Published: July 25, 2002, Miami Herald
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The number of beach closings in Florida because of pollution increased last year, but one reason was better monitoring of water quality, a national environmental group said Wednesday.
There was also more rain last year than in 2000, which probably contributed to a 30 percent increase in the number of beach closings and health advisories, the Natural Resources Defense Council said in its annual beach report. It said there were 686 beach closures or advisories in Florida last year, up from 527 in 2000.
The group congratulated Key West for cleaning up its beaches and coastal waters. The city was named a "beach buddy" for spending $67 million to modernize its waste water treatment.
The city stopped dumping sewage 13 miles offshore last year.
Key West Mayor Jimmy Weekley said the beach improvement happened after residents approved a $23 million bond issue to pay for it.
"Where there was a will, there was a way," said Paul Johnson, a spokesman for Reef Relief in Key West, praising the city for replacing its aging system.
Before the change, signs often were placed by Key West beaches warning swimmers that going in the water might not be safe.
The council also named its "beach bums," 70 beaches around the nation - 40 of them in Florida - that lack regular monitoring for pollution such as sewage and stormwater runoff, have no programs for notifying swimmers of such dangers and have known pollution near the beach.
Most of the beaches cited as "beach bums" are in Brevard County. The head of the Health Department there said he had no idea why the group was rating its beaches so poorly.
"These people that released this information did not consult with us," Brevard County Health Director Heidar Heshmati said.