BEACHWOOD – The Department of Environmental Protection closed Beachwood’s beach due to elevated contaminants.
The DEP tests many beaches along the shore and will close them if they test at limits higher than 104 colonies of a specific bacteria per 100 milliliters. On Monday, the test came in at 240.
In a situation like this, an advisory is issued for the beach. The water is tested the following day in the same location, and 150 feet in three directions out into the water.
On Tuesday, the three tests came back at 100, 150, and 90 colonies. Since one of them was more than the 104 colony limit for the second day in a row, the beach was closed.
The beach will then be tested every day until numbers are within safe limits.
Generally speaking, bay and river beaches close more frequently because there is less tidal flow. Colonies of bacteria have more time to sit and grow in one place. Stormwater runoff is a major cause of closed beaches, and often times beaches are closed after a heavy rainfall, like we just had.
Beachwood is the only beach closed right now. There are currently two other beaches under advisory, in Barnegat Light and Long Beach Township.
For more information, and to see if your beach is open, visit the DEP’s njbeaches.org.
