The temperatures are finally starting to warm up in New York State, which means a lot of Rochesterians are starting to think about their summer plans. Although Rochester isn’t necessarily renowned for being a getaway spot for beach bums, residents are able to get their share of sun and sand by heading to some of the nearby Great Lakes — specifically, Lake Ontario. According to survey respondents, around 70% of international beach-goers like to walk on the shoreline, while 65% enjoy taking a swim. But it doesn’t look as if visitors to the Flower City will be able to revel in either, with all of the litter and spillage throughout the region.

An hour or so away in Buffalo, Nate Drag spends his time picking up trash on nearby beaches like the one at the Erie Basin Marina. As part of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, he knows how polluted these bodies of water really are. He told WXXI Rochester that hundreds of volunteers picked up thousands of pounds of trash from the lakeshore last year. Plastic bags made up a huge portion of the trash.

The world produces and consumes about 600 billion pounds of plastic on an annual basis — and the market is growing about 5% every year. That translates into a lot of plastic bags being thrown on the beach, and because they’re so durable, they’re a problem that’s not going away.

The Great Lakes Alliance is just one of the local organizations that wants to see a reduction in plastic bag use. Some communities in the area want to adopt a plastic bag ban like the one in San Francisco. But certain local laws, like the small fee New York City tried to charge for plastic bag use, have been blocked by ones at the state level.

Subsequently, some businesses are taking matters into their own hands. Rochester’s own Hart’s Grocers offer 10-cent incentives for customers who use reusable bags. But while some customers don’t mind the fees enough to change their habits, opponents of such widespread regulations are concerned these rules could negatively impact low-income shoppers. And more importantly, a lot of consumers just don’t like being told what to do.

Neither do local sewage plants, it seems.

In Monroe County, near-constant problems at the Frank E. Van Lare Wastewater Treatment Plant on Lake Ontario have resulted in at least 75 different violations of their pollution-control permit in the last five-and-a-half years. Back in December, two separate problems led to 10 violations and a discharge of organic material into the lake that had a concentration of 670 higher than the legal limit.

Michael Garland, environmental services director for Monroe County, reflected: “It was a bad month. The plant was very sick.”

But the county has struggled with issues relating to contamination from the plant since 2011. Bacterial growth and inability to remove organism from treated sewage have caused substantial problems.

After keeping a watchful eye on the plant’s ongoing issues for the last several years, the state is finally stepping in. Potentially, the county could face fines or even a legally binding contract that would require a plan to resolve the issues on a strict timeline. If the county and plant were to not abide by these orders, financial penalties would likely ensue.

Brian Smith, associate executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, notes, “While we want to help communities address problems, we must also hold them accountable when problems linger and fail to be addressed.”

The organization has lobbied for stricter enforcement of protective regulations and improved public notification when such events do happen.

Both state and county officials say that the repeated incidents, while unfortunate, most likely didn’t make a substantial impact on Lake Ontario’s water quality. However, plant officials have said they’re baffled about the ongoing problems. While they’ve taken numerous steps to fix them, they actually aren’t even sure whether their newest plan will provide a solution.

Garland said, “We’ve got a ways to go. Our evaluation is still under way. It’s too early to tell.”

That sentiment, while honest, might not inspire confidence for would-be lake swimmers. Rochesterians might be wise to head a bit further out if they want to take a dip this season.