SHARON GEKOSKI-KIMMEL / Staff Photographer
On vacation in Loveladies, N.J., from Vermont, Jay Leech (left) and his daughter, Hannah, play lacrosse. For the most part, said one scientist, last year "was a very good year."
- Merlino says family punished for others' mob ties
- Camden County judge seriously hurt in bike accident
- Racism underlies rage at Obama presidency
- Dogs try out for role in "Oliver!"
- 5 area schools win U.S. Blue Ribbon honors
- New Pa. public-records law: lots of requests ... & lawsuits
- Ronnie Polaneczky: Pen to paper: Will Madoff make him rich?
- Drawn by Obama's proximity, activists spar on health care, abortion & other issues
- Ailing woman, 78, spared eviction after PHA's reasoning collapses
- ACORN shows 'pimp' and 'pro' the door here
- Obama in Philly, fundraising for Sen. Arlen Specter
- Blockbuster may shutter 960 stores
- SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore!
RELATED STORIES
2008 N.J. beach closings called 'a fluke'
Suspicions of illegal dumping, and the widespread concern that follows, can really skew environmental statistics.
New Jersey's 260 ocean and bay beaches were closed 208 times last summer, a 46 percent increase over the previous year. But more than half of the closures were attributed to medical waste - some of it deliberately dumped off shore, according to investigators, and discovered on Cape May County beaches.
The summer of 2008 "was a fluke," said Virginia Loftin, a research scientist with the state Department of Environmental Protection. "For the most part, it was a very good year."
Despite the increased number of closings, New Jersey last year showed improvement in beach-water quality, according to an environmental report card issued yesterday. The state was in 10th place among 32 coastal and Great Lakes states, up from 19th in 2007. Delaware ranked first.
Though medical debris is a safety problem, the rankings are based on the presence of bacteria from human and animal waste, explained Nancy Stoner, codirector of the water program for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which issued the 19th annual report card.
The pollution can give swimmers gastrointestinal illnesses, skin rashes, pinkeye, and respiratory infections, as well as more serious conditions such as meningitis and hepatitis.
There were 31 closings in the state based on elevated bacteria levels, according to the report.
New Jersey beaches where test samples exceeded health standards more than 25 percent of the time in 2008 included five in northern Ocean County's back bays and estuaries: Beachwood Beach West in Beachwood, Maxon and River in Point Pleasant, Money Island in Toms River, and Windward Beach in Brick, according to the NRDC.
Beachwood Beach West made the "repeat-offenders list" for surpassing health standards a quarter of the time for three consecutive years.
Heavy rain - known to cause high bacteria and pollution at five beaches - led to 56 precautionary closings, all in Monmouth County. The beach at Kentucky Avenue in Atlantic City was closed preemptively because of a sewage leak.
In August, medical debris suddenly appeared on South Jersey beaches, rekindling memories of the 1980s when sewage spills and medical waste on the Shore made national headlines and threatened the state's tourism economy. Shore towns became hypervigilant in their beach checks, said Scott Wahl, Avalon's public information officer.
"Sweepers said it would be common to find a hypodermic syringe here and there on the beach, discarded carelessly by a diabetic, maybe," Wahl said. "But at the time, you didn't have 100 percent certainty where this stuff was coming from."
So beaches closed quickly - sometimes at 10 a.m., only to open hours later.
"Our mayor said, 'Safety first, suntan second,' " Wahl said.
Thomas McFarland Jr., 60, of Wynnewood, has been charged with dumping dental waste into Townsend's Inlet at the north end of Avalon. The borough is seeking more than $70,000 in restitution for the cost of beach security and cleanup.
Officials haven't been able to estimate the total revenue lost from closures by towns, including Atlantic City, Ocean City, Upper Township, Sea Isle City, Stone Harbor and Cape May.
McFarland, who has pleaded not guilty, is scheduled to appear before Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten tomorrow to determine whether the case is ready to move to trial.
Nationally, the NRDC found that polluted water resulted in more than 20,000 beach closings for a fourth consecutive year. The number of closings dropped 10 percent from 2007, largely because of dry weather in many parts of the country.
"When rain returns, pollution comes back," Stoner said. Stormwater carries residue of fertilizer, pesticides, oil, grease, animal waste and other pollutants. During heavy rains, older or combined sewage treatment plants often release partially or untreated sewage into coastal waters.
As of Monday, this year's rain had caused 59 precautionary closures in the state, more than in all of 2008, Loftin said. All of the closed beaches have been in central and northern New Jersey. Test results showing high bacteria have caused 16 closures of northern Ocean County bay beaches.
The state tests water on Mondays, and information is posted at www.njbeaches.org. Contrary to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, which recommend closures or advisories after one sample, the state requires confirmation one day later with a second sample.
That puts swimmers at risk while results are pending, Stoner said.
"If it's only one test, then it should be Saturday at 6 a.m. and they should give you the results at 10 a.m.," she said. "Otherwise, the information you're getting is out of date."
Loftin said the state and EPA had been piloting one-day rapid testing for three years. State and federal legislation is pending to require the changes.
2008 N.J. Beach Closings
New Jersey ocean and bay beaches were the subject of 208 days of closings and advisories:
120 days, precautionary due to medical waste or trash
56 days, precautionary due to heavy rainfall
1 day, precautionary due to a sewage leak
31 days due to elevated levels of bacteria from unknown sources
SOURCE: Natural Resources Defense Council
Contact staff writer Cynthia Henry at 856-779-3970 or chenry@phillynews.com.
