AVALON — All beaches in the borough were re-opened Aug. 30 following two comprehensive beach sweeps.
One was conducted Friday night just before the high tide event, and a second beach sweep was conducted Saturday
morning between the hours of 6am-9am. No additional medical debris was found on the beaches, so all of Avalon’s beaches
were allowed to open for the day.
“We’re taking it one day at a time”, said Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi. “In Avalon, we’ll continue to have the policy of
closing any beach immediately that has evidence of medical waste. Fortunately, we’ve now experienced more than 24 hours
of no waste found on the beaches, and two complete beach sweeps that have turned up nothing”.
Early Friday morning, six pieces of medical waste were found on the beaches during a beach sweep operation. The six
items recovered were different from medical waste that began appearing on the beaches one week ago today. All of the
medical waste recovered is immediately recovered, secured, and taken to the Avalon Police Department for processing as
criminal evidence. On Friday, the entire Avalon beachfront was closed from 10am-Noon so a second beach sweep could
occur. During that time, no additional medical waste was recovered, and beaches south of 32nd Street were opened; beaches
north of 32nd Streets were closed. People were allowed on the dry sand, but they were not permitted east of the high tide
line, into the ocean.
Avalon has experienced four different incidents regarding medical waste coming onto its beaches in the past seven days.
Each time, select beaches where the waste came ashore were closed immediately. All beaches in Avalon south of 32nd Street
have been unaffected by the medical waste problem and have been open continually. During the majority of this event, medical
waste has been found on less than ten percent of Avalon’s entire beachfront.
“We’ll continue to be diligent with the search and recovery effort”, Pagliughi said. “Every evening, and every morning we will
continue to search the beaches to make sure that they are safe. Safety comes first, and Labor Day weekend fun on the beach
will remain second. We want people to know that if an Avalon beach is open, it’s safe and clean”.
There has been no reported human contact nor any reported injuries associated with this medical waste problem on Avalon’s beaches. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office continues to treat this incident as a criminal case, and is the lead investigative authority. The office has also posted a $10,000 reward that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for putting the medical waste into the water. If you have a lead in the case, you’re asked to call 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
If you find any medical waste on an Avalon beach, do not pick it up. Contact a member of the Avalon Beach Patrol immediately or call the Avalon Police Department at (609) 967-3411.
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