An environmental group wants North Carolina's coastal water to be cleaner. The Natural Resources Defense Council'snew report on water quality says about three percent of the samples at twelve beaches exceeded bacteria levels set by the EPA. That's better than the national average of eight percent. Jon Devine is an attorney with the NRDC. He says the biggest cause of pollution on the coast is storm water runoff, but there are solutions.
Jon Devine: Investing in smarter, greener infrastructure on land. Things like porous pavement, green roofs, roadside plantings, rain barrels that stop storm-water from getting into the sewers and bringing pollution to the beaches.
Devine says beach goers can find information about water quality at specific beaches at NRDC's web site. He says last year's results are about the same as in 2010.