Environment Texas tested 61 beaches across the state. Of those, 55 tested positive for fecal contamination at least one day, meaning they exceeded the safety threshold set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Eight beaches exceeded the EPA’s threshold more than 25% of testing days.
Those beaches include Cole Park in Corpus Christi, which tested positive for fecal contamination on 54% of days, Ropes Park in Corpus Christi (41%), and Texas City Dike in Galveston Bay (28%), according to the report.
Sylvan Beach Park in La Porte tested positive for fecal contamination 21% of days, and Galveston’s Seawall Boulevard at 25th Street tested positive 26% of days.
Nationwide, 55% of beaches exceeded the EPA’s safety threshold at least once last year, according to the report. Roughly 84% of Gulf coast beaches tested positive at least once.
Swimmers should check TexasBeachWatch.com for water quality reports, avoid swimming with open wounds and near storm drain outfalls.
As a Texan, I’d really like to know where this is all coming from and why it’s happening in the first place
The article is paywalled, but it goes on to say this:
“Fecal matter washes into the ocean from a variety of sources, including urban development, sewage overflows, factory farms and livestock operations.
To reduce contamination, the report recommends major financial investments to stop sewage overflows and runoff pollution. Environment Texas noted that a massive infrastructure package passed in 2021 provides $11.7 billion for sewage and stormwater projects, but the EPA has estimated the need is roughly $271 billion.”
So lot of sources, and funding to fix it is limited.
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