Washington Post - Maryland Takes Safe Water Seriously
Filed under: Earth 911 - August 8, 2006
The Washington Post
August 8, 2006 Tuesday
An Aug. 3 front-page story [”Health Worries Over Bay Pollution; Uneven Testing, Tourism Concerns Affect Re-porting”] omitted key facts about Maryland’s program for monitoring water quality at beaches and misled the public about state and local government issuance of public health advisories and the closures of bathing beaches in Maryland. The data show Maryland’s beaches are open 99 percent of the time.
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) administers the Maryland Beaches Program. Local health departments monitor water quality through sampling and notify citizens about water-quality conditions at beaches. The MDE, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and local health departments, provides current information about the water quality at all beaches monitored in Maryland at www.earth911.org.
The MDE and the local health departments take the responsibility of protecting public health at bathing beaches very seriously. Maryland has worked hard and has gone above and beyond what is required by the EPA by applying beach water-quality standards statewide, monitoring all bathing beaches across the state and protecting all Maryland residents — not just our coastal beaches.
KENDL P. PHILBRICK
Secretary
Maryland Department of the Environment
Baltimore