NH coast beach clean-up

[Sam]

The beaches in Massachusetts may be in hot water, but New Hampshire's coastal beaches are doing just fine according to Sara Sumner, who runs the Beach Program at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

Sumner said that the Beach Program has been monitoring Hampton Beach for over 10 years. "It's in great shape," she said. "There are no problems and the water's bacteria level is well below the state standard." In fact, Sumner said that none of New Hampshire's coastal beaches have water that is above or even close to the state standard, which are 104 counts of Enterococci per 100 mL of water in a single sample.

"The only time we will see a bacteria spike," Sumner said, "is after rain, but it always ends up going away with the tide."

Enterococci gets into the ocean through natural occurrences, such as waterfowl feces or run-off caused by the rain. But there is another way it gets into the ocean-pet waste. Pet owners tend to leave or bury their animal's feces in the sand and the high tide brings the waste into the water.

Although the ocean along the coast is in good shape, there are programs that have been created to make sure the beaches stay clean as well. The Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation has a few programs dedicated to cleaning the beaches. About 20 sites along the coast are cleaned monthly.

"Adopt-A-Beach" is a public program that allows schools and businesses to choose a beach and clean it once a month. Jen Kennedy, director of The Blue Ocean Society, said that each group that adopts a site can have anywhere from five to 60 people. They also have a program which includes cleaning up Jenness Beach once a month. This program is open to anyone, not just groups like the "Adopt-A-Beach Program."

When it comes to buried trash, participants are not encouraged to dig in the sand to find anything. "We pick up what we see," Kennedy said. "We will look through the seaweed, but that's it. We don't want to disturb the environment."

Along with cleaning the beaches, those who participate in The Blue Ocean Society's programs fill out data cards and record every piece of trash picked up. Last year, the number one piece of debris found on the beaches was cigarettes.

Because of this, a new campaign called "Carry it, Don't Bury it" was created to encourage beach goers to throw away their cigarettes. The data collected from the beach clean ups got the state's attention-22 new cigarette receptacles were added to beaches along the coast.

While cigarette butts are a problem, according to Kennedy every season brings about a certain type of trash. Cigarettes are more common in the summer and fall, fishing gear in the winter and balloons in the spring.

"There is never a problem finding trash on the beaches," Kennedy said. But The Blue Ocean Society is trying to make sure that New Hampshire beaches won't get to the point that the 14 beaches in Massachusetts have.