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The Massachusetts Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation
authored, with the help of the Environmental League
of Massachusetts, the Beaches Act.
The
Beaches Act is a Bill that requires:
Uniform water quality standards
for coastal and inland public beach waters.
Establishment of consistent beach water testing procedures
(a minimum of weekly water testing).
The public to be informed about unsafe waters by posting
notices at beaches when the water is polluted.
The Beaches Act will protect public safety, improve
environmental quality through identification of pollution
sources, and will provide resources to municipalities
to help with testing.
Why Do We Need the Beaches
Bill?
Many beaches become polluted from
stormwater runoff and raw sewage overflows. Approximately
26 million gallons of untreated or partially treated
sewage is discharged with each heavy rainfall. This
equates to approximately 1.1 billion gallons discharged
annually. Despite this threat to public health, nearly
half of the beaches in the state were not tested once
a week and were often tested using outdated and inaccurate
testing methods. Most polluted beaches in the state
didn't post warning signs.
To help raise awareness for the
Beaches Act, our Chapter hosted two successful Clean
Water Paddles in December 1998 & 1999, organized
press events on the State House steps and testified
before committees. We started letter-writing campaigns
and met with legislators and administration.
 We
are proud to say our efforts paid off! The Beaches Bill
was voted out of the House Ways and Means committee,
and passed both houses of the Massachusetts Legislature.
As a result, Massachusetts beaches (inland and
coastal) are tested weekly and warning flags are posted
whenever water is found to be polluted.
The Beaches Act wouldn't have happened
without Surfrider's leadership and we are proud of our
success! Massachusetts now joins New Jersey and California
on the cutting-edge of beach water quality testing.
Of course, great things are not
accomplished alone. We would not have been successful
without the impressive efforts of many other environmental
groups who helped make this a reality. In particular,
the Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) helped
our chapter from the very beginning until the successful
end. MASSPIRG made the Beaches Act the focus of their
summer campaign, sending canvassers across the state
to rally support for the bill and sent out thousands
of postcards to the legislature.
Thanks also to Representative Doug
Petersen (D-Marblehead), the lead sponsor of the bill,
the environmental groups of the Coastal Advocacy Network,
and the Massachusetts Environmental Collaborative, as
well as, any of you who helped us along the way!
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