Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water, the
Natural Resources Defense Council has released its annual beach
quality report and it's not pretty. According to NRDC, a large
number of U.S. seashores continue to suffer from storm water
runoff and sewage pollution that can cause swimmers to become
very ill. The report, Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water
Quality at Vacation Beaches, looks at 2011 data collected from
test results taken at more than 3,000 beaches nationwide. It
examines the pollution factors that affect these U.S. vacation
spots and calls for public efforts to clean up. The report found
that last year the nation's beach waters continued to be
affected by serious contamination and pollutants from human and
animal waste. As a result, America's beaches had the third-
highest number of closings or advisories in the report's
history, with the second-highest number occurring just the year
before. Progress, according to the report, is not being made.
"Our beaches are plagued by a sobering l