Dear
Nancy:
I agree with Jill and
I am very disappointed with NRDC’s very heavy reliance on E. coli data (a questionable fecal
indicator bacterium) to push what appears to be an agenda that our Great Lakes are not suitable to swim
in.
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=26920
Cases in point,
please listen to the audio (link above) from the head of your NRDC Midwest
Program, Mr. Henry Henderson, on Chicago NPR yesterday where he states “I
wouldn’t swim in the lake (laughing). I wouldn’t.” This comment and
others in your report certainly do not give me the impression that your
organization is truly interested in moving forward and addressing the complex
issues that surround the fecal indicator bacteria paradigm that drives these
beach issues that you have reported on.
Additionally, from a
recreational waterborne illness point of view, the CDC has reported in their
most recent “Surveillance for waterborne disease and outbreaks associated with
recreational water – United States, 2003-2004” http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5512a1.htm
that:
“During
2003--2004, treated water venues were associated with 43 (69.4%) of the
recreational water outbreaks and 2,446 (90.7%) of the cases (Tables
2 and 3;
Figure
3). Untreated venues were responsible for 19 (30.6%) of the WBDOs but only
252 (9.3%) of the cases (Tables
4 and 5).
Similar proportions were identified by venue treatment type when
gastroenteritis outbreaks were analyzed separately (Table
6).”
While I
agree with you that we should continue to reduce both point and non-point
source pollution to our surface waters, frightening the public unnecessarily
is not the method that I would suggest to reach the intended
outcome.
Sincerely,
Mark A.
Pfister, MS, LEHP
Associate
Director
Environmental Health
Services
Lake
County Health Department and CHC
3010 Grand
Avenue
Waukegan IL 60085
847.377.8028
Phone
847.249.4972
Fax
mpfister@co.lake.il.us
From:
owner-beachnet@great-lakes.net [mailto:owner-beachnet@great-lakes.net]
On Behalf Of Stoner,
Nancy
Sent: Wednesday, July
30, 2008 8:34 AM
To: Jill
Lis; beachnet@great-lakes.net
Subject: RE: BEACHNET==> Thank you for
all of your hard work
Jill,
NRDC did surveys of all coastal
states this year and included in the report the info they gave us about the
positive things they are doing. Here is the link for the Ohio
chapter, http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/sumohi.pdf,
which includes educational activities by the Cleveland Dept of Public Health,
use of the predictive model Nowcast, Ashtabula and USGS collaboration on
predictive modeling, evaluation of rapid testing techniques, plans to monitor
for algal blooms, how often beaches are monitored, how advisories are done and
how the public is notified. We also did a Great
Lakes chapter that included more info region wide on predictive
modeling and sanitary surveys.
I see that the Ohio-specific press
release says the following:
The report also noted that, while beaches in
Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin ranked highest for percent of samples
exceeding national health standards, which clearly indicates a problem,
Illinois and Ohio monitor their beaches much more frequently than most other
states and all three states have aggressive policies of immediately issuing
swim advisories rather than waiting for re-tests, as many other states
do.
To my mind, the bad news in the Great Lakes is about water quality. Until we address the
stormwater and sewage pollution that causes beach closures and advisories, we
can expect to see a continuing high level over time. That was the
message that I pitched on the Great
Lakes. If you think it is the wrong one, I'd be happy to
discuss.
I would also alert everyone on
this list serve that the window for passage of the Beach Protection Act this
year will soon close if we don't get the bill back to the floor for a vote in
the Senate. Please contact your Senators to ask them to move the
bill, S. 2844. Sen. Voinovich has been a great leader in this effort,
and I'm sure that is informed by the good work that you are doing in your
program. Thanks.
Nancy
Stoner
NRDC
202-289-2394
From:
owner-beachnet@great-lakes.net [mailto:owner-beachnet@great-lakes.net]
On Behalf Of Jill
Lis
Sent: Wednesday, July 30,
2008 8:58 AM
To:
beachnet@great-lakes.net
Subject: BEACHNET==> Thank you for all
of your hard work
Hello to everyone in the beach community. It's that
time of year where I find myself frustrated by the recent release of the NRDC
report, where my state, Ohio, has been ranked as the 2nd in the
nation to meet water quality standards. We have made such progress in
Ohio and the Great
Lakes and so much more work and research is going on, including 7
day a week sampling and predictive modeling at several beaches, but only the
negative is reflected in the report. All of us work so hard and are so
passionate about the work we do on the beach program to make our beaches safer
and cleaner. I just wanted to thank all of you for the work you do every
day, the conferences and workshops that are put on, the on-going partnerships
and collaborations, and especially this list-serve which has always been an
open line of communication. Thanks to all - Jill
Lis