Yeah, N.C. beaches!

North Carolina's beaches can boast clean beach waters, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The states' beaches with the cleanest beach-water samples were Delaware, New Hampshire and Virginia, with N.C. and Georgia tying for fourth. South Carolina's came in 19th among the 30 states reviewed. Louisiana came in last.

North Carolina (and Georgia) can boast just 2 percent of her beach-water samples "failing to pass muster," according to McClatchy Newspapers.

Nationwide, the total number of beach-closing days due to water pollution topped 20,000 in 2008 for the fourth straight year.

"Pollution from dirty storm-water runoff and sewage overflows continues to make its way to our beaches," said Nancy Stoner, a water analyst with the environmental group. "From contracting the flu or pink eye to jeopardizing millions of jobs and billions of dollars that rely on clean coasts, there are serious costs to inaction." ...

A third list in the report uses a five-star rating system to assess 200 popular beaches across the country. ...

In North Carolina ... seven of 10 rated beaches get four stars, and none receive fewer than two. ...

New rules to protect coastal waters

New rules by the Environmental Management Commissioner will better protect North Carolina's coastal waters from pollutant-laden stormwater runoff.

The changes are an effort to strengthen a lax pollution-prevention program and keep waters open to shellfishing and swimming, according to the News & Observer.

Existing regulations allow subdivisions and businesses to be built so densely in coastal areas that they overwhelm the land's capacity to filter oil, mud, fertilizer and chemicals washed during heavy rains from roofs, roads and yards. As a result, the acreage of coastal waters closed to shellfishing has increased about 13 percent in the past two decades, state data show.

"It's become more and more apparent coastal stormwater is the biggest contributor to the degradation of water quality, and our rules have been inadequate," said Ernest Larkin, a member of the Environmental Management Commission.

The rule changes for the 20 coastal counties call for new developments to build wider buffers along waterways. The current requirement is 30 feet, and that is increased to 50 feet for new development. Buffers such as grass, shrubs and other vegetation slow runoff. The new rules also require more projects to go through a review process and builders to install well-designed stormwater controls.

"It's a major step forward to protecting coastal waters," said Jim Stephenson, a representative of the N.C. Coastal Federation, an environmental group that has pushed for the changes.

Read the entire article here.