We've obviously had a lot of great beach weather lately. But one should be aware that, when it comes to swimming in Massachusetts, not all beaches are created equal.
I'm not talking about the texture of the sand, the amount of seaweed, the number of parking spaces, or amenities like snack bars and rest rooms. No, I'm talking about yucky stuff: bacteria in the water!
There are beaches in the Bay State where the chances are higher than average the water can make you sick, according to a recent report by the Boston-based Environment Massachusetts Research & Policy Center, known more commonly by its shorter name, Environment Massachusetts.
"Along many areas of our coast, the water is cleaner than it used to be -- but pollution remains a serious problem," says the organization's state director. Ben Hellerstein. "All too often, our beaches aren't safe for swimming. We can and must do a better job of keeping waste out of our water."
Every summer, Environment Massachusetts issues a report, titled Safe for Swimming?, on the results of water tests conducted the previous year at hundreds of public beaches in the Commonwealth.
That report, available online at environmentmassachusetts.org, showed that, in 2019, there were "potentially unsafe levels of pollution on at least one day at 257 beaches in Massachusetts." The key measurement of beach safety used in this analysis is the level of fecal bacteria.
Contact with contaminated water may lead to gastrointestinal illnesses, respiratory diseases, ear and eye infections, skin rashes and more.
Tenean Beach in the Dorchester section of Boston "had the highest number of potentially unsafe swimming days in 2019, with tests revealing elevated levels of fecal bacteria on 44 out of 90 days tested," Environment Massachusetts reported.
The next highest number of potentially unsafe days were found at King's Beach, in Lynn and Swamscott, where there were 43; Malibu Beach, Dorchester, 20; Wollaston Beach at Channing Street, Quincy, 20; and Constitution Beach, East Boston, 19.
The state frequently tests the water at public beaches in the summer. When elevated levels of bacteria are detected, signs are posted. It's important to look for these messages.
It has long been known that combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are the major cause of beach pollution. CSOs occur during heavy rainstorms in communities where pipes carry both storm water and sewage and send the overflows into the ocean or rivers via "outfalls."
Steep financial and logistical challenges confront any municipality that needs to address this problem, which is why it tends to persist for decades.
Advocates for change argue that, if cities, towns and other entities cannot correct CSOs through costly infrastructure upgrades, the least they can do is get the word out quickly to the public when CSOs occur. This is especially critical in cases like that of the Merrimack River, where up-river outfalls automatically threaten down-river communities that draw water from the river for household uses, including drinking.
Concerns like this form the basis of a bill now before the Ways & Means Committee of the House of Representatives, House 3976, An Act Promoting Awareness of Sewage Pollution in Public Waters. If enacted into law, H.3976 would require any person or entity holding a permit allowing the discharge of sewage at outfalls to issue a public advisory within two hours of the discharge, and to upgrade that advisory "every eight hours for an ongoing discharge and within two hours (of) when a discharge ceases or is projected to cease..." Here's a link to the complete text of the bill:
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3976
We are now one day away from what, in a normal election year, would be the final day of formal sessions of the legislature, July 31, meaning H.3976 would almost certainly have failed to pass in a normal year. Time would have run out on its chance to do some good.
Nothing is normal in the time of the coronavirus.
The legislature is going to keep meeting formally, perhaps even until the end of this calendar year. For this and many other good bills, there's still hope.
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