2 Beaches In NJ Under Swim Bans For High Fecal Bacteria

An oceanfront beach and a river beach are under swimming bans late Wednesday, Aug. 19, due to fecal bacteria levels, according to state officials.

Twelve beaches had been under swimming advisories as of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which monitors water quality through its Cooperative Coastal Monitoring Program. But testing updates removed 10 ocean beaches from the advisory list, according to state data.

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Water quality at New Jersey's ocean, river and bay beaches is tested weekly on Mondays.

Beaches are placed under a swimming advisory when the concentration of Enterococci bacteria exceeds 104 colonies per 100 milliliters of water, and the testing is repeated the following day.

Beaches are typically placed under swimming bans when the second test exceeds the 104 colonies level. Testing continues until the level drops into the acceptable range.

Sources of Enterococci in water include stormwater runoff, sewage discharged or dumped from recreational boats, and domestic animal and wildlife waste. Swimming in polluted water can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, runny nose, earaches skin rashes and flu-like symptoms.

The beaches under swimming bans on Wednesday afternoon were:

In Monmouth County, Elberon Beach Club in Long Branch. It had an Enterococci count of 417 colonies after Monday's testing. That number decreased to 217 after Tuesday's follow-up test.

In Ocean County, the Maxson Avenue beach on the Manasquan River in Point Pleasant is under an advisory with a count of 170 colonies. Tuesday's retest (where two samples were taken) came back with one sample reading 10 colonies and one reading 230 colonies.

In Atlantic City the following beaches were under swim advisories after Monday's tests. The retests on Tuesday (results posted Wednesday) resulted in the advisories being lifted:

States Avenue (320 colonies)
Virginia Avenue (235)
Pennsylvania Avenue (265)
North Carolina Avenue (185)
South Carolina Avenue (180)
Missouri Avenue (140)
Mississippi Avenue (200)
Texas Avenue (125)
Iowa Avenue (110)