Study: Nearly 50 Mass. beaches repeatedly reached dangerous fecal bacteria levels last year

Local News

The study also found that more than half of beaches reached potentially unsafe levels at least once in 2024.

Forty-seven Massachusetts beaches reached dangerous levels of fecal bacteria last year, according to the non-profit organization Environment Massachusetts. 

In 2024, 47 out of 563 coastal Mass. beaches were unsafe for swimming for approximately 25% of the days the water was tested. 

The study also found that 226 beaches, or 58%, reached potentially unsafe levels of fecal indicator bacteria on at least one testing day in 2024.

“Even as Massachusetts residents are back to enjoying the fresh sea breeze and splash of waves at the beach, pollution is still plaguing too many of the places where we swim. Now is the time to fix our water infrastructure and stop the flow of nasty bacteria and pollution to our beaches,” John Rumpler, clean water director for Environment Massachusetts, said in the report he co-authored.

The polluted water is typically caused by runoff pollution and sewers overflowing, according to the report. 

The affected beaches were across the entire coast, including on both shores and in Boston, Cape Cod, Buzzards Bay, and the islands, the report states. 

The beaches with the highest percentage of potentially unsafe test days include Lynn’s King Beach at 74%, Nahant Beach at 54%, Nantucket’s Washing pond at 46%, Boston’s Tenean Beach at 38%, and Barnstable’s Keyes Beach at Sea Street at 37%. 

The other beaches with the highest number of potentially unsafe test days were Malibu Beach, Constitution Beach, and Wollaston Beach at Milton Street, Sachem Street, and Channing Street. 

Swimming in polluted waters can cause rashes, ear infections, diarrhea, and nausea, with about 57 million Americans suffering related illnesses each year, according to a study in the Environmental Health journal. 

Environment Massachusetts analyzed the fecal bacteria testing data to see which levels exceeded the EPA’s protective levels of 32 illnesses per 1,000 swimmers. 

To limit exposure to potential fecal bacteria in waterways, Environment America recommends avoiding swimming for 72 hours after a heavy storm, since stormwater can cause sewers to overflow, and checking for beach status updates before heading out for the day. 

Earlier this year, Massachusetts legislators proposed a bill to combat sewers overflowing into waterways. The proposed bill would require all sewage overflows to be eliminated by 2050. The bill’s last hearing was scheduled for June 17, but no update on its current status has been shared since.  

“When Congress passed the Clean Water Act more than 50 years ago, our nation resolved that we would make all our waterways safe for swimming,” Rumpler wrote in the report. “It is time for Massachusetts officials to commit themselves to the goal of clean, safe beaches, and commit the resources to achieve it.”

To adhere to the Clean Water Act, Massachusetts would need to devote about $21.7 million to combat this issue and other related issues, according to the 2022 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey report to Congress.