In a beach water quality report to be released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Hanama‘ulu Beach County Park tied for 10th place with two Mainland beaches in a list of polluted beaches in the nation that exceed national standards.

“Hanama‘ulu Beach exceeded the national standard by 55 percent,” Kaua‘i biologist Dr. Carl Berg said. “It was found polluted 55 percent of the time it was tested in 2007.”

In the same report, Hawai‘i was ranked 25th in the nation in samples that exceeded the state’s daily maximum bacterial standards in 2007. Kaua‘i had the highest exceedance in 2007 with 21 percent, followed by Honolulu with 10 percent, the Big Island with 9 percent and Maui with 5 percent. Hanama‘ulu Beach and Po‘ipu Beach ranked first and second with 82 percent and 47 percent, respectively, in exceeded state standards.

Samples taken from Hanama‘ulu Beach by state Department of Health officials were tested for enterococcus bacteria. Enterococcus is a bacteria found in the human intestine and a good bacterial indicator for determining human waste in recreational swimming waters.

If sample results exceed 104 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters of beach water sampled, an advisory warning would be issued for the sampling site.

According to the report, Hawai‘i’s enterococcus standards are stricter than federal standards.

In the NRDC report, water at American beaches last year was unsafe for swimming with the second-highest number of beach closing and advisory days ever.

“Some families can’t enjoy their local beaches because they are polluted and kids are getting sick — largely because of human and animal waste in the water,” Nancy Stoner, director of NRDC’s clean water project, said in a statement. “What this report means for families heading to the beach is they need to be careful and do a little homework.”

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(Source: Rachel Gehrlein, Kauai Garden Island News)