Summer is almost here, and an environmental advocacy group has given Long Island Sound beaches report cards.
Every year, Save The Sound grades the 197 public and private beaches located along the Long Island Sound. The scores are based on water quality data submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency.
This year, more than 70% of the beaches received an A or B. See the scores here.
Bill Lucey, the organization’s sound keeper, said pollution and water quality can be affected by litter that’s dropped miles away from the shore.
“A lot of the trash in the Sound comes from someone driving down the road miles from the Sound,” Lucey said. “They throw something out the window and wash it down a storm drain. It gets into a stream and eventually ends up on a beach.”
The highest scoring beaches in Connecticut were Noank Dock and Bell Island Beach. The lowest scoring beach in Connecticut was Byram Park Beach in Fairfield.
The top beaches on Long Island were the Creek Beach, the Sound View Beach Association and Orient Beach State Park. The beach with the most trouble on Long Island was Crescent Beach in Glen Cove.
