It’s summer time and the living is hot, hot, and hot! 
Record temps are hitting the Midwest and East Coast with drought conditions being extended through not only the west but the middle part of the country as well. If you’re like most of us, and have access to a beach, you’re pretty committed to getting to that beach to cool off ASAP. Fortunately, for you the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has just issued their 22nd annual report “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches,” which found that U.S. beaches had “the third-highest number of closing and advisory days in more than two decades” in 2011. Part of their report highlighted the top fifteen worst beaches in 2011. One of them was in my own hometown of Winnetka, IL. The top fifteen beaches had water samples that violated health standards, more than 25 percent of the time for each year from 2007 through 2011. Here are the top 15 American repeat offender beaches as found by the NRDC:
Avalon Beach, Los Angeles County, CA
Doheny State Beach, Orange County, CA
Winnetka Elder Park Beach, Cook County, IL
Constance Beach, Cameron Parish, LA
Gulf Breeze, Cameron Parish, LA
Little Florida Beach, Cameron Parish, LA
Long Beach, Cameron Parish, LA
Rutherford Beach, Cameron Parish, LA
Beachwood Beach West, Ocean County, NJ
Woodlawn Beach, Erie County, NY
Ontario Beach, Monroe County, NY
Euclid State Park, Cuyahoga County, OH
Villa Angela State Park, Cuyahoga County, OH
South Shore Beach, Milwaukee County, WI
Photo Credit: John Vlahakis
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