| Jersey shore gets perfect score on preseason test |
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State monitoring system gives ocean water a clean bill of health BY PAT SUMMERS NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM And way up there he'll hear our prayer And show us where there's water — cool, clear water With Memorial Day weekend in sight and thoughts turning to the Jersey shore, there's no better time for the "clean bill of health" accorded this week to ocean water from Barnegat to Cape May Point. It's all good to go, according to DEP's beach monitoring program. This week's preliminary tests were designed to work out the kinks before monitoring begins officially on Monday, May 24, according to a DEP spokesperson. Once a week, water samples are collected at 188 sites along the coast, then laboratory-tested. If a sample tests positive for bacteria called enterococcus, second samples are taken, both at the test site and beaches north and south of it, to determine the extent of the contamination. If that second reading finds high bacteria counts, the state closes the beaches. It's that simple - and as far as beach closings go, relatively uncommon. Typically, one day's contamination is gone by the next day. Rainfall has a lot to do with beach contamination. It moves pollution --- such as pathogens from pet wastes, pesticides, fertilizers, and even raw sewage -- into storm drains and eventually into the ocean. And these days, there's more rain than ever: the state climatologist reports that precipitation (both rain and snowfall) has increased by 5 percent over the last 30 years. New Jersey's monitoring program, in place since 1975, was the model for the EPA's national beach program, says Virginia Lofton, who oversees the state's Cooperative Coastal Monitoring program. DEP not only collects and tests ocean water along New Jersey beaches, but it also sends reconnaissance flights over beaches six times a week. Trouble signs visible from above include marine debris, surface slicks and broken sewer mains. "Developers are loving the shore to death, and beach goers are paying the price," an Environment New Jersey rep remarked last summer. He cited the "run-off pollution from sprawl." Contact with polluted waters can cause diseases and illnesses such as gastroenteritis, nausea, vomiting, dysentery, hepatitis, and ear, nose and throat problems. As is often the case, consequences are worse for children, the elderly, pregnant women and anyone with a weakened immune system. A description of how Avalon's environmental-health specialists collect water samples indicates they're taken in waist deep water about a foot beneath incoming waves -- where children, especially susceptible to bacteria, spend most of their time playing. Besides public health concerns, state officials have another huge reason to ensure clean ocean water: beaches are the primary attraction for New Jersey's tourism economy, which provides hundreds of thousands of jobs and generates billions in economic activity here. For information about beach closings in New Jersey, call the N.J. Dept. of Environmental Protection's beach closure hotline at 1-800-648-SAND (7263) or visit www.njbeaches.org (ocean and bay beaches). |
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