Sixty state and federal agencies were working Monday to try to contain an onshore wash of medical waste, including hundreds of hypodermic needles and feminine hygiene products, over the weekend along the coastline from Delaware to Virginia, officials say.
Beaches on the Delmarva Peninsula, including Ocean City and Assateague Island, restricted water access Sunday after hypodermic needles and other medical waste washed ashore. Officials in the affected areas, including Fenwick Island in Delaware, Assateague State Park and Assateague Island National Seashore, are recommending beachgoers wear shoes.
Here’s what to know about the medical waste incident.
What happened?
Over the weekend, the debris — a mix of general trash and medical waste, including syringes, wood particles, plastic and feminine hygiene products — washed ashore at beaches, towns and parks along the mid-Atlantic coast.
Hugh Hawthorne, the superintendent of Assateague Island National Seashore, told The Baltimore Sun that 60 agencies, including both state and federal environmental and health departments, as well as the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are involved.
Hawthorne added that if FEMA finds that the spill meets its criteria to be declared a disaster, the agency’s protocol and protections would then kick in.
The park’s 37-mile stretch of beach has seen an amount of waste that counted syringes in the high hundreds, Hawthorne said.
Rangers at Assateague State Park discovered the first items after Sunday morning’s high tide and said the medical waste found was primarily hypodermic needles, as well as needle caps. Staff also found cigarillo tips and used tampon applicators.
Fenwick Island, located just north of Ocean City across the Delaware line, said that the town’s beach was also closed due to medical waste on the shore.
Which areas are affected?
This is a widespread issue affecting areas from Delaware to Virginia, with closures in place along much of the regional coast, said Jessica Waters, a spokesperson for the Town of Ocean City. But thus far, none of the towns or parks affected have identified the source of the influx of waste.
The Assateague Island National Seashore’s Facebook page is maintaining a list of the beaches and ocean sections that have been flagged as containing waste.
How much could it cost to clean up?
That depends on where the waste came from and what agency might be in charge of the removal.
Medical waste has appeared on New Jersey shores due to overwhelmed storm drains, an issue that could take billions of dollars to redo for modern living conditions, John Weber, then the mid-Atlantic regional manager for the Surfrider Foundation, which monitors ocean conditions, told Newsweek at the time.
The Surfrider Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If the waste can be traced back to a specific source, state and federal fines could kick in on top of a cleanup cost, a number that could balloon as the towns and national parks affected get involved, Hawthorne said, though the circumstance of how the debris was released — as an accident or on purpose — would likely affect the size of any legal repercussions.
What happens now?
Hawthorne said that the landowner of the affected area is generally responsible for cleaning it up.
Ocean City Beach Patrol, Public Works and Emergency Services have been actively monitoring the waste washing onshore, Waters said. The city will have its previously scheduled City Council meeting Monday evening.
The waste and medical debris on the beach are considerably less than on Sunday, but the ocean will remain closed to swimming and surfing at this time, according to Waters. Ocean City doesn’t have a time frame for when the closures will be lifted, she said.
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