Newport Clean Beaches Now

The Newport Chapter of Surfrider Foundation has been sampling sites up and down the central Oregon Coast for the last 25 years through our Blue Water Task Force Program. The Nye Beach Pipe outfall has consistently recorded bacteria levels above Oregon Health Authority safety thresholds, including a recent summer reading of more than 10,000 MPN/mL, over 77x the level at which the Oregon Health Authority Issues a Public Health Advisory. Over the last 12 months alone, 71% of our samples at Nye Beach have exceeded water quality standards set by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

We believe that the community deserves to know where this contamination is coming from and what is being done about it. And above all, we believe the community deserves clean water.

Unfortunately, the City has not been responsive to our requests to identify the source of the pollution and take action to stop it. That’s where you come in. We need your voice to demand that the City take action to clean up Newport beaches!

What We Are Asking the City to Do:

Improve Communication

Establish timely communication with Surfrider when our BWTF team reports unusually high bacterial levels, including follow-up testing and investigation. This is particularly critical during the summer and tourism seasons!

Identify the Source

Develop and execute a transparent plan to investigate and identify sources of bacterial contamination. Such a plan should include microbial source-tracking and potentially other indicators and routine infrastructure investigations.

Invest in the Solution

Address identified sources of contamination through infrastructure improvements and other management practices.

Keep the public informed

Improve public signage. More visible warnings at the outfall and a transparent way for the public to track the City’s response and progress.