Lake Michigan beaches among worst in nation, study finds

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Visitors enjoy the sun and sand at Illinois Beach State Park in Zion . | Sun-Times Media file

Updated: June 30, 2011 2:24AM

Illinois’ beaches along Lake Michigan have the sixth-worst water quality in the country, a study released Wednesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council found.

“Testing the Waters 2011” ranked the quality of Illinois’ beach water 26th out of 31 states sampled along the Great Lakes, East and West coasts for quality.

“The news is not good,” said Karen Hobbs, senior policy analyst for the NRDC and a former deputy director with the Chicago Department of Environment.

Of a reported 61 coastal beaches and beach segments in Illinois, Cook County’s Winnetka Elder Park Beach and Winnetka Centennial Dog Beach were the most often contaminated in 2010, the report found. The worst Chicago beaches include South Shore, Rainbow Beach, Jackson Park Beach (63rd Street Beach), Montrose Beach and 31st Street Beach.

In Lake County, the beach at North Point Marina was the most often polluted, followed by Nunn Beach at Naval Station Great Lakes and Illinois Beach State Park South Beach.

Nationwide, the report found that beach closures and advisories across the country increased by 29 percent in 2010 compared to a year earlier. The conservation group used data from 3,000 locations nationwide and found that waters in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan had the highest levels of contamination.

The Great Lakes are the most frequently contaminated beach water, according to the report. Bacteria in the Great Lakes exceed public health standards almost twice as often as coastal beaches, according to the report. Fifteen percent of the Great Lakes shorelines exceeded those standards in 2010, up 2 percent from the previous year. Only 4 to 8 percent of U.S. coastal states exceeded standards for bacteria.

Beach water can be contaminated by polluted runoff from land-based sources, stormwater and sewage overflow. In Illinois, a history of industrial waste dumping in Lake Michigan and aging infrastructure contributes heavily to the lake’s pollution, according to the NRDC.

The polluted waters are riskiest to children and the elderly and can lead to illnesses including stomach flu, skin rashes, hepatitis, pinkeye and meningitis.

Swimmers are urged to check water quality with the Chicago Park District before entering the lake and not to swim within 72 hours after heavy rainfall.

The news, while grim, isn’t all bad, according to Hobbs, as new technologies and methods aimed at controlling stormwater — the leading cause of beach closings — are developed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report