Atlantic County Beach May Close From High Bacteria Levels

A beach in Atlantic County is under a water quality advisory because of high bacteria levels. The 26^th Avenue Beach in Longport is still open to swimmers, but will be closed if a second test also exceeds water quality standards. Three beaches in Cape May County were recently put under an advisory because of high levels of fecal bacteria. Further tests showed the bacteria had dissipated before the beaches had to be closed.

“It’s the middle of summer, and another beach may have to close because of too much pollution. The 26^th Avenue beach in Longport is under an advisory for high bacteria levels. We can expect more beach closures and advisories will be soon be coming. We also need to update our water testing methods to make sure that we are finding all the beaches with dangerous pollution. We’ve had more than 100 beach closures due to pollution over the last 4 years, and nearly 400 advisories. This is because of DEP’s failed policies to protect our coasts and bays from pollution. We’ve had bigger problems in our lakes so far this year, but the threats are the same along the shore. This is what happens when we roll back environmental protections and fail to control overdevelopment and stormwater, and update our outdated water infrastructure,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Beach closures because of contaminated water have become increasingly common along the Jersey Shore in recent years. Between 2014 and 2018 there were 100 beach closures and 370 swimming advisories because of high bacterial levels and other pollution. No ocean beaches are currently closed.

“The problems in Longport are a symptom of much larger problems with our waterways. Protecting our coasts and lakes includes making sure our water is safe to swim in. When it rains, it pours sewage and polluted runoff into our water. Last summer we saw dozens of shore beaches that were closed or under advisory because of high fecal bacteria. This impacts public health and also hurts tourism. These beaches were closed because of the failure of New Jersey to protect our bays and coast from chronic pollution. We need at least $14 billion just to fix our combined sewer overflow systems and billions more to fix our water systems that are outdated and breaking,” said Tittel.

New Jersey beaches continue to exceed national standards for bacteria from human and animal waste at higher levels. Testing is only done one day per week, and not after it rains.  Weekends attract the most beachgoers and water testing is done on Mondays. This results in five days of untested water before most people get to the beach, leaving the highest number of swimmers vulnerable to unsafe water. There is technology to test water quality within a few hours, which the DEP needs to invest in to protect public health and our economy.

“There may be even more beaches that need to be closed or be under advisory that we don’t know about because of how New Jersey tests our water. Half our beaches do not get tested and the ones that do only get tested on Monday. So if it rains on Friday people could be swimming in polluted water not knowing until testing is done. That needs to be changed. It takes days in New Jersey to get test results yet there is technology out there that will get results in a few hours, which is what we should have. By not testing enough and not using the best technology we put people at risk and could chase away our tourism putting our economy at risk as well,” said Tittel.

While ocean beaches have remained opened, swimming areas in several NJ lakes in recent weeks have been shut down. Beaches at Lake Hopatcong, Greenwood Lake, Spruce Run and other lakes have been closed because of Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB). People have been warned not to have any contact with the water where the algae blooms are present.

“Closing the Longport beach would eliminate yet another swimming area in New Jersey. People are running out of places to swim. Our lakes are being shut down for algae blooms for many of the same reasons that our coastal beaches are more polluted. DEP has failed to implement the Clean Water Act and control overdevelopment and stormwater runoff. Nutrients from septics and agricultural uses are pouring into our water. Cilmate change will bring warmer temperatures and more rain that will only make the pollution worse,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Our beaches are going to continue closing in more places and more frequently because of increasing pollution.”