根據自然資源保護委員會(Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC)7日發布的年度海灘水質報告顯示，2006年許多美國海灘的水質未達安全標準。
報告指出，位於馬里蘭州的黑克斯澎特(Hacks Point)海灘與紐澤西州的畢伍德西灘(Beachwood Beach West)海灘為2006年美國受污染最為嚴重的兩個海灘。於此兩個海灘中所採集到的水質樣本有60%未達大眾健康標準值，海灘遊客因而可能遭受胃病、呼吸疾病、肝炎以及其他嚴重病症的風險。
水質研究者除了引用美國環保署的的最新資料，並且記錄了300個海洋、海灣與大湖海灘超過2萬5000關閉暨健康諮詢日(closing and health advisory days)天數。研究結果發表在NRDC第17屆年報中。
NRDC紐約辦公室發言人萊文(Larry Levine)表示，「紐約試圖抑制污水外溢，因而把重點放在設置大型且昂貴的水槽以及修補其他相關的工程，然而光靠這個是無法解決問題的。例如藉由種植更多路樹、設置綠屋頂與鋪設多孔性路面等綠色方案的結合，可在大雨來時將水保存起來，而非令其造成下水道滿溢，讓污水淹沒我們的休閒水域。
Across the United States, beach water was unsafe for swimming a record number of days in 2006, according to the annual beach water quality report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC.
Maryland's Hacks Point Beach and New Jersey's Beachwood Beach West were the two dirtiest U.S. beaches last year, the report shows. Sixty percent of water samples from each of these beaches violated public health standards, putting beachgoers at risk of stomach and respiratory ailments, hepatitis and other serious health problems.
Using the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, researchers tallied more than 25,000 closing and health advisory days at 3,500 ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches. The results appear in the NRDC's 17th annual report, "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches."
"The city's attempts at containing sewage overflow have been focused on the construction of hugely expensive tanks and other engineering ‘fixes' that alone won't solve the problem," said Larry Levine, an attorney in NRDC's New York office. "By incorporating ‘green' solutions – like more street trees, green roofs, and porous pavement – we can capture stormwater where it falls, instead of letting it overwhelm our sewers, flushing raw sewage directly into our recreational waters."
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
