Will your beach vacation make you sick this summer? from NRDC 8FEB12

THIS is disgusting, but we can do something about it. At the beach I always worry about sharks in the water, I don't want to have to worry about shit in the water too! Click the link to send your copy of the NRDC's letter to the EPA demanding stricter clean water / beach regulations, the deadline for comments on the EPA proposal is 21 FEB 12.

	Will your beach vacation make you sick this summer? A new EPA proposal would consider acceptable beach water pollution that would let 1 in 28 beachgoers get sick. Imagine if a restaurant served food that made 1 in 28 of its patrons sick. We'd close the place down -- and require it to be cleaned up before re-opening. The EPA's proposal is not progress. It is a public health failure. We must demand better. Millions of us will head to a U.S. beach this summer and get sick. Diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, rashes, eye infections and ear ailments -- we get these illnesses after swimming in water contaminated by sewage spills and polluted runoff. The Environmental Protection Agency had promised to update beach pollution regulations by October. But instead of making improvements, the agency took the lazy route and proposed virtually the same standards it issued in 1986. By the EPA's own account, those standards say it's just fine if 1 in 28 of us get sick when we go to the beach. Children are especially vulnerable, perhaps because they tend to submerge their heads more often and are more likely to swallow water when swimming. Our beautiful beaches are the top vacation destinations in the country. Coastal tourism, which generates substantial revenues for state and local governments, needs clean waterways to survive and thrive. Nothing ruins a day at the beach like diarrhea and vomiting. Stand up for your family's health! Tell the EPA to make America's beaches safer, especially for children. What to do Send a message, before the February 21st comment deadline, urging the EPA to protect our health and strengthen its proposal.

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