Texas beaches are crawling with fecal bacteria, study reveals
Environment America found 90% of Texas beaches tested positive for the pathogens
Some busy Texas beaches are contaminated with fecal bacteria, making them potentially risky to swim in, a study reveals. The nonprofit Environment America found that 90% of Texas beaches tested positive for fecal bacteria on at least one day in 2022.
The pathogens present in fecal matter carry a health risk to swimmers, sometimes forcing authorities to close beaches for public safety. Each year millions of people in the United States become ill from swimming in the ocean, lakes, rivers and reservoirs, and most cases go unreported. Ranging from mild to severe, people may experience nausea, diarrhea, ear infections and rashes.
Environment Texas tested 61 beaches in the state.
Of those, 55 tested positive for fecal contamination for at least one day, meaning they exceeded the safety standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Eight beaches exceeded the safety standard on more than 25% of the days tested. Those beaches are Cole Park in Corpus Christi, which tested positive for fecal contamination on 54% of the days; Ropes Park in Corpus Christi (41%); and Texas City Dike in Galveston Bay (28%), the study notes.
Sylvan Beach Park in La Porte tested positive for fecal contamination 21% of days, and Seawall Boulevard at 25th Street in Galveston tested positive 26% of days. Fecal matter enters the ocean from various sources such as urban development, sewage spills, industrial farms, and livestock handling.
To reduce pollution, the study recommends heavy investments to stop sewage spills and runoff pollution. Environment Texas noted that an infrastructure package approved in 2021 allocated $11.7 billion for drainage and stormwater runoff projects, but that EPA has estimated that about $271 billion is needed.
“Now is the time to fix our water infrastructure and stop the flow of pathogens to our beaches,” Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, said in a statement.
Nationally, 55% of beaches exceeded the EPA’s safety benchmark at least once last year, according to the study.
About 84% of Gulf Coast beaches tested positive at least once. Louisiana and Pennsylvania recorded the highest contamination rates, where 100% of beaches exceeded the safety benchmark at least one day. Other states with higher contamination rates than Texas were Ohio (96%), and Illinois and Mississippi (both 95%). Beachgoers can visit TexasBeachWatch.com for water quality reports, and are advised to avoid swimming with open wounds or near storm drains.