Published August 6, 2004
SARASOTA -- The number of beach closings and advisories resulting from excessive pollution more than doubled in Florida last year, a national environmental group said Thursday.
Although health officials have attributed this increase to more thorough and more frequent water quality testing, the National Resources Defense Council warned that they should search for causes.
"Rather than just closing these beaches, we need to look to the source of these problems and fix it," said Linda Young of the Clean Water Network, who presented the NRDC's findings in Tallahassee.
The council said the 307 Florida beaches monitored by health officials for pollution were closed or had no-swimming advisories posted on 3,986 days in 2003, up from 1,745 in 2002.
No-swim advisories were posted nine times in Sarasota County last year, 41 times in Manatee County and 42 times in Charlotte County.
Rob Bolesta, a Florida Department of Health official who has monitored water quality in Sarasota County for more than two decades, agrees with the NRDC's findings that more testing will find more pollution.
"That's what we've said all along," Bolesta said. "Although we remain diligent in trying to find the contaminant sources."
Health officials rarely find definitive causes for the bacterial outbreaks, which indicate the possible presence of viruses or other disease-causing organisms that can lead to gastrointestinal problems for humans and infections in cuts and scrapes.
Children, pregnant women and people with poor immune systems are most at risk.
All but one of the coastal counties in Florida conduct weekly sampling of beach water quality. The sampling is done under the state's Healthy Beaches Program and is paid for by a grant from the state Department of Health.
Two years ago, the frequency of testing went from every two weeks to weekly, and the acceptable levels of bacteria were lowered.
At Sarasota's Bird Key Park, a no-swim advisory has been in place since July 22 because of high levels of bacteria.
Bolesta said tests Tuesday showed that the amount of bacteria had fallen to a safe level. But because the decision to post advisories is based on pollution averages, the signs will remain up at least through today.
In trying to determine a cause, health workers have tested a retention pond that collects storm water from the John Ringling Causeway bridge, and a manhole beneath it.
In both, they found high levels of bacteria, which may be a cause of the continuing problems at the park. The investigation continues.
Sarasota County issues no-swim advisories most often in Bird Key Park, but it's not the only place in the county where swimmers have been warned about high levels of bacteria.
Advisories were posted at Turtle Beach on Siesta Key in March and near Siesta Public Beach in April.
Health officials say the Siesta Beach culprit may be a treatment pond designed to filter pollutants from storm water. The pond is overwhelmed during heavy rains and allows untreated runoff to flow directly into the Gulf of Mexico.
Fecal pollution that sparked advisories near the Venice Pier in early May was blamed on bird feces falling into the water during the destruction of the pier, which is being replaced.
Manatee County health officials say rain has washed animal waste into the water and caused high fecal readings for Palma Sola Bay South, where a no-swim advisory has been posted since July 19.
Palma Sola South had advisories 21 times last year, the highest number among all Manatee County beaches.
In Charlotte County, Port Charlotte Beach near U.S. 41 accounted for all but four of the advisories.
Bay County in the Panhandle had the highest number of days when beaches were closed or under a pollution advisory in 2003. The county is home to Panama City Beach, a popular spring break and summer vacation spot.
Across the country in 2003, there were more than 18,000 days when beaches were closed or people were warned not to swim, an increase of more than 51 percent from 2002, the NRDC reported.