Copiague Beach Considered Most Unsafe For Swimming In NY: Study

LONG ISLAND, NY - Summer means hitting one of many beaches in the area, but Long Island residents might want to think twice before dipping their toes in the sand and water.

Recently, the Environment America Research and Policy Center released a study which reviewed the water quality of beaches across the U.S.

The study analyzed bacteria sampling data from beaches in 29 coastal and Great Lakes states and Puerto Rico in 2018.

The results showed that 2,620 beach sites – over half of all sites tested – were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day last year and 605 sites were potentially unsafe at least 25 percent of the days that sampling took place.

In New York alone, a total of 276 of 422 beach sites sampled were potentially unsafe for at least one day in 2018.

Unfortunately, nine out of the top 10 beach sites with the most potentially unsafe swimming days in New York were located on Long Island.

According to the study, Tanner Park in Copiague was number one on the list. The study found that the local beach had 48 potentially unsafe days out of the year. This was out of 71 days of sampling.

Tanner Park was followed by Woodlawn Beach in State Park Erie County, the only beach on the list not on Long Island, which had 47 potentially unsafe days out of 104.

According to the study, the other beaches to make the list include:

• Shirley Beach (28 potentially unsafe days/47 days of sampling)
• Venetian Shores (28 potentially unsafe days/48 days of sampling)
• Valley Grove Beach (24 potentially unsafe days/51 days of sampling)
• Sayville Marina Park (23 potentially unsafe days/43 days of sampling)
• Benjamins Beach (21 potentially unsafe days/49 days of sampling)
• Corey Creek Beach (20 potentially unsafe days/40 days of sampling)
• Biltmore Beach (20 potentially unsafe days/62 days of sampling)
• East Islip Beach (20 potentially unsafe days/40 days of sampling)