An iconic Oregon beach has a dirty secret, environmentalists say: It’s filled with human waste.
A recent lawsuit revealed that stunning Cannon Beach, best known for being featured in the classic ’80s film The Goonies, has harbored feces in its water for years.
The Northwest Environmental Defense Center filed the lawsuit against the City of Cannon Beach in the US District Court of Portland on Monday, saying that high levels of bacteria have made it potentially unsafe for visitors.
The lawsuit cites ‘dangerously high’ levels of E. coli and Enterococcus bacteria, which are the primary indicators of fecal material.
Tests conducted by the Department of Environmental Quality revealed that although some of the waste was traced back to animals, a majority is from humans.
The NEDC alleged that waste has polluted the beach for decades, causing frequent beach closures and putting visitors at risk.
‘City administrators have ignored the problem for too long, and Cannon Beach’s reputation as a pristine family friendly place to visit is at risk,’ NEDC member and Cannon Beach resident Michael Manzulli stated in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that the city’s outdated sewer system has resulted in leakage and waste seeping into public beaches.
A recent lawsuit revealed that stunning Cannon Beach, best known for being featured in the classic ’80s film The Goonies, has harbored feces in its water for years
For decades, fans of the 1985 movie have flocked to the filming location
The cast carried their bikes in a storm in front of Cannon Beach in the film
Manzulli said that since the Pacific Ocean can be cold and dangerous for kids to swim in, they’ll often turn to coastal streams along the beach, not knowing that they are contaminated by human waste.
Cannon Beach features prominently in The Goonies, an 1985 adventure film that opens with shots of Haystack Rock and an exciting car race scene on the Oregon shore. For decades, fans of the movie have flocked to the filming location.
The Department of Environmental Quality has previously warned city officials of the waste problem, releasing a study in September 2024 detailing the ‘higher than anticipated’ presence of human feces.
The department collected 100 samples, with 21 of them having excessive levels of bacteria such as E. coli and Enterococcus.
The study took water samples from numerous beaches across Oregon, with Cannon Beach posing the highest risk for exposure to bacteria.
There is an increased chance of becoming ill from human feces compared to animal waste.
NEDC Executive Director Jonah Sandford said that the lawsuit is the first step in putting pressure on the city to finally solve the problem.
The NEDC said it would be willing to litigate the case in court, but preferred to work with the city to fix the issue.
The Goonies opens with shots of Haystack Rock and an exciting car race scene on the Oregon shore
Ke Huy Quan and Corey Feldman ride bikes alongside Cannon Beach in a scene from The Goonies
A nonprofit environmental organization filed a lawsuit against the City of Cannon Beach saying that high levels of bacteria have made it potentially unsafe for visitors
If action isn’t taken, Cannon Beach could violate the Clean Water Act, which prohibits overflows of sewage or stormwater from polluting waterways.
The lawsuit comes just as the Clean Water Act has come under scrutiny for its broad protections of US waters.
On March 4, the Supreme Court limited the act’s protections when five justices ruled in favor of weakening federal limitations on raw sewage discharge.
The case was brought on by the city of San Francisco against the Environmental Protection Agency for requiring the city to meet water quality standards in the Pacific Ocean.
The Supreme Court ruled that it wasn’t lawful for the EPA to ‘punish’ San Francisco city officials for ‘the end-result water quality of a shared body of water.’
If action isn’t taken, Cannon Beach could violate the Clean Water Act, which prohibits overflows of sewage or stormwater from polluting waterways
Cannon Beach is known for its picturesque views
The EPA also announced on Wednesday that it would be reconsidering which waterways are protected under the act.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said the current definition of the Clean Water Act placed ‘unfair burdens on the American people and drove up the cost of doing business.’
The current discrepancies over the jurisdiction of the EPA and where the Clean Water Act applies could present an obstacle to the NEDC’s lawsuit against Cannon Beach.
DailyMail.com reached out to Cannon Beach’s city manager officials for comment.
