newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

New Jersey ranked second in the nation for fewest beach closings in 2010, but only because the weather resulted in less rain.

Doug O'Malley of Environment New Jersey said New Jersey’s closings were due to runoff from storms. Cynthia Zipf of Clean Ocean Action from Sandy Hook said we were number two because it didn’t rain much.

According to the Courier Post, only two percent of New Jersey water samples were above national standards for swimming water safety, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council study. The state saw 109 beach closings; down 39 percent from 2009.

Length of closings fell at Spring Lake and Sea Girt beaches, where the Daily Record reports that in 2006 the Department of Environmental Protection completed a 300-foot extension of Wreck Pond’s outfall pipe to send rainwater farther out into the ocean. But the nearby beaches still close as a precautionary measure for 24 hours after heavy rains.

According to NJ.com, 25 beach closures in 2010 came from high bacteria levels and 77 were precautionary closings at six beaches in Monmouth County where heavy rainfall raises bacteria levels to unacceptable levels.

The beaches that had the fewest number of closings were in Atlantic and Cape May counties. Beachwood Beach West on the Toms River qualified as the worst beach, and was above acceptable standards in 27 percent of its samples, exceeding daily maximum bacteria levels for the fifth straight year.

A spokeswoman for Ocean County, Donna Flynn, said Beachwood Beach West is dealing with nonpoint source pollution, meaning anything from rainwater runoff to car oil to bird excrement.

New Hampshire came in first in the nation in the NRDC analysis. New Hampshire has 30 miles of sea coast while New Jersey has 127.