Bacteria in Our Sand

These days, information flies around so freely that I barely notice something if I only see it once. But I have seen this story in a half a dozen places so it must be a big deal. In short, they have found MRSA bacteria in beach sand on the West Coast.

Let me say that again, they found staph bacteria in beach sand! And this is just any old Staphylococcus bacteria. This is a strain resistant to an anti-biotic that was once only found in hospitals. Read more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_med_germy_beaches I bring this up because my organization, The Surfrider Foundation, sued the US Army Corps of Engineers last year because we wanted sand placed on the beach in Long Branch to be tested for bacteria and other contaminants. We lost. But this was not just any sand, this was sand from a borrow area a few miles from Sea Bright, NJ, very close to the “Mud Dump” where dredge spoils from NY harbor were dumped for decades. Sewage sludge was also dumped a little bit further offshore for years. We maintained that new science showed bacteria could live, even thrive in sand whereas previously it was thought this was not possible. The Army Corps is obligated to take a fresh look at their practices if there is “new information” they need to consider. The judge didn’t think so but this does not mean that we were not right!