6A • November 6, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
New water health standards
could lead to more advisories
Beach safety
threshold to
be cut by more
than half
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
The Oregon Beach Moni-
toring Program will likely is-
sue more public health advi-
sories for beachgoers starting
in 2017. Not because bacteria
levels are expected to rise,
but because the safety thresh-
old for marine water is being
lowered.
The program’s safety
threshold, or “beach action
value,” is being lowered to 70
organisms per 100 milliliters
of water. The current thresh-
old is 158 organisms per 100
milliliters.
The new standards reÀect
recent studies that found peo-
ple are getting sick at beach
action values lower than the
U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency safety threshold
for bacteria, Tara Chetock,
the beach monitoring pro-
gram coordinator, said.
Representatives from the
beach monitoring program,
the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality and
the Oregon Health Authori-
ty made the last of its coast-
al stops, including Cannon
Beach on Oct. 22, in a series
of informational meetings.
A matter of public safety
The beach monitoring pro-
gram tracks Oregon beaches
from Memorial Day to Labor
Day and issues public health
advisories on its website and
inserts beach warning signs
when bacteria readings are
high.
People who ingest water
with high bacteria levels may
experience gastrointestinal or
Àu-like symptoms, according
to the EPA. An Oregon State
University study found that
40 percent of 500 surfers sur-
veyed from the Paci¿c North-
west reported ear infections
or discharge at some point
during sur¿ng, 0 percent a
sore throat or cough, 16 per-
cent diarrhea, 10 percent a
fever and 7 percent vomiting.
The monitoring program
works with the Surfrider
Foundation on providing
swimmers and surfers with
the opportunity to report wa-
ter contact-related illnesses.
This year, the program
issued four health advisories
along the Oregon Coast, in-
cluding one in Cannon Beach.
,n 2014, there were 1. ,n the
last ¿ve years, Chetock said
there have been 18 advisories
along the North Coast alone.
DANI PALMER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Hannah Moore with the Oregon Beach Monitoring Pro-
gram looks out over the ocean after testing water at the
Gower Street outfall in Cannon Beach during this sum-
mer’s season.
That number would have
Mumped to 4 if the new stan-
dards had been applied.
From 2010 to 2015, the
monitoring program conduct-
ed ,464 samplings along the
Oregon Coast, 88 of which
exceeded the current guide-
lines. That number would rise
to 206 if the new guidelines
were used.
Program staff anticipate
an increase in advisories in
2017, which could place a
strain on their limited funds
if they have a bad year like
2014.
More demand on staff
could mean fewer beaches
monitored. Currently, the
program monitors 16 of Or-
egon’s more than 90 beaches
during its summer season.
Chetock said they plan to use
historical data and public in-
put to decide which sites to
sample in 2017.
Limited funding
Ryan Cruse, Blue Water
Task Force ¿eld coordinator
for the Surfrider Foundation,
attended Newport’s informa-
tional meeting. According to
Cruse, Surfrider is working
at the national level to ensure
continued funding for the
Beach Act, which provides
funding for the monitoring
program. “Our ultimate goal
here in Oregon is to help se-
cure additional state funding
for the monitoring program,
so that they’ll have the capac-
ity to expand the great work
they are currently doing,” he
said.
Chetock said partnerships
with local communities, such
as Cannon Beach, could help
¿ll gaps.
The Blue Water Task
Force tests beaches from
Seaside to Port Orford. Cruse
R OBER T C AIN LD ,
said they’ll “continue to mon-
itor with the same frequency
when the new BAV takes
place” and added “it would be
great if the state utilized our
monitoring program results.”
The task force uses the
same EPA testing method the
monitoring program does.
Volunteers and six labs would
“easily ¿ll any gaps” created
by the new guidelines and
funding constraints, he said.
Finding the source
In addition to the possi-
ble decrease in testing sites,
residents and environmen-
tal groups like Surfrider ex-
pressed concern about public
noti¿cation of high readings
and freshwater results.
The monitoring program
tests freshwater runoff, but
unlike saltwater, will not issue
an advisory if high levels of
contamination are detected.
This could put beachgoers at
risk, particularly at the Gow-
er Street outfall in Cannon
Beach, Cruse said.
Although they are limit-
ed in actions they can take,
Chetock noted that program
staff do test freshwater run-
off so they may identify the
source of contamination.
The program isn’t able to
lead investigations into the
cause of high readings, but
it can provide data, technical
support and guidance if a city
chooses to address the issue.
Staff are ¿nalizing this year’s
monitoring data and search-
ing for trends.
In its blog about the bac-
teria action level change,
Surfrider acknowledged the
program’s limited authority
and encouraged residents to
ask the Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality to investi-
gate an advisory system for
contaminated freshwater.
Some, like Oregon’s state
parks, have taken steps to rec-
tify problems.
“There are other commu-
nities that just don’t want to
acknowledge it because of
the tourism aspect,” Chetock
said. “They don’t want to
scare people off beaches
because they want the busi-
ness.”
But solutions need to be
found because noti¿cation
alone is “not working right
now.”
The next step
Now that the monitoring
program’s public meetings
are done for the time being,
Chetock said they will review
comments and reach out to
coastal areas in the next cou-
ple of months for discussions.
The Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality is also de-
veloping rules to revise Ore-
gon’s water quality standards
for bacteria. Aron Borok with
department’s water quality di-
vision said the state will hold
hearings early next year to re-
view proposed revisions.
Locally, the Surfrider
Foundation and Ecola Creek
Watershed Council have of-
fered Cannon Beach of¿cials
assistance in notifying the
public faster of high bacteria
readings, and in reviewing the
city’s wastewater and sewer
infrastructure to ¿nd a solu-
tion to the issue.
R.J. MARX PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
The Fir Street Bridge is expected to fail during an earth-
quake or tsunami.
Grassick: New pedestrian
bridge would have high
chance of surviving quake
According to an Or-
egon State University
Grassick said the pe- study, there is a 40 percent
destrian bridge is more re- chance for a major Cas-
alistic cost-wise. A traf¿c cadia Subduction Zone
bridge would cost between earthquake off the Ore-
gon coast in
$5 and $6 mil-
the next 50
lion, and there
isn’t as much
Public Works years. It is es-
timated that
assistance
Director Dan at least 1,080
available for
its type.
people would
Grassick
A
new
head toward
said the Fir
pedestrian
the Fir Street
Street bridge bridge on a
bridge would
have a 95 per-
typical sum-
is ‘woefully
cent chance
day in
inadequate.’ mer
of surviving
the case of an
a quake, he
earthquake.
added.
“ O u r
In 1964, a 9.2 magni- number one priority is to
tude earthquake in Alas- save lives,” Emergency
ka caused a tsunami that Preparedness Committee
wiped out the Fir Street Chair Karolyn Adamson
bridge. Nine were killed in wrote in a letter to the
Alaska during the quake, council. “I believe this
but no deaths were report- proposal will do that.”
ed in Oregon, according to
The council voted 4-1
the West Coast and Alaska to seek the Connect Or-
Tsunami Warning Center.
egon grant. Councilors
A distant tsunami typ- Vetter, Mike Bene¿eld,
ically provides hours of Melissa Cadwallader and
warning. In the case of a Wendy Higgins voted yes.
local tsunami off the Ore- Steidel was the lone no.
gon coast, the public would
Grant applications are
have about 20 minutes to due Nov. 20 and will be
evacuate.
awarded next year.
Bridge from Page 1A
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