The other day, my kid asked if we could go to the beach and I said, "sure, but let's go this weekend, since I have to work today." This morning there was an e-mail in my inbox with this subject line, "Hitting the beach this weekend? Think twice."
The e-mail was sent by Madison's Clean Wisconsin environmental advocacy organization and said:
"With temperatures across the state expected to be in the upper 80s and low 90s this weekend, it will be a great time to get out and enjoy Wisconsin's sun and surf. But Wisconsin residents will be heading to some of the dirtiest beaches in the nation, according to a recent report.
"The Natural Resources Defense Council released its 19th annual Testing the Waters report, which compiles data on water quality and beach closings across the nation last week. The report found that 13 percent of beaches in Wisconsin on lakes Michigan and Superior violated public health standards for swimming, which is nearly twice the national average; the report ranked each state based on the percentage of beachwater samples that exceed the national daily standard. Additionally, 37 percent of the state's Great Lakes beaches do not undergo water testing."
"Simply stated," says Melissa Malott, Clean Wisconsin's water program director, "our beaches among the most contaminated in the nation, coming in at 26 out of 30 states ranked.
Great. Just great. Now I'm really into the idea of taking my family out on to the sandy shores of Lake Michigan this weekend.
Milwaukee's South Shore Beach is No. 2 on the list of Top 5 dirtiest beaches in the state. That's quite a distinction. At the top is Wisconsin Point Beach 2 in Douglas County, on Lake Superior. The final three on the list are all on Lake Michigan: Fischer Park and Neshotah Beach in Manitowoc County and Kenosha County's Eichelman Beach.
The last time I put most of my body into Lake Michigan I broke out in hives the following day. I can't guarantee one had anything to do with the other, but it's already made me a bit leery about Lake Michigan water fun. Today's news isn't making it much better.
Got a good inland lake beach to suggest? I'm all ears!!
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
