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issue to the attention of the nation. Recreational tourism suffered 

 as a result. Estimates of economic losses to the recreational 

 tourism industries in New York and New Jersey for the two-year 

 period from 1987 to 1988 exceeded $4 billion. 



PATHOGENS 



Sources of pathogens and material carrying pathogens impacting 

 coastal beaches may include sewage and industrial discharges, solid 

 waste disposal, storm water run-off, bird and animal populations, 

 dry weather inflow from urban areas, and agricultural drainage. 

 Untreated sewage and other disease-carrying debris from land-based 

 sources in coastal waters pose two distinct problems. The presence 

 of bacteria and other micro-organisms may cause a number of 

 ailments, such as gastroenteritis, salmonellosis, shigellosis, 

 cholera, infectious hepatitis, and leptospirosis. State and local 

 health officials close beaches when levels of bacterial indicators 

 exceed the health standard. 



Another problem arises when nutrients in the water act as 

 fertilizers, stimulating rapid algae growth or algal blooms. 

 Certain algal blooms may become a public health problem if the algae 

 contain toxins which are poisonous to humans when ingested. Red 

 tide algae (caused by a group of algae called dinof lagellates) such 

 as those which occurred off the coast of North Carolina during the 

 summer of 1988 are examples of toxic algae which have posed health 

 risks. 



EPA Field Criteria For Pathogens 



EPA criteria for recreational water testing pursuant to the 

 Clean Water Act is a non-regulatory, (that is, no force of law until 

 adopted by states as part of their water quality standards) 

 scientific assessment of ecological and public health effects. The 

 federal criteria for pathogens are developed as guidance to the 

 states and is intended to be used to form the basis for enforceable 

 state water quality standards. There are separate criteria for 

 freshwater, saltwater, and shellfish harvesting waters. A state is 

 not currently required to adopt the pathogen criteria as part of its 

 water quality standards. 



In 1986, EPA revised its recreational water criteria, pursuant 

 to section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act, recommending a new 

 microbial indicator called enterococci to replace earlier 

 indicators, fecal coliform and total coliform. EPA, in issuing the 

 new guidance, concluded that enterococci has a better correlation 

 with swimming-associated gastrointestinal illness in marine water 

 than fecal coliform. 



The frequency of testing recommended in the current EPA criteria 

 is based on a minimum of five samples taken over a 30 day period. 

 The criteria also recommend several classes of beaches based on the 

 following use levels: frequent, moderate, occasional, and 

 infrequent. The Federal criteria also provided specific bacteria 

 densities that should not be exceeded based on frequency of use, 

 established a level of 19 illnesses (gastroenteritis) per 1,000 

 swimmers as an acceptable health risk in salt water. 



