Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Pretrial intervention opposed in N.J. dumping case

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. - The Main Line dentist accused of dumping medical waste off the Jersey Shore in August will not be permitted to enter a pretrial intervention program if the state Attorney General's Office has its way.

Thomas McFarland (right), the Main Line dentist who allegedly dumped medical waste off the Jersey Shore, leaves the Cape May County Courthouse after his arraignment on Jan. 15. (Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer)
Thomas McFarland (right), the Main Line dentist who allegedly dumped medical waste off the Jersey Shore, leaves the Cape May County Courthouse after his arraignment on Jan. 15. (Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer)Read more

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. - The Main Line dentist accused of dumping medical waste off the Jersey Shore in August will not be permitted to enter a pretrial intervention program if the state Attorney General's Office has its way.

At a hearing yesterday in state Superior Court in Cape May County, Deputy Attorney General Edward Bonanno declined to give specific reasons why his office opposed allowing Thomas McFarland, 59, of Wynnewood, into the program for first-time offenders.

McFarland pleaded not guilty in January to two charges that he threw 300 used syringes and other waste from his Boston Whaler boat into Townsends Inlet between Sea Isle City and Avalon.

After that arraignment, Bonanno said McFarland's alleged actions had had a "devastating impact" on one of the state's "greatest natural resources."

Medical waste began to wash up on Avalon beaches Aug. 22.

Similar discoveries soon were made from Atlantic City to Cape May, leading to beach closures up and down the Shore in the high-tourism period leading to the Labor Day weekend.

McFarland owns a summer home in the Avalon Manor section of Middle Township.

Although he allegedly confessed to police in September, by pleading not guilty McFarland became eligible to apply for the pretrial intervention program.

Under the program, he could have his sentence reduced and his record wiped clean if he made the prescribed restitution.

Participants often are permitted to live at home. They are put on a supervised plan that may include community service, monetary restitution, and mandatory psychological and/or drug and alcohol treatment.

If the case goes to trial and he is found guilty, McFarland could face up to five years in prison on each count and up to $125,000 in fines.

McFarland's lawyer, Joseph Rodgers, said his client was being treated for clinical depression brought on by his wife's cancer diagnosis before the dumping. Rodgers said he believed prosecutors objected to his client's entering the program because of the dumping's impact on the Shore.

McFarland will return to court in May, when a judge is to decide his eligibility for the program.

Lawmakers in the Assembly this week passed measures that would suspend the license of any medical professional who improperly disposed of waste from his or her practice. Fines would be increased to $100,000 a day for polluting the water and ocean.

"This medical waste affected business and tourists throughout the region and cost taxpayers to clean up," Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D., Cape May), who sponsored one of the bills, said in a statement yesterday.

"Our shore is the lifeblood of New Jersey tourism," he said. "Irresponsible actions have a ripple effect through our already soft economy and must be punished severely."

The dumping measures require Senate approval before Gov. Corzine can sign them into law.