'Unsafe' Levels of Bacteria Found At 10 NJ Beaches This Week

New Jersey beaches continue to be plagued by problems with bacteria, particularly contamination from fecal matter. This week, 10 New Jersey beaches were found to have "unsafe levels," according to state officials.

Ten beaches at the Jersey Shore tested this week above allowable levels for bacteria found in human and animal feces, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The problems were initially discovered by Monday, with all 10 beaches exceeding the bacteria concentration limit of 104 colony-forming units (cfu) of Enterococci per 100 milliliters of water, according to the DEP.

Advisories were issued at five of the beaches – four at the ocean – that are open to the public, but the problem has cleared up since then. The other five beaches are not open to the public, said Larry Hajna, a DEP spokesman.

Hajna said the problem was caused largely by the rain from the weekend, which caused a lot of stormwater runoff that carries animal waste into the swimming areas.

"Birds congregate a lot," he said. "When they defecate, it carries into the water."

Many of the beaches were barely over the limit for Enterococci, a bacteria found in animal and human waste, so there apparently wasn't enough to close the beaches entirely. One beach that's closed, however, had six times the allowable amount.

Here are the beaches that were under advisory:

• Monmouth Beach, Pavilion Beach, 160 cfu
• Somers Point, New Jersey Avenue, 105 cfu
• North Wildwood, 2nd and JFK, 120 cfu
• North Wildwood, 10th and JFK, 116 cfu
• Wildwood, Montgomery Avenue, 110 cfu

Beaches that are not open that exceeded the limits were:

• Middletown, Thompson Avenue, 160 cfu
• Highlands, Community Center Beach, 670 cfu
• Ocean Gate, Wildwood Avenue, 300 cfu
• Ocean Gate, Angelsea Avenue, 300 cfu
• Upper Township, Beesley’s Point, 120 cfu

University of South Florida photo