Humboldt County's Beaches Test Well In Quality

 
A new report from the natural resources defense council ranks more than thirty-two hundred beaches based on water quality, and the north coast fared well... Newschannel 3's Cameron Cramer breaks down the rankings and finds out why Humboldt County scored the way it did.
Summer surfing season is here, and even though surfers might to be able to spot the waves, they can rest assured knowing that water the waves are composed of is some of the cleanest in the country.
"We are a fairly rural county and we don't have the heavily urbanizedpollutantsyou would see in a place like Los Angeles." Said Environmental Health Specialist Harriet Hill
And speaking of LA, the NRDC report listed Avalon beach as one of it's repeat offenders, for bad water quality, other beaches in California making the bad list were Cabrillo beach and Doheny. Hill thinks the bad rankings are linked to the larger populations...
"They have a lot of parking lots and roads that contribute a lot of oils, pesticides and other contaminates to water ways." Said Hill
Luckily that's not the case here; in fact a report from heal the bay gave five different beaches in Humboldt County excellent grades, and those findings have been confirmed by the environmental services department in the beaches they test.
"Clam beach at the mad river mouth, clam beach at the strawberry creek mouth, luffenholtz beach, Trinidad state beach and Moonstone beach." Said Hill
So the forecast, while not calling for shoulder high barrels, does call for exceptionally clean water.
"Humboldt County, last year, all the beaches we monitored scored an a or a plus grade, meaning that in general our beach water quality is excellent." Said Hill