Swimming Advisories Lifted For 5 River, Bay Beaches Near Toms River

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ — Swimming advisories have been removed for five bay and river beaches in the Toms River area on Wednesday, after a second round of tests found the bacteria counts at acceptable levels, according to state officials.

The state Department of Environmental Protection removed the advisory tags for Brooklyn Beach in Lavallette, Anglesea Beach in Ocean Gate, East Beach Station Avenue in Pine Beach, Hancock Beach in Seaside Heights and 5th Avenue Bayfront in Seaside Park, according to njbeaches.org, where the state publishes beach closure information.

Those five beaches were among 13 that showed high levels of Enterococci bacteria in water testing performed Monday at the sites, the NJDEP said. The sites all exceeded 104 colonies per 100 milliliters of water, the standard used for determining swimming safety.

When a Monday water test shows levels exceeding 104 colonies, the state conducts a second round of tests on Tuesday to see if the high levels are persisting. The retests are taken at two sampling sites at each affected beach, with the results available Wednesday morning.

If levels remain high after Tuesday's tests, the beaches are closed to swimming and the water tested again. Retesting continues until bacteria levels fall below 104 colonies per 100ml.

Here are the bacteria test results for each site:

East Beach Station Avenue in Pine Beach (on the Toms River): Monday, 110; Tuesday, 10 and 50

Anglesea Beach in Ocean Gate (on the Toms River): Monday, 110; Tuesday, less than 10 and 10

Brooklyn Beach in Lavallette (Barnegat Bay): Monday, 320; Tuesday, 100 and 90. Brooklyn Beach was closed for one day in late June 2022 due to bacteria levels, the only closure since 2012.

Hancock Beach in Seaside Heights (Barnegat Bay): Monday, 430; Tuesday, 10 and 10. Hancock Beach was closed once in August 2021 for one day and once in July 2016 for one day due to bacteria levels.

5th Avenue Bayfront in Seaside Park (Barnegat Bay): Monday, 410; Tuesday, 10 and 10. The 5th Avenue beach was closed for the final 10 days of the 2020 season due to bacteria issues.