Swimming Bans In Place At Six Ocean County Beaches

Five Ocean County beaches remain closed to swimming Thursday afternoon after water tests showed high bacteria levels.

The beach at Avon Road in Pine Beach, on the Toms River, was closed Thursday after a retesting of water showed enterococci that exceeded maximum allowable levels, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

The freshwater lakes at Ocean County Park in Lakewood and at Harry Wright Lake in Manchester remain closed as well due to high levels of fecal coliform, the health department said.

And Bamber Lake and Lake Barnegat in Lacey Township, and A. Paul King Park lake in Stafford Township, all freshwater lakes, were added to the list of swimming closures on Thursday, according to the health department.

All of the sites with swimming bans were resampled again on Thursday; results of the retests should be available sometime Friday. The health department says when a swimming ban is implemented, water samples are taken daily until bacteria levels fall to safe levels.

Weekly water tests are conducted on Mondays at saltwater sites and Tuesdays at freshwater swimming beaches.

Heavy rain late last week and through the weekend caused a spike in bacteria levels at bay, river and lake beaches all along the Jersey Shore, with more than 20 affected sites listed Tuesday. But a number of the affected sites were removed from the list Wednesday afternoon after resampling showed bacteria levels had fallen sufficiently to allow swimmers back into the water.

On Thursday, swimming bans that had been in place Wednesday at Station Avenue in Pine Beach and the Beachwood beach, both on the Toms River, were lifted as well.

The maximum allowable level of enterococci, the bacteria tested for in saltwater, is 104 colonies per 100 milliliters of water.

Samples taken at three spots in Beachwood showed levels ranging from 170 to 270, and in Pine Beach the levels ranged from 230 to 280, according to the health department. Those fell to levels of 10 and 20 at Station Road and 50 to 90 at Beachwood, according to Thursday's report.

The Avon Road beach in Pine Beach, resampled Wednesday, had one of those samples show 120 colonies, leading to the closure Thursday. Two other samples taken at the site had readings of 30 and 40.

Six other freshwater beaches had swimming advisories as of Wednesday, according to the health department. Freshwater sites are tested for fecal coliform bacteria, and the maximum allowable level is 200 colonies per 100 ml of water, the state says.

But the advisories for Lake Horicon in Lakehurst; Forest Row Avenue in Lacey; Ocean Township Beach on Waretown lake; and Dudley Park Beach on Cedar Creek in Berkeley were lifted by Thursday afternoon.

Ocean County Park's lake in Lakewood and Harry Wright Lake in Manchester both remain closed to swimming, with fecal coliform levels of more than 1800 to 2500 at Ocean County Park and more 1300 to 2200 at Harry Wright Lake. Those levels had fallen at both lakes Thursday but still far exceeded the maximums.

Bamber Lake in Lacey had a fecal coliform count of 1,480 reported on Wednesday; Thursday's report on three samples showed levels from 1,060 to 1,720. Lake Barnegat in Lacey had levels Thursday from 320 to 580, and the lake at A. Paul King County Park in Stafford had levels from 180 to 240, according to the health department.

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