13 Jersey Shore Beaches Closed After Needles, Syringes Washed Up

Thirteen beaches at the Jersey Shore closed because of "floating garbage" late Thursday and Friday morning, according the state Department of Environmental Protection. Only now we know what that garbage was.

A large number of needles and syringes washed up on beaches from Long Branch to Loch Arbor, according to the state DEP and the Surfrider Foundation's Jersey Shore chapter. The group warned people not to pick them up.

The state Department of Environmental Protection said beaches were cleaned up and reopened by 10:30 a.m. on Friday. But the Surfrider group continue to warn people during the day, saying, "We are watching the situation closely.

"This is more than flushing toilets," the group said. "Littering, failure of storm drains and the failure of the state/municipalities to eliminate single-use plastics is ruining our beaches!"

The state DEP initially identified "floatables" as the reason for the closures. But spokesman Larry Hajna said the decision to close was made after what he said was a mixture of materials – stuff that gets "washed or flushed into sewer lines" – washed up late Thursday afternoon.

Those items can be anything that "wash off the streets or things that get flushed down the toilet," Hajna said, adding that those items could include diabetic needles, tampon applicators, paper and bottles.

Hajna later acknowledged that syringes were among the items that washed up, saying it was possibly a combined-sewer overflow. Trash and other materials that are carried off the streets get into the combined sewer system and mix with items that people flush down the toilet, he said.

"The syringes are typically those used for diabetes treatment that people flush down the toilet," he said. "When there’s too much stormwater runoff, the systems discharge the combined flow containing these materials from overflow outfalls.

He said the situation appears to be the result of heavy rainfall coupled with currents that had shifted to move south along the northern Monmouth County coastline. These currents typically move from south to north, then head east into the ocean as they hit currents out of Raritan Bay.

"We are currently investigating the possible outfall source or sources," he said.

Surfrider said debris likely came ashore because of currents in recent days heading south of the New York Harbor and winds out of the east.

Crews worked hard to clean the beaches, he said. Hajna said it sounds like municipal crews raked up most, if not all, of the debris on Thursday evening.

The beach-pollution problem isn't new this summer. Last month, one-third of New Jersey's beaches were at risk of closing because of "unsafe" levels of bacteria found in animal and human waste, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Of the 47 beaches at risk of closing, 44 were at the ocean.

Here were the beaches closed as of 8:30 a.m.:

Monmouth

• Allenhurst, Cedar
• Deal, Deal Casino
• Deal, Philips Ave
• Deal, Hathaway Avenue Beach
• Loch Arbour Village, Village Beach Club

Here were the beaches closed as of 7:30 a.m.

Monmouth

• Allenhurst, Cedar
• Deal, Deal Casino
• Deal, Philips Ave
• Deal, Hathaway Avenue Beach
• Loch Arbour, Village Beach Club
• Long Branch, Joline
• Long Branch, North Bath
• Long Branch, Atlantic Ave
• Long Branch, Imperial House
• Long Branch, Ocean Beach Club
• Long Branch, South Bath
• Long Branch, Laird
• Long Branch, Elberon Bch Clb

Syringes and needles appearing on beaches is not a totally uncommon thing. The Jersey Shore dealt with a chronic problem beginning in the late 1980s, and such items have been found in beaches in Florida and Hawaii.

Photos courtesy of Robert Siliato