Beach advisory update – short list

A small number of beaches in Ocean and Monmouth Counties today register bacteria counts high enough to warrant swim advisories or closures. 

The Ocean County Health Department keeps a closure in effect at Harry Wright Lake, high and low beaches, in Manchester. The longstanding closure at the lake in Ocean County Park in Lakewood has been lifted.

A swim advisory stands for the Lincoln Avenue beach in Seaside Heights, based on samples taken Monday.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection lists a closure in Barnegat Light, at 25 Street and the bayfront. An advisory is in place at the bayfront Stockton beach in Long Beach Township.

In Monmouth, a swim advisory is in effrect at the L Street beach in Belmar.

Samples producing enterococcus volume exceeding the state standard of 104 colonies per 100 milliliters trigger a swim advisory and a second set of tests. Closures are enacted wihen two consecutive samples register levels exceeding state standards.

Enterococcus is a bacteria present in animal and human waste. The state standard is the border line at which extended exposure presents a health risk.