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August 04, 2006 | Delaware Online
Delaware beaches cleanest in U.S.
By JEFF MONTGOMERY, The News Journal
Delaware's swimming beaches were the cleanest of any in the country last year, according to a report released Thursday by two national environmental organizations.
U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Natural Resources Defense Council found Delaware had the fewest beach closings for bacterial contamination in 2005. The results were included in a report titled "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches."
Carl Grimm, owner of Bayberry Flowers on Rehoboth Avenue, gave Rehoboth Beach's water a passing grade.
"I always go in. It seems fine to me," said Grimm. "The only thing I hear about are the jellyfish."
Overall, NRDC tallied more than 20,000 closings or health warnings at ocean, bay or Great Lakes beaches nationwide, the highest number since the study began 16 years ago. About 8 percent of beach water samples taken nationwide violated health standards in an NRDC survey.
Representatives of the nation's publicly owned wastewater treatment plants cautioned that the 2005 results represent continuing efforts to expand and toughen testing programs, rather than deteriorating water quality.
Unmentioned in the Delaware findings is a permanent warning against swimming in Delaware's Inland Bays because of chronic pollution in Rehoboth Bay, Indian River Bay and Little Assawoman Bay.
"A day at the beach should not turn into a night in the bathroom, or worse, in the hospital," Nancy Stoner, director of NRDC's Clean Water Project, said in a written statement. "There have been significant advances over the last two decades that we should be using to protect beachgoers, but the EPA is dragging its feet in implementing them."
Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.
