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Posted: Thursday, June 28th, 2012 8:58 AM HST

Hawaii beach water quality ranked 7th in nation

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — An environmental action group's report says Hawaii's beaches had the seventh cleanest water in the nation last year. According to Natural Resources Defense Council's annual analysis released Wednesday, 4 percent of reported Hawaii beach monitoring samples in 2011 exceeded the state's daily maximum bacterial standards. Hawaii ranked fourth in 2010. The beaches with the highest rates of water contamination are on Kauai, where Hanalei Beach Park's water had the highest rate. The report says the state Department of Health will work to identify sources of fecal indicator bacteria in Nawiliwili and Hanalei bays. Hawaii has nearly 400 public beaches along nearly 300 miles of Pacific Ocean coastline. The state with the best ranking was Delaware, followed by New Hampshire and North Carolina.