So-so day at the beach

Area's shoreline cleaner, but still has a way to go

Water quality warnings have been issued seven times this year at Wollaston Beach in Quincy.
(Globe Staff Photo / David L. Ryan )

On a recent afternoon, Ursula Giroux and her parents stretched out between clumps of seaweed, discarded plastic cups, rusted bottle caps, abandoned cutlery, and other refuse left on Revere Beach. A few days before, they had found a syringe in the sand, and the water, they said, sometimes has an odd oily sheen to it.

Despite her surroundings, Giroux offered a relatively upbeat assessment: "I'm here every day, and I can say there has definitely been an improvement."

Many beachgoers and state officials agree: The state's shoreline has gotten cleaner, but it still has a long way to go.

A year after a landmark report by the Metropolitan Beaches Commission warned that Massachusetts was squandering the 14 public beaches that stretch from Lynn to Hull, state officials have embarked on a major effort to clean up the 15 miles of sand and rock along the coast.

With an additional $3 million from lawmakers, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation has hired scores of beach managers and maintenance workers, bought a host of new equipment, and introduced new programming to lure back those long turned off by the beaches.

But a Globe review of local beaches found some still strewn with trash and sunbathers who remain hesitant about walking barefoot or entering the water. Over the past week, at least six of the beaches were unswimmable because of bacteria in the water.

Rick Sullivan, commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, described the beaches as "absolutely cleaner" than they were last year. He noted the department has hired 58 new employees to oversee the area's beaches and plans to hire six more in coming weeks. The new equipment includes two beach sanitizers, which cost $100,000 apiece, two five-ton trucks for beach maintenance and hauling debris, six half-ton trucks to help empty trash barrels, five pickup trucks, a rebuilt trash compacter truck, two storage sheds, 33 trash barrels with covers, 20 solar-powered trash cans, 24 cigarette disposers, six plastic mitt dispensers to clean up after dogs, and more.

He said the department has also made an effort to improve transparency by posting maintenance schedules about when beaches are sanitized, bathhouses cleaned, and grass cut. The sanitizers rake, filter, and aerate the sand.

"The conditions of the beaches have improved greatly," Sullivan said, adding that they were cleaned and prepped for the season in April, compared with June last year. "But are you ever satisfied? No. Obviously, we can't take our eyes off the ball."

The water has also become cleaner over the past 20 years, because of a massive multibillion-dollar effort that has sharply reduced the amount of sewage and storm-water runoff that gets flushed into the bay. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, which tests coastal waters throughout the area, says the beaches in Boston Harbor are now cleared for swimming more than 90 percent of the time.

"Before it would be if you fell in the water, you would have to go to the hospital; we're going to be able to swim at nearly every beach anytime," said Frederick A. Laskey, the authority's executive director. "It's one of the greatest urban cleanups in the country."

But in just the past week state beaches from Quincy to Newburyport flew red flags, indicating it was too dangerous to swim. Kings Beach in Lynn has fared the worst, with swimming warnings issued 10 times so far this year. Warnings have been issued seven times at both Tenean Beach in Dorchester and Wollaston Beach in Quincy.

On the day after a rainstorm last week, a red flag flew from a lifeguard station at Constitution Beach in East Boston, suggesting sewage and runoff from the city's drainage system had contaminated the waters off the well-groomed beach. There have been four warnings issued at the beach so far this year. Despite the bacteria, lifeguards watched as some beachgoers waded into the water. "They're in there at their own risk," said Jonathan Rodriguez, 19, who's in his third year as a lifeguard. It takes about 24 hours for the tides to flush the bacteria out to sea.

Last year's Metropolitan Beaches Commission report called public safety at Constitution Beach a "major concern," maintenance "poor," the noise and pollution from Logan "unbearable," and noted that "trash and dog waste litter the beach."

But this year, residents said, there is an increased presence by police and more beach personnel, new bathhouses, playgrounds, and concession stands. The beach is sanitized once a week.

"We used to worry about creeps, but it just feels safer now," said Lynndsay Holden, 16, who lives in the neighborhood and has come to the beach for years. But she refuses to swim in the water. "I'm not going there."

On a recent morning, Nahant Beach was already littered with cigarette butts and coffee stirrers, soon after being groomed by a machine designed to pick up such small pieces of trash. Corinne Harutunian said she appreciated recent upgrades such as the new bathhouse, the lack of a festering algae smell, no barrels overflowing with trash - but she still wanted no part of the water, which was all but empty of swimmers.

"I'd have to be really hot to go in, and then maybe I'd only put my feet in," said Harutunian, 57, of Melrose. "I'm not going to take any chances. I'd rather just look."

Stephen Cyr, one of the new beach supervisors hired by the state, said beachgoers shouldn't be afraid of the water off Nahant, noting state officials test it every week. "It's not toxic," he said.

While the beach has come a long way, he and other beach supervisors noted the problem remains that too many people refuse to clean up after themselves. "I'm shocked at how many people disrespect the resources," Cyr said. "They leave anything they don't feel like carrying."

The key to keeping the beaches clean and safe is persuading local residents to invest in them, said Bruce Berman of the nonprofit Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, a longtime critic of state officials who oversee the beaches.

He said Save the Harbor has helped raise $70,000 for "beach friend" groups and to promote events such as kite festivals, concerts, sand castle competitions, art exhibits, and other activities.

"What we're seeing is a sea change on the beaches," Berman said. "We're hoping for more programming and additional staff next year, but we are seeing dramatic improvements this year."

At Revere Beach, where on the busiest days more than 20,000 people crowd the 3 miles of densely packed sand, state officials have tripled the amount of sand raking from last year. The beach is now sanitized once every four days.

Peter Luongo, the beach's new supervisor, pointed to the new trees, refurbished boardwalk, newly planted sea grass, and new lighting as evidence of the resurgence.

"Is everything perfect? No," Luongo said. "But we're doing a better job. We're striving for an A, but we're at a B. Last year, we were between a D and a C."

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com