Beach water study ranks Horry County as state's worst

South Carolina is ninth in the nation for cleanest beach water, but Horry County has the dirtiest water in the state, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council's 21st annual "Testing the Water" report issued Wednesday.

That report is designed to criticize, said Mark Kruea, Myrtle Beach's spokesman.

"I think the report recognizes some of our improvements, but not all of them," Kruea said. "We test [the water] more than anyone else in the state. If we didn't test, they wouldn't have statistics to criticize."

Of the 63 beaches in S.C., 23 are tested on a regular basis for water quality, and 5 percent of those samples taken exceeded the state's daily maximum bacterial and pollutant standards in 2010, according to the study. The other 40 beaches in the state were not monitored or counted. In 2009, 4 percent of the samples exceeded state standards.

The report cited Horry County beaches as exceeding water pollution standards most often, a phenomenon that could be partly explained by testing in Horry County occurring more often than in other regions. Horry County samples made up 69 percent of those tested in the state last year - including 888 samples in Myrtle Beach last year, while 20 were taken at Huntington Beach State Park.

"I don't think it gives us credit for posting warnings, which we do all the time," Kruea said. "We have been very conscientious."

The report covers more than 3,000 of the nation's beaches. Special "Repeat Offenders" and "Superstar Beaches" lists were also presented in the study, but Horry County didn't make either list.

Looking at the percent of water-monitoring samples that exceeded South Carolina's acceptable bacteria levels, the nonprofit NRDC found the beaches with the highest rates of exceeding standards were:

Myrtle Beach State Park and Campground, 15 percent, the same as last year

Surfside Beach, 11 percent, up 1 percent from last year

Myrtle Beach, 8 percent, up 1 percent from last year

Horry County's 7 percent overall rate was the highest in the state, followed by Colleton County with 5 percent of samples exceeding state standard and Beaufort County with 2 percent. Charleston County measured 1 percent exceeding standards, while there were no problems reported in Georgetown County, which tested twice per month.

Last year, Horry County stood at 6 percent.

Surfside Beach was among those that received a one-star rating out of a possible five for meeting only one of the quality criteria - posting closings and advisories online and at the beach, the report says.

North Myrtle Beach received three stars for its overall water quality last year and in the past three years, plus its timely reporting of beach advisories and closings.

Myrtle Beach received two stars, a one-star upgrade from last year's study.

The report rates the beaches on overall water quality for 2009, water quality for the past three years, how often water quality is tested, how promptly the advisories are issued when needed, and whether an area posts closings and advisories online and at the beach.

The other S.C. beaches that earned three stars are Hilton Head Island, Huntington Beach State Park, Isle of Palms and Fripp Beach. No S.C. beach earned more than three stars. Arcadia Beach in Horry County earned two stars, one for posting its advisories and one for last year's overall water quality.

Surfside Beach Mayor Allen Deaton isn't concerned with his beach's rating, because the town self-reports the water quality.

Deaton said part of the reason his beach exceeds standards 11 percent of the time is because there is a lot of water testing and reporting going on between the city, Coastal Carolina University and the state. The town has invested $6 million in a system of retention ponds, lakes and swashes, and there is increased bacteria after the "first flush" after a storm, he said.

The same is true in Myrtle Beach, which has also spent millions on its stormwater system.

A goose problem last year accounted for much of the bacteria increase in Surfside Beach, but the goose population has diminished, Deaton said.

But what's in the beach water that makes it so polluted? Rainwater runoff from streets and hard surfaces, such as parking lots and rooftops, carries human and animal waste and its bacteria, and metals and chemicals. The report specifically states that people need to pick up after their pets and make sure children wear plastic swim diapers.

When it rains, water is flushed through drainage systems into creeks then into Myrtle Beach swashes and out into the ocean.

"So when people dive into the ocean it can make them sick with a wide array of things," said David Beckman, NRDC water program director.

"This includes pinkeye, colds, infections and other diseases."

Though the research criticizes Horry County, Susan Libes, director of Waccamaw Watershed Academy, cites the study as a learning experience.

Two actions are needed for cleaner water, Libes said, involving resident education and monetary support of community programs that are working on water quality.

To read the whole report, go to www.nrdc.org/beaches.