Water Quality Action Alert

Fri, June 20, 2003

Currently, Oregon is the only coastal state in the country without a state sponsored ocean water quality monitoring program. In 2000, the U.S. Congress passed the BEACH Act (Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health) mandating that all coastal states adopt nearshore water quality standards and to implement a monitoring program. This was not an unfunded mandate.

In 2002, the federal EPA provided Oregon (in particular the Oregon Health Division in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Quality), almost $60,000 to design and implement this ocean water monitoring program. Surfrider Foundation is disappointed that even after the expenditure of these initial funds, there is still no testing program implemented, no standards to indicate thresholds, nor has the public been given sufficient (and legally required) notice to comment or be involved in the program design.

In the 2003 calendar year, Oregon will receive an additional $228,000 in federal funds to implement this testing program. Draft plans show that only 24 beaches will be tested (at $9,500 per beach!). At full BEACH Act funding, Oregon will receive a total of $800,000 in federal money to implement the BEACH Act.

Currently, Surfrider Foundatin is the only entity testing nearshore water quality in Oregon. In 1999, Surfrider Foundation - Oregon Chapter began testing 6 sites in Newport on a monthly basis. We found high levels of fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria at both Nye Beach and Otter Rock. The pollution found at Otter Rock was actually found in a marine garden as designated under the Territorial Sea Plan. This past year with support from Patagonia, Surfrider Foundation currently tests 17 sites once a month. To view the sites currently tested and their test results see our website at www.surfrider.org/BWTFoutput.htm. These current efforts have cost the Oregon Chapter of Surfrider Foundation approximately $5,000 utilizing existing resources, and developing partnerships.

Please sign (and print) your name to the below letter to request a public meeting in your area. You have the right to request this meeting, and the state is obligated to respond to your information request! Ocean water quality is a key indicator of ocean health. Unless we know what is in our ocean's water, we do not know what elements are in the fish we eat, the sand our kids play in, or the water in which we swim. You can change the locations and the frequency of the state tests, and you can change how and where the state posts these test results. Please make your voice heard.

Click here to view and print a letter to DHS Director.

Sincerely,
Markus Mead Surfrider Foundation - Oregon Chapter