Report: 35 Md. beaches violate EPA standards

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(Arianne Starnes/ Examiner)
A report by the National Resources Defense Council says that 35 of Maryland's 81 monitored beaches violated EPA health standards at one time in 2006.

Maryland (Map, News) - The National Resources Defense Council released a report on Tuesday that identified two beaches in Maryland -- Kent County's Bay Country Campground and Beach and Cecil County's Hacks Point -- as "severely contaminated."

NRDC's findings relied on the frequency with which water samples from beaches failed to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's minimum standards. To determine the health of a beach, the EPA's guidelines measure the concentration of two bacteria -- Enterococcus for coastal beaches and E. coli for freshwater beaches.

In addition to the two Maryland waterfronts that the study singled out, NRDC reported that 33 of the state's 81 monitored beaches violated EPA health standards at one point in 2006. Below is a full list of those beaches, followed by the percentage of samples that failed. The NRDC's full analysis of U.S. beaches can be found at http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/titinx.asp.

FAILING BEACHES:

Anne Arundel County

Fairhaven (25%)
Kurtz Beach (50%)
Sandy Point State Park East Beach (7%)
Sandy Point State Park South Beach (13%)
Turkey Point At Cloud Beach (13%)
Venice On The Bay (25%)

Baltimore County

Gunpowdersphammerman (20%)
Miami Beach (25%)

Calvert County

Breezy Point (13 8%)
North Beach (16 6%)
Seahorse (17%)

Cecil County

Buttonwood Beach (20%)
Carpenters Point Beach (17%)
Charlestown Manor (11%)
Crystal Beach Manor (30%)
Elk Neck State Park Elk River (17%)
Elk Neck State Park North East River (9%)
Elkview Shores (20%)
Hacks Point (60%)
Holloway Beach (50%)
Red Point Beach (43%)
West View Shores (17%)

Kent County

Bay Country Campground and Beach (56%)
Betterton Beach and Public Landing (40%)
Boy Scout Beach, Eliason (40%)
Echo Hill Camp (19%)
Ferry Park (44%)
Tolchester Marina And Beach (41%)
YMCA Camp Tockwogh (50%)

Queen Anne’s County

Camp Wright (8%)

St. Mary’s County

Elm’s Beach - Public Beach (15%)

Worcester County

Ocean City Beach 3 (3%)
Ocean City Beach 4 (3%)
Ocean City Beach 6 (3%)
Public Landing 1 (40%)

Source: National Resources Defense Council

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