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vb101
Advanced Member
808 Posts |
 Posted - 07/30/2010 : 10:37:09 AM
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...on how to construct a pier that wouldn't block all the stuff in...
"The county has an intensive testing program. Ontario Beach is the most tested beach in the state with 264 samples in 2009." Go figure.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100729/ROCEARTH04/307290015/1002/NEWS
Ontario Beach among worst in nation for bacteria levels, study shows
Jeffrey Blackwell • Staff Writer • July 29, 2010
Despite evidence of modest improvement, Monroe County and western New York beaches continue to top the list for pollution concerns in a national study of public swimming sites.
Ontario Beach in Charlotte was tied with two other Great Lakes beaches for fourth-worst in the state last year for the number of water samples exceeding national standards for safe swimming, according to data compiled by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Great Lakes beach closings account for 18 percent of all closings and advisories nationally. A total of 3,300 were issued in 2009 — a decrease of 4 percent compared to the previous year. The region still has the highest rate of days when water samples exceed national standards for safe swimming at 13 percent.
In 2009, 38 percent of water samples failed to meet state bacteria standards, ranking Ontario Beach 48th worst in the nation in the study of more than 3,000 beaches.
"Sewage and runoff pollution in our beach water is preventable," said Jon Devine, senior NRDC water attorney. "With investment in cost-effective, smarter water practices that are available today, communities can tackle the most common sources of pollution lurking in the waves."
The two worst beaches in New York are on Lake Erie — Krull Park in Niagara County at 57 percent and St. Vincent Depaul Beach in Erie County at 52 percent.
The Great Lakes suffer from storm water runoff, sewer-system discharges and other pollutants. Those sources are blamed for feeding bacteria into the lakes and for loading the water with nutrients that stimulate the growth of beach-fouling algae.
Ontario Beach was closed more days than it was open last year. According to Monroe County health officials, the beach was open for 38 days, but closed for 42. Durand-Eastman beach was open for 39 days and closed for 45 in 2009.
This season, Ontario Beach has been open 18 days and closed 18 days. Durand-Eastman has been open 20 days and closed 17.
"Last summer was a fairly wet summer and there tends to be a direct correlation between excessive rain and effect on our beaches," he said. "Normally if you look at 20-years-plus of data, you will find that our beaches are open about two-thirds of the time."
The county has an intensive testing program. Ontario Beach is the most tested beach in the state with 264 samples in 2009.
"We test our waters every day," said county health department spokesman John Ricci. "To some extent it almost seems like by being proactive, to insure that our waters are safe to swim in, that when this data comes out your almost penalized for being diligent."
Christine English of Rochester brought her two sons and their friends to Ontario Beach on Wednesday to cool off in the water. She said the testing makes her feel better about letting her children swim at the beach.
"I worry about it a little because it can make you sick," she said. "But I'm glad they test the water and I call the beach hotline before we head to the beach."
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VOLLEYGROUPIE
New Member
19 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2010 : 11:19:47 AM
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I am no expert but, it seems to me the biggest problem is water just siiting there w/no circulation. If they put some pathway from the west side of the pier into the river at least the water would be circulated. I am sure this would take many studies & tax dollars but, at least there would be some temporary fix.
from a beach player |
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vball712
New Member
30 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2010 : 12:19:49 PM
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| Seems like I remember reading about studies already, in recent years, maybe by the Army Corp of Engineers or something like that? Seems like ways to address/correct the problem have been brought up too, but the cost of fixing it doesn't seem to be a priority for this community. Too bad, because a clean, natural resource like Lake Ontario should be considered a great asset. So much potential... |
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jbb115
Starting Member
7 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 12:43:16 PM
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I have had many if not all of the thoughts expressed here. So I contacted county executive Maggie Brooks with a letter. The response I got back was that it was the jurisdiction of the Army Corp of Engineers. So I went on their website and I poked around and I discovered that pretty much all the funding the ACE gets comes from the Federal Government and that Rep. Louise Slaughter is the agent for getting this money. So I contacted Louise Slaughter with virtually the same letter.
One of her reps called me on the phone and I had a 45 minute conversation with them about just this.
The problem with putting a whole in the pier for water to circulate is that the river water is physically elevated above the level of the lake water where the pier meets the land. This is by design and what the pier was originally intended for. It cuts out the chop of the lake and it is LOVED by the boaters and the boaters are a legitimate concern. So if they put a hole in the pier the water from the lake would run into the beach area. This would be the opposite of what we want to happen. The water from the river is brown and disgusting and arguably worse than the stagnate algae water we have there now.
About 10 years ago the ACE studied 30 possible ways of dealing with this problem. The best solution they came up with was to install pumps underwater on the pier. These pumps would pick up the water closest to where the pier meets the land and they would pump it out and dump it at the end of the pier. The cost for this was $5 million. The Federal Government allocated $2.5 million for the project and they asked the county to put up the other $2.5 million. The county refused and said that for $100,000 they could put in a spray park for the kids and no one would care about not swimming.
Notice that we have a spray park for the kids at Charlotte?
Now the reason for the $5 million price tag for the fix was because the DEC wouldn't allow for lake water to be pumped a short distance over the pier and dumped into the river water. They insisted that the water needed to be pumped the entire length of the pier.
After many years of arguing this idiotic decision the DEC finally signed off THIS SUMMER on a plan to pump the water over the pier and dump it into the lake.
I was told by Louise Slaughters office that a temporary pumping system is going to be installed this fall after the summer season and that by next summer we will have a proof of concept for this. If it works next summer then they will put in a permanent system.
I hope that happens.
- Jon |
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