EM:/ Michigan beaches among dirtiest in US

http://www.freep.com/article/20090729/NEWS05/907290318/Area-beaches-among-dirtiest

Michigan beaches among dirtiest in U.S.
BY TINA LAM
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER   July 29, 2009

Those pure beaches Michigan touts in national TV ads may not be so  
pure after all.

A national report issued today says Great Lakes beaches are among the  
nation's dirtiest: 15% of samples taken at those beaches last year  
showed they were unsafe for swimming, more than twice the national  
average.

Of Michigan's 467 monitored beaches, 69 were closed or had health  
advisories last year -- up from 61 in 2007.

More startling is the fact that nearly two-thirds of the sandy  
stretches that border Lake Michigan and about half the beaches on Lake  
Huron and on inland lakes are not tested. Beaches popular with  
tourists, like those at the Sleeping Bear Dunes, Point Betsie  
Lighthouse and Saugatuck Dunes State Park, aren't tested.

Testing of beaches is done by local health departments and is not  
required by law. And although state and federal agencies help pay to  
test beaches, many local health departments still can't afford it.

Problem hard to tackle, report says

The 69 beach closures came because of high counts of Escherichia coli,  
or E. coli, in the water -- a sign of fecal contamination.

On Tuesday, 13 beaches in Michigan were closed.

Sewer overflows, failing septic systems, runoff from huge farms and  
geese and ducks taking over beaches all contribute. Swimming in  
contaminated water can cause gastric illnesses and infected sores.

"There is serious pollution at Great Lakes beaches," said the authors  
of a report issued today by the National Resources Defense  
Council.   ...

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