While we spend zillions on security at Mar-a-Lago and shuttling Trump children around the world and leaving Melania's son in private school in Manhattan, the President is cutting money to check if we're all swimming in fecal swamps.
Yes, his budget would eliminate the funding that pays to test the water at our beaches every week for nasty bacteria. Namely, "enterococcus," the sign of fecal contamination - causing maladies from gastrointestinal illness to ugly rashes.
This is the result of raw sewage overflows that are the worst after heavy rain. Last summer, our beaches were either under advisory or closed 134 times for that reason, the Asbury Park Press reports. It was the worst season in five years.
One week of testing found 19 beaches in Monmouth and Ocean counties had water teeming with so much bacteria, it wasn't safe to swim in.
Trump's cuts to beach testing are part of his savage gutting of the Environmental Protection agency, for which Barack Obama had sought to increase funding. But on this particular issue, they are equal offenders. Obama also tried to eliminate the beach monitoring money, but it was always restored by Congress.
Let's hope that happens again. Federal money subsidizes farmers in Iowa and Nebraska, so why not tourism along our coast? Keeping the Shore feces-free is vital for its economy. Yet we only have enough funding to test through this summer. After that, who knows?
Maybe the new test will be accidentally getting a mouthful of sewer water, and falling horribly sick on vacation.
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Yes, his budget would eliminate the funding that pays to test the water at our beaches every week for nasty bacteria. Namely, "enterococcus," the sign of fecal contamination - causing maladies from gastrointestinal illness to ugly rashes.
This is the result of raw sewage overflows that are the worst after heavy rain. Last summer, our beaches were either under advisory or closed 134 times for that reason, the Asbury Park Press reports. It was the worst season in five years.
One week of testing found 19 beaches in Monmouth and Ocean counties had water teeming with so much bacteria, it wasn't safe to swim in.
Trump's cuts to beach testing are part of his savage gutting of the Environmental Protection agency, for which Barack Obama had sought to increase funding. But on this particular issue, they are equal offenders. Obama also tried to eliminate the beach monitoring money, but it was always restored by Congress.
Let's hope that happens again. Federal money subsidizes farmers in Iowa and Nebraska, so why not tourism along our coast? Keeping the Shore feces-free is vital for its economy. Yet we only have enough funding to test through this summer. After that, who knows?
Maybe the new test will be accidentally getting a mouthful of sewer water, and falling horribly sick on vacation.
Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
