The Environmental Protection Agency will grant millions of dollars to numerous states, territories and tribes to protect more than 6,000 American beaches, including those in Louisiana.
Louisiana is expected to be allocated $316,000 to help monitor the water quality of Calcasieu, Cameron, St. Mary, Lafourche, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes’ beaches, according to the EPA website.
The EPA will also launch a website called BEACON, which could be updated every two hours to inform the public of each beach’s pollution testing information and water quality.
“Some of the efforts made to clean up some of the beaches from the BP spill brought a lot of focus and attention to a lot of local and environmental issues on a lot of our country’s beaches,” said Ralph Portier, environmental sciences professor. “$10 million is not much … It will just begin to scratch the surface.”
Coast and Environment Graduate Organization president Ben Branoff said he thinks the BEACON website will be more relevant to states that have more beach activity than Louisiana.
“We don’t have many [beaches], but the ones that we do have need focus,” Portier said.
Louisiana state and local governments will be able to test waters for bacterial contamination from “sewer overflows, untreated stormwater runoff, boating wastes, wildlife and pet waste and malfunctioning septic systems,” according to a news release.
This is the 12th year the EPA has granted money to various beaches, bringing the total amount of grant money to nearly $111 million.
 
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Contact Danielle Kelley at [email protected].