Officials said Thomas McFarland, 59, of Wynnewood, admitted dumping waste from his dental practice into Townsends Inlet near his summer getaway in the Avalon Manor section of Middle Township, across the bridge from the resort. The first items made their way to the shoreline Aug. 23 within 12 hours of McFarland's act, authorities said.

But the question that still hangs over the case is why.

Authorities would not discuss a motive. They also said McFarland was not the source of syringes and other materials that have turned up on the beaches of seven more Shore towns. Those cases are still under investigation.

McFarland's lawyer would not comment Friday, and McFarland, who may have checked himself into a medical facility, could not be reached.

No one was at either of McFarland's homes late last week. Calls to his medical office, which he operates out of his Lower Merion Township residence, were answered with a recorded message that said, "Dr. McFarland will not be accepting any appointments or seeing any patients."

The message referred callers to three local dentists who had agreed to take his referrals.

One of them, Daniel McCarel of Ardmore, described McFarland as "likable and conscientious."

"This whole thing is confusing," said McCarel, who was a year ahead of McFarland at Temple University's School of Dentistry.

Another dentist, Francis Lemmer of Narberth, said that if McFarland had been trying to save money by chucking his medical waste over the side of his boat, it was "a knucklehead thing to do." Hazmat disposal for a small private practice costs about $700 a year, Lemmer said.

Several friends and associates said that while they had no idea what motivated McFarland, they knew that he had been under stress because of wife Joanne's battle with cancer.

Most described McFarland, a 1977 dental school graduate, as dedicated and hardworking.

"I just don't understand it," said Ed Bufala, a friend and former neighbor of McFarland's in Avalon Manor. "He's a good guy."

Authorities said McFarland, whose friends call him Tim, had been charged with the unlawful discharge and disposal of medical waste, but they declined to comment on his whereabouts.

Several sources said they had been told that he was undergoing treatment for stress, but that could not be confirmed.

The McFarlands live in the 300 block of Penn Road in Wynnewood, in a neatly maintained two-story stone home valued about $315,000. They also have a home in Avalon Manor, a small bay-island community across from Avalon, one of the most upscale Shore towns in South Jersey.

The couple have no children.

Before last week, the only newsworthy controversy in which the McFarlands played a role was an attempt several years ago by some residents of Avalon Manor to break away from Middle Township and become part of the Borough of Avalon.

McFarland and his wife were among the leaders of a resident group that filed a civil suit seeking the change.

Their legal battle went to the New Jersey Supreme Court, and ended in defeat.

The McFarlands were friendly, outgoing, and active in community affairs, said Bufala, who recounted how he and the dentist routinely cooked pancakes for a Saturday morning fund-raiser at Manor Hall, a community building maintained by the Avalon Manor Association.

"We would cook, and the wives would serve," Bufala said of the $4 breakfast, which included coffee and sausage or bacon.

McFarland also liked to go out boating and fishing on his 1977 Boston Whaler, which he docked behind his house. But he wasn't the best seaman.

"He was a terrible boater," Bufala said, laughing. "Always breaking down or going aground or running out of gas."

It was from that small vessel, authorities said, that the dentist dumped his medical waste - including 300 Accuject-brand dental syringes, cotton swabs, and capsules used to hold dental-filling material - into Townsends Inlet on Aug. 22.

According to authorities, McFarland told police that he had gotten into the boat, headed north along the Intracoastal Waterway, and entered the inlet, a sometimes treacherous area of fast currents. There, just as the sun was setting, he dumped a bag containing the medical debris overboard.

Bufala said he was perplexed by his friend's admission.

"I can't believe it was anything malicious," he said.

Like several others, Bufala suggested that McFarland might be feeling pressure brought on by his wife's medical problems and ongoing chemotherapy.

Other residents of Avalon Manor, even those who looked less favorably on their dentist-neighbor, shared Bufala's puzzlement.

"I can't say I really liked the guy, but I just can't believe he would do something like that," said Sam Wilson, 67, who lives down the street from the McFarlands.

Investigators traced the material back to McFarland through manufacturers' and suppliers' records.

"It doesn't make sense," said Bufala, who has followed the story from his home in Sarasota, Fla.

He recalled how last year the McFarlands had contacted his wife, who was a real estate agent in Cape May County before they moved south.

The McFarlands told her that they were thinking about selling.

"They wanted to get out of Middle Township," he said. "They were looking at houses in Avalon."