Will Brick's Windward Beach Reopen To Swimming Friday?

BRICK, NJ — If you were hoping to cool off in the Metedeconk River on Thursday as temperatures climbed into the 80s, you were probably disappointed with the swimming closure at Windward Beach.

The township's beach was closed to swimmers late Wednesday following two successive tests showing high levels of a bacteria found in animal and human waste, the state Department of Environmental Protection said. And unless something changes drastically, swimmers will have to go elsewhere through the weekend to cool off.

The New Jersey State Sanitary Code requires that the concentration of bacteria not exceed 104 colonies of Enterococci bacteria per 100 milliliters of sample, the DEP says. Enterococci is a type of bacteria that is an indicator of possible contamination within bathing waters.

The DEP conducted its weekly water quality tests on Monday and by Monday evening issued advisories for beaches up and down the coast of Enterococci levels exceeding the standard. At Windward Beach, on the Princeton Avenue side of the Metedeconk, the Enterococci levels exceeded 600 colonies per 100 milliliters. Some of the harmful effects of Enterococci are infections that cause fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

In a resampling taken Tuesday and announced Wednesday, that level had fallen only slightly.

Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the DEP, said heavy rains the last two weekends are largely to blame for the issue, as stormwater runoff carries animal waste into the river. In addition to Windward Beach, the East Beach station in Pine Beach remained closed to swimming as well. That beach is on the Toms River.

"These inland beaches just take longer to clear," Hajna said.

The DEP has a website where residents can check the status of swimming closures and advisories: njbeaches.org. The site contains specifics on bacteria readings as well as up-to-date information on advisories — which are issued when a beach water sample exceeds the standard during the first test each week — and closings.

"Any initial sample that exceeds the state standard requires that the local health agency issue a swimming advisory at the bathing beach where the sample was collected. Swimming advisories warn the public of potentially unhealthy water conditions. Additional sampling is conducted until water quality results are again within the standard," the DEP site says.

Closings happen if two consecutive samples collected at a bathing beach exceed the state standard and remain in effect until subsequent sampling indicates bacteria levels have fallen below the maximum allowed level.

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