A Dubious “Honor” for an Ocean County Beach

Here in Ocean County we're proud of our beaches and the fact that we're not as nasty as some people think New Jersey as a whole is. But, that being said, one Ocean County beach was just singled out as one of the least safe beaches, from a water contamination standpoint, in the country.

The Natural Resources Defense Council just released their report on water quality at American beaches and, embarrassingly, Beachwood Beach West landed on the list as one of the 15 worst "repeat offenders".

Thankfully, New Jersey as a whole ranked 4th, out of the 30 states with monitored beaches, so we still have some of the cleanest beaches in the country, but it's never a good thing to see one of our beaches on the "bad" list.

To check out all the Jersey Shore beaches that the NRDC monitored and how they rated, check out their map here.

Are there any local beaches where you've noticed a particular problem with trash or contamination? Let us know in the comments section below.

[Editor's Note: An image previously attached to this post displayed a photo of a trash covered beach that was not Beachwood Beach West. It has been replaced. We apologize for any confusion.]