Which SC beach is the safest with the least pollution? The most unsafe? Take a look

Last year, Environment America, a federation of environmental advocacy organizations, ranked the most unsafe beaches in the country based on tests run in 2020.

That year, a total of 23 beaches were tested for fecal indicator bacteria in the state of South Carolina.

Out of four tested counties in South Carolina, the average percentage of potentially unsafe days in South Carolina by county in 2020 ranked Beaufort County as the second safest.

The four South Carolina counties that were tested were Horry, Charleston, Beaufort and Georgetown counties.

The scoring left Beaufort County with a 12% average number of days with potentially unsafe water for beaches in the county.

Comparatively, Horry County, which contains Myrtle Beach, scored a 34% average for potentially unsafe water for beach days.

Not a title to brag about, South Carolina’s own Myrtle Beach scored number one in the state for the most potentially unsafe swimming days in 2020. The testing conducted in Myrtle Beach resulted in potentially unsafe water 84% of the days tested. This average was a result of 70 potentially unsafe days out of 82 testing days.

Contrarily, North Myrtle Beach scored considerably better than its slightly southern counterpart, coming in at 34%, indicating 29 potentially unsafe days out of 87 testing days.

“While we were not able to pinpoint pollution sources for any particular beach, sewage overflows, stormwater runoff, and manure from factory farms, all contain fecal bacteria,” said John Rumpler, the clean water program director at Environment America.

Hilton Head Island tied for the safest number of days along with Isle of Palms and Seabrook Island, both in Charleston County, with a 20% indicator of potentially unsafe days. This comes from two potentially unsafe days out of 10 testing days.

This comes as no surprise as in 2019, Environment America ranked Beaufort County as a clean beach area yet again. In the study, 28 beaches in Beaufort County were tested, and only seven of those had even one “potentially unsafe” day, the report said.

Each beach in the county was tested for 10 or 11 days. Four of the seven beaches were on Hilton Head Island; two were on Harbor Island; one was on Hunting Island, according to a previous Island Packet report.

As for the 2020 report released last year, Myrtle Beach’s reported 84% of potentially unsafe days was one of the biggest percentages in the study, but not the highest overall in the U.S.

Cole Park in Nueces County, Texas scored a 91% average of potentially unsafe days, being broken down by 62 potentially unsafe days in 2020 out of 68 testing days.

Nye Beach in Lincoln County, Oregon scored a 90% average with nine potentially unsafe days out of 10 different testing days.