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Beaches in Good Shape for Holiday Vacationers

Release Date: 07/03/2007
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, 215-814-5543, [email protected]

(PHILADELPHIA) In celebration of the July 4th holiday, tens of thousands of people will make their annual pilgrimage to the ocean beaches up and down the Atlantic coast, and they can rest assured that the waters will be in good health, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA says indicators show that the coastal waters are in good condition. But anyone wanting to find out about water quality for a specific beach before going can check on-line for the most recent available information. Go to www.epa.gov and click on ‘beaches’ and then click on ‘find your beach’ to get to EPA's BEACON website. BEACON stands for beach advisory and closing on-line notification.

"Thousands of families look forward to vacationing at east coast beaches, and knowing ahead of time that the waters are healthy is a relief," said Donald S. Welsh, EPA's mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator. "EPA is committed to keeping the nation's beaches clean and healthy which is why we funded $10 million this year alone to help states improve how they monitor and protect their beaches."

EPA continues to expand its work with the states to provide beach goers with readily available information about the question of beach safety. The agency primarily gets information on beach advisories and closings from states. The best source of real-time water quality information is local public health agencies or state environmental departments. EPA's beaches website includes a list of state and local agencies that monitor beaches and report data to the EPA.

RADIO NEWS DIRECTORS PLEASE NOTE: An mp3 file with the Regional Administrator’s quote is available in our newsroom at: https://www.epa.gov/region03/radionews.htm