A new report says health advisories and closings due to pollution issues are on the rise at beaches throughout New York state.
The report was released Tuesday by the National Resources Defense Council. It says the state's various beaches had 1,547 closing or advisory days in 2007, up from 1,280 in 2006.
Of those, 51 percent were pre-emptive advisories - issued because of rainfall that can take pollution from overflowing sewers into bodies of water. The report says 26 percent of closings and advisories were due to water quality tests showing elevated bacteria levels, and 18 percent were due to sewage spills.
New York's beaches include those along the Atlantic Ocean and
those along the Great Lakes.
New Jersey
A new report shows pollution and
overdevelopment taking a toll on water quality at New Jersey's
beaches.
The number of closings at the state's ocean and bay beaches rose last year, even while declining nationally.
The annual beach quality report released Tuesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows New Jersey beaches in worse shape last year than in 2006.
Beach closures or advisories occurred on 142 days last year in New Jersey, eight more than 2006. While many of the closings were precautionary, the report shows some were because of elevated bacteria in the water.
Environment New Jersey's Doug O'Malley blames development at the shore for the rise in bacteria in the water and calls on Gov. Jon S. Corzine to halt sprawl.
Connecticut
A new report says Connecticut's beaches
were cleaner in 2007 than in 2006, but more work needs to be done.
The National Resources Defense Council report shows there were 108 closings and water advisory days in Connecticut in 2007. That's compared to 224 in 2006.
Environmental groups say reduced rainfall and less storm water runoff likely contributed to the decrease. But they claim the beaches still aren't as clean as they should be and want Connecticut to focus on long-term pollution solutions, such as cleaning up more of the raw sewage that enters the rivers from outdated sewage treatment plants.
The report says Fairfield County had the most closings and water advisories in 2007. New London County fared the best.
To read the full report, CLICK HERE.
