Hollywood Beach on the Port Angeles waterfront had the second-dirtiest water in Washington state of those monitored for fecal bacteria in 2009, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Camp Parsons Boy Scout Camp in Brinnon was tied for the fifth-dirtiest in the state in “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches,” the council’s 20th annual beach water quality report.
The report, released in July, singled out beaches that fell short of federal standards for clean water for swimming in 2009.
It also tracked the number of closing and health advisory days for beaches because of contamination that could make people sick.
The report, which can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ywnwlp, pulled data submitted to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2009, Washington state reported 1,345 coastal beaches, of which 73 — or 5 percent — were monitored once a week and 1,272 were not monitored.
The dirtiest of the monitored beach water in the state was found at Freeland County Park/Holmes Harbor in Island County, where 20 percent of samples exceeded the daily maximum standards for fecal bacteria, according to the report.
Next were Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles at 19 percent and Bayview Boat Launch in Skagit County at 18 percent, followed by Silverdale County Park in Kitsap County at 16 percent.
At both Camp Parsons in Jefferson County and Belfair State Park in Mason County, 15 percent of samples exceeded standards, according to the report.
The seventh-highest was 11 percent at the Port Williams Boat Launch northeast of Sequim; the ninth-highest 9 percent was at Sequim Bay State Park.
The state’s beach-monitoring website at ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/beach said Sunday that water quality was good for Hollywood Beach, and there were no advisories or closures for any Clallam County beach.
The Point Whitney tidelands near Brinnon was rated as needing “caution” from users because of high indicator bacteria called enterococci, a type of fecal bacteria.
There were no advisories or closures for any other Jefferson County beach.
Camp Parsons was listed as “unknown.”
A 100,000-gallon sewage spill closed Hollywood Beach to water recreation for four days last December after an alleged drunken driver crashed into a wastewater pumping station on Front Street.
Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, said that represented the only beach closure on the North Olympic Peninsula in 2009 or 2010.
Locke said Hollywood Beach has been rigorously tested for water quality because of its popularity at the entrance to City Pier and in front of the Red Lion Hotel.
When higher levels are recorded at Hollywood Beach, Locke said “invariably things would be OK” the following day.
Asked why Hollywood Beach passed the threshold in 19 percent of the samples taken last year, Locke said it is probably a “mixed phenomenon.”
“Some of the [high levels] may be naturally occurring,” Locke said.
He added: “Storm overflow is probably an issue.”
The water quality tests are geared toward mammalian fecal matter, so seals and other marine mammals in the Port Angeles Harbor may be contributing.
“One dog doing its business on the tidelands is enough to cause these levels to spike up,” Locke said.
Personal watercraft can affect water quality, as can higher temperatures in tidal areas.
“A certain amount of this is inevitable in marine tidelands because they’re so biologically active,” Locke said.
“There’s there’s a lot of organisms in the environment.”
Historically, Locke said Hollywood Beach is the worst for water contamination in the region, followed closely by the Boy Scouts’ Camp Parsons in Brinnon.
Sequim Bay and Port Williams also have had contaminated water historically, he said.
“We try to prevent human, pet or agricultural contamination,” Locke said.
“Those are the areas we can control.”
Health officials have seen improvements in water quality in Sequim Bay and Dungeness Bay because of efforts to replace failing septic systems and best-practices efforts on the part of livestock owners.
Beach monitoring on the Peninsula is overseen by the state departments of Ecology and Health, which submit data to the EPA.
The program monitors high-risk saltwater beaches, which are those that have many recreational users and are near potential bacteria sources such as sewage treatment plants, septic tanks and storm drains.
Statewide, 3 percent of samples taken from beaches that were monitored in 2009 violated health standards, indicating the presence of human or animal waste, according to the report.
That’s down from the 4 percent reported in 2008.
Nationwide, 7 percent of beach water samples violated health standards, the same as 2008 and 2007.
The national report did not include a year-to-year comparison of pollutants for beaches.
The state beach-monitoring program uses local agencies, tribes and volunteers to check bacteria levels at popular, high-risk beaches.
The website also provides current beach status, including maps.
In addition to Hollywood Beach, Cline Spit County Park, Port Williams Boat Launch and Salt Creek Recreation Area, a county park, are monitored by the program in Clallam County.
In addition to Point Whitney tidelands in Jefferson County, Fort Worden State Park and Quilcene Beach (Herb Beck Marina) are part of the program.
