Nearly two-thirds of America’s beaches experienced potentially dangerous contamination in 2024, with a notable increase in the number two. A new report from Environment America showed 61% of beaches tested experienced at least one day where indicators of fecal contamination exceeded federal safety levels.
Beach bummer
More than 1,900 beaches surpassed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Beach Action Value,” which is a precautionary tool states use to determine beach closures.
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The group broke down the beaches into five different geographical areas. The most contaminated area was the Gulf Coast, where 84% of beaches were potentially unsafe for at least one day.
The West Coast was second at 79%, followed by the Great Lakes at 71%, the East Coast at 54%, with Alaska and Hawaii at only 10%.
The dirtiest beaches in the country came in California, where three beaches all had potentially unsafe fecal matter levels on more than 90% of testing days. Those beaches were all around Imperial Beach in San Diego, with Imperial Beach City Beach testing unsafe on 97% of test days.
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According to a report from Environment America, more than 1,900 U.S. beaches exceeded federal fecal contamination levels in 2024.
Crappy coasts cause
So, where is all this fecal matter coming from?
The report found that contamination mostly originates from overflows of deteriorating sewage systems and runoff from developments.
Sanitary sewers are used in most parts of the country and can overflow as many as 75,000 times per year.
Combined sewers are still used in some 700 municipalities and combine sewage and stormwater in a single pipe. Many of those systems discharge raw sewage directly into waterways during major rainfalls.
Most of those systems are around the Great Lakes and the East Coast.
An EPA survey from 2022 shows it would cost around $630 billion over the next twenty years to fix the sewage systems and protect America’s waterbodies.
The Clean Water State Revolving Fund provides money to states to help fix these issues, but it received a massive cut in funding in the Trump administration’s budget bill. The bill took nearly $2.5 billion from the program, or 89% of the funding.
Meanwhile, development continues across the country with coastal areas adding 4.2 million acres of development from 1996-2016, according to the EPA.
Potential poop problems
There are a lot of potential dangers from swimming in polluted waters, with an estimated 57 million cases of illness in the U.S. each year from swimming in contaminated waters.
Health experts say those dangers include stomach and intestinal issues, diarrhea and vomiting. Other potential issues include skin rashes, eye or ear pain and cough or congestion. The contamination also led to thousands of beach closures in 2024. Experts say in order to remain safe, it’s important to check beach closures and keep an eye on contamination levels before heading to the shores.
