done while at the beach as well as landscaping and cleaning practices at home that can influence beachwater quality.

The New York State Department of Health (NYDOH) Website has a search function which can be used to check out their fact sheet on swimmer's itch or another topic.

New York State has extensive and intensive educational programs through the Department of Environmental Conservation. For instance, here and here you'll find information on stormwater permits, watershed stewardship, non-point source management program, wastewater treatment plant data, educational programs and many other related subjects.

General Reference Documents

EPA has compiled several NPS (Nonpoint Source) Outreach Products that are a selection of television, radio, and print products on nonpoint source pollution that have been developed by various agencies and organizations around the country. They are good examples of outreach in the mass media. Also see What You Can Do.

NOAA, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, International City/County Management Association and Rhode Island Sea Grant, has released an interagency guide that adapts smart growth principles to the unique needs of coastal and waterfront communities. Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities builds on existing smart growth principles to offer 10 coastal and waterfront-specific guidelines that help manage development while balancing environmental, economic, and quality of life issues.

Footnotes

↑ Fred Anders, NYSDOS, written correspondence. February 6, 2002.
↑ John Jacobs, personal communication. June 22, 1999.
↑ Fred Anders, NYSDOS, written correspondence. February 6, 2002.
↑ Fred Anders, NYSDOS, Surfrider State of the Beach survey response, January 9, 2003.

State of the Beach Report: New York

[1] Fred Anders, NYSDOS, written correspondence. February 6, 2002.

[2] John Jacobs, personal communication. June 22, 1999.

[3] Fred Anders, NYSDOS, written correspondence. February 6, 2002.

[4] Fred Anders, NYSDOS, Surfrider State of the Beach survey response, January 9, 2003.

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 Some water quality monitoring is conducted at the local level. For instance, the [http://www.townofhempstead.org/content/rc/conservation.html Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways] monitors their waters, although water quality data does not appear to be available on their Website.
-Surfrider Foundation's New York City chapter conducted water quality testing as part of Surfrider's [http://www.surfrider.org/whatwedo3c.asp Blue Water Task Force] program. The test results for 90th St., Rockaway Beach for 2002 through 2007 can be viewed [http://www.surfrider.org/BWTFoutput.asp here].
+Surfrider Foundation's New York City chapter conducted water quality testing as part of Surfrider's [http://www.surfrider.org/blue-water-task-force Blue Water Task Force] program. The test results for 90th St., Rockaway Beach for 2002 through 2007 can be viewed [http://www.surfrider.org/BWTFoutput.asp here].
 An interesting document (historical perspective) is the ''Coordinated Water Resources Monitoring Strategy for the South Shore Estuary Reserve'', prepared by Ecologic, LLC (January 2000). This report recommends adding analysis for enterococcus at bathing beach sites during the recreation season to protect public health and allow a correlation between new and existing indicators. Chapter 4 of the report summarizes the existing Federal, County, and Town monitoring programs in tabular form, including bathing water quality programs in Nassau County and Suffolk County. The report is available in Adobe Acrobat format from the CMP website:

Difference between revisions of "State of the Beach/State Reports/NY/Water Quality"

From Beachapedia

Revision as of 00:33, 20 April 2011

Water Quality Monitoring Program

Monitoring

Closings and Advisories

Water Quality Contact

Beach Closures

Beach Closure Data

Storm Drains and Sewage Outfalls

Sewage Treatment and Disposal

Combined Sewer Overflows

Perception of Causes

Public Education

General Reference Documents

Footnotes