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INC. THIS MORNING
Dirty beaches
Good morning,
It's summertime. That means vacation time.
That's why I paid attention this week when environmental advocacy organization Environment America and think tank Frontier Group co-released [a report on 2,620 U.S. beaches](. The document spotlights how often each beach has recently tested positive for potentially unsafe water.
Let's not mince words. The report specifies: "potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination." Causes include "urban runoff, sewage leaks and overflows, and industrial-scale livestock operations.”
I don't want to ruin your vacation, but just in case your plans involve travel to any of the unsavory spots on the list, here are the report’s 10 worst beaches in America. Their places on the list are based on the percentage of days that their water tested positive for potential contaminants.
1. Singing Bridge Beach (Arenac County, Michigan). The water at this beach was tested 11 times. All 11 times, it came up with potentially unsafe water. I've never been there, but you couldn't pay me enough to go in this water if I were to visit.
2. San Pedro Creek (San Mateo County, California). There were 47 tests here; 43 of them came up positive. That works out to 91 percent.
3. Cole Park (Nueces County, Texas). There were three test sites at this beach on the Environment America list. The first was tested 64 times and came up positive 52 times (81 percent). The second was tested 53 times and came up positive 42 times (79 percent), and the third one was tested 56 times and came up positive 38 times (68 percent).
4. Maumee Bay State Park (Lucas County, Ohio). This is a state park in Ohio on Maumee Bay, on the western edge of Lake Erie. It was tested 43 times and came up positive 56 times (77 percent).
5. Sunset Bay, North Parking Lot Creek (Coos County, Oregon). There was a small sample size here -- only four tests, three of which came up positive, for 75 percent. So I’ll include it on the list with a bit of an asterisk.
6. Pier Park (Wayne County, Michigan). Tests here came up positive 75 percent of the time: 15 out of 20 tests.
7. Punaluu Beach Park (Honolulu, Hawaii). This is disappointing, and a surprise: again, a 75 percent positive testing record, with nine tests coming up positive out of 12. Note: This beach is on Oahu. There's one with a similar name on the Big Island.
8. Kings Ferry (Chatham County, Georgia). Another small sample size: just four tests, three of which came up positive, for 75 percent. Like Sunset Bay in Oregon, I'd take this with a grain of salt and double-check more current results.
9. Ropes Park -- Site 2 (Nueces County, Texas). This is in the same county as Cole Park (No. 2). It had 43 positive tests out of 59, for 73 percent.
10. Harris Beach State Park at Harris Creek (Curry County, Oregon). Not far from Sunset Bay. It also has a fairly small sample size: five out of seven tests came up positive, for 71 percent.
Now, there is some good news on the list. Three counties in particular had some of the cleanest water according to the report -- one each in Delaware, Georgia, and New Hampshire:
- Sussex County, Delaware
- Glynn County, Georgia
- Rockingham County, New Hampshire
The Environment America report includes data on roughly 2,600 other beach testing sites. So, if you're heading to the beach, you might want to check out the full report first.
HERE'S WHAT ELSE I'M READING TODAY:
WeWork may go public [sooner than expected](. --The Wall Street Journal
Barbara Corcoran and Warren Buffett credit this one habit as [the secret to their astonishing success](. --Inc.
If you were affected by the 2017 Equifax data breach, [you can now file a claim]( for a piece of the $700 million settlement. --USA Today
[Facebook’s FTC settlement includes a catch]( Mark Zuckerberg has to sign certifications personally. --The Wall Street Journal
After months of uproar from customers, [DoorDash has finally changed its tipping policy](. --The New York Times
[Forever 21 added a diet-bar sample]( to some customers’ orders. What on earth was the company thinking? --Business Insider
New York City is considering a [ban on the sale of your phone’s location data](. --The New York Times
One forward-looking selection from Robert Mueller’s testimony: [Russians are already trying to hack the 2020 U.S. election]( “as we sit here.” --Business Insider
Magnet fishing: the new hobby with [an unexpected bonus for police](. --The Daily Item
--Bill Murphy Jr.
Contributing Editor, Inc.com
Story ideas and feedback actively solicited. Find me at [billmurphyjr@inc.com](mailto:billmurphyjr@inc.com?subject=), or on [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( and [Twitter](.
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