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DHS significantly reduces the number of beaches to be tested Thu, June 3, 2004 Oregon
Beach Monitoring Program The Oregon Beach Monitoring Program collected 1878 samples between May 2003 and April 2004; these samples were collected from 99 sampling points at 52 beaches along the Oregon coast. 326 of the 1878 samples were blanks, duplicates and re-samples, all of which are required for quality assurance of the data. Therefore, 1552 of those samples were weekly, every two weeks, or monthly samples. Of these 1552 samples, only 48 exceeded Oregon’s standard of 158 cfu/100 ml marine water; only 3.1% exceeded the standard over the course of one year. Sampling Sites and Frequency for 2004 Peak-Use Season The following list contains the beaches to be sampled in 2004 during the peak-use season (county and sampling frequency are provided in parentheses):
These 18 beaches contain 50 of the original 99 sampling points.
For some of these beaches, results from the past year do not demonstrate
a risk to public health, however they remain on the list due to
heavy in-water recreational use. Most beaches will be sampled weekly
or every two weeks during the peak use (summer) season. Mill Beach and Harris Beach will be sampled monthly during the
peak use season. These beaches will be sampled monthly because multiple,
elevated sample results indicate a potential health risk; they will
not be sampled more frequently because observations indicate that
people are infrequently recreating in the water. During the 2003 sampling season, Manhattan Beach and Twin Rocks
Beach were sampled monthly; during the 2004 peak-use season they
will be sampled every two weeks. This decision was made based on
the geography of these beaches in relation to Rockaway Beach, which
was sampled every two weeks during the 2003 sampling season. Manhattan,
Rockaway and Twin Rocks Beaches are essentially all part of the
same straight stretch of beach and therefore, it was decided that
all three should be sampled at the same frequency for the 2004 sampling
season. Discussion Regarding Beaches Dropped from List for 2004 Sampling
Season The Beach guidance document published by the EPA states that Beach
Monitoring Programs are to select beaches to be sampled based on
risk; factors that must be included in this evaluation are the number
of marine water users and the risk to human health presented by
pathogens/indicators. The beaches proposed to be dropped from the
2003 sampling list were dropped because one year of sampling (5/03-4/04)
demonstrated that 1) water quality never exceeded the standard (158
cfu/100 ml marine water) and/or 2) there were no or few people in
the water at these beaches. Each of the five beaches listed in the
final section of this document had one exceedance of the standard
but observations supported neither the risk to public health criterion
nor the use of the ocean criterion, as people were not recreating
in the water at these beaches. The following beaches were removed from the 2003 sampling list
because all samples were below the current standard AND there were
no/few people observed in the water at the time of sampling (county,
sampling frequency, number of exceedances/total number of samples,
and total annual number of people in the ocean at time of sampling
are provided in parentheses):
The following beaches were removed from the 2003 sampling list
because each beach had one sample above the standard (158 CFU/100
ml marine water) AND had no/few people on the beach at the time
of sampling (county, sampling frequency, number of exceedances/total
number of samples, and total annual number of people in the ocean
at time of sampling are provided in parentheses):
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