Ohio Beaches Even Dirtier Than You Think: Report

Plenty of summer days remain for Ohio residents to enjoy the waters, but a new report finds that most Lake Erie beaches are at times unsafe for swimming.

Looking at bacteria sampling data collected by authorities in 29 states and Puerto Rico, the report's authors found that more than half the beaches tested nationwide were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day in 2018. The analysis also showed that 610 beaches were potentially unsafe on 25 percent of the days they were tested for bacteria.

Around the Great Lakes, 76 percent of the 558 beaches tested were unsafe for swimming for at least one day in 2018. In Ohio, all but two of 58 Lake Erie beaches sampled for bacteria in 2018 were potentially unsafe.

Beaches cited in the report posed a swimming risk if the bacteria samples exceeded the U.S. EPA’s “Beach Action Value,” which corresponds to an estimated 32 illnesses for every 1,000 swimmers.

The top five Ohio beaches by the most number of days that were potentially unsafe for swimming were:

Bay View West in Erie County: 48 days potentially unsafe of 70 sampled, or 69 percent
Maumee Bay State Park (Inland) in Lucas County: 43 days of 56 sampled, or 77 percent
Villa Angela State Park in Cuyahoga County: 42 days of 115 sampled, or 37 percent
Lakeview Beach in Lorain County: 39 days of 60 sampled, or 65 percent
Euclid State Park in Cuyahoga County: 38 days of 112 sampled, or 34 percent

The report warns that beaches should not be compared to each other because testing takes place on different schedules and at different frequencies.

Waters polluted with sewage or fecal matter can make swimmers sick, and millions of waterborne illnesses are reported each year in the United States, the report says. The report by the Environment America Research & Policy Center looked at data for 2018 collected by local and federal officials from 4,523 beaches.

To make waters safer for swimming, the report says pollution from urban runoff, sewage and manure needs to be curtailed.

Read the full report from the Environment America Research & Policy Center.