Seaside Park Beach Under Swimming Ban Due To Bacteria

SEASIDE PARK, NJ — A bay beach in Seaside Park is under a swimming ban Wednesday after follow-up water tests showed high levels of bacteria, state officials said.

In addition, a swimming advisory remained in place for an oceanfront beach in Lavallette, awaiting results of follow-up testing that was conducted Tuesday.

The oceanfront beach at Trenton Avenue in Lavallette and the bayfront beach at 5th Avenue in Seaside Park both showed bacteria levels exceeding the maximum allowable level of enterococci, a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tract of animals.

Both had levels of 600 colonies per milliliter of water in Monday's samples, far exceeding the maximum of 104 colonies, the state Department of Environmental Protection said.

The follow-up samples taken Tuesday at 5th Avenue in Seaside Park showed 330 colonies per milliliter, the DEP said.

Enterococci are typically not considered harmful to humans, but their presence in the environment may indicate that other disease-causing agents such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoa may also be present, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The advisory at the Trenton Avenue beach in Lavallette is the first there in 10 years.

The 5th Avenue beach in Seaside Park was under an advisory on Aug. 18, after the Aug. 17 test showed 270 colonies. That level dropped to 20 colonies on a retest. That beach has had sporadic advisories over the years, with one significant closure in 2016.

Any initial sample that exceeds the water quality 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 test water samples from beaches on the bays and the ocean every Monday from May through September.

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