Current:Home > ScamsOfficials ban swimming after medical waste washes ashore in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware -ProfitSphere Academy
Officials ban swimming after medical waste washes ashore in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware
View
Date:2025-04-12 23:48:20
OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) — Officials warned people to stay out of the ocean at several beaches in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia after they said medical waste, including hypodermic needles, washed ashore. The source of the waste was under investigation.
Officials banned swimming, wading and surfing at Assateague State Park Sunday morning after Maryland Park Service rangers found several needles and needle caps, feminine hygiene products and cigar tips along the beach, Maryland Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Gregg Bortz said in an email.
A few more needles were found Monday and the ban on swimming in the ocean continued at the park, he said.
There have been no reports of injuries or people encountering these items while swimming, Bortz said. The department was working with other local, state, and federal agencies to determine when it’s safe for people to enter the water.
All of Assateague Island National Seashore’s ocean-facing beaches in Maryland and Virginia were closed to swimming and wading.
Maryland’s Department of Emergency Management raised its state activation level to “partial” in support of the incident.
In Ocean City, Maryland, the beach patrol temporarily banned swimming Sunday after discovering medical waste on town beaches. Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald stressed in a statement that the situation was serious and said town officials were working with the Worcester County Health Department to investigate the source.
“Until we are confident that the situation is under control, we recommend wearing shoes on the beach and avoiding the ocean entirely,” he said.
On Monday afternoon, Theobald said the amount of debris had “significantly decreased.” The town was continuing to monitor the situation, particularly as the next high tide cycles approached Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control advised beachgoers to leave the beaches from the Indian River inlet to Fenwick Island Sunday afternoon and to refrain from swimming after reports of waste washing ashore on nearby Maryland beaches, the agency said in a statement. The department confirmed only minimal waste on Delaware beaches, including plastic caps and a single needle found near Dewey Beach.
“Despite the low level of waste observed, DNREC is taking the situation seriously and advising caution,” the agency said in a statement. The department maintains Delaware’s two state park beaches, but decisions about municipal beaches are up to town officials.
Delaware’s Dewey Beach temporarily barred swimming in the ocean Sunday. In an update Monday, the town said it was continuing to address the issue. Fenwick Island officials closed the beach for swimming Sunday and said in a statement that beaches would be inspected again late Monday and on Tuesday morning before a decision would be made on reopening.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- Squid Game Season 2 Gets Ready for the Games to Begin With New Stars and Details
- Breathing Polluted Air Shortens People’s Lives by an Average of 3 Years, a New Study Finds
- Here's the latest on the NOTAM outage that caused flight delays and cancellations
- California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Elon Musk takes the witness stand to defend his Tesla buyout tweets
- Billion-Dollar Disasters: The Costs, in Lives and Dollars, Have Never Been So High
- Jobs vs prices: the Fed's dueling mandates
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- 3D-printed homes level up with a 2-story house in Houston
Ranking
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Warming Trends: Bugs Get Counted, Meteorologists on Call and Boats That Gather Data in the Hurricane’s Eye
- Forests of the Living Dead
- Tom Brady, Justin Timberlake and More Stars Celebrate Father's Day 2023
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- At buzzy health care business conference, investors fear the bubble will burst
- A Week After the Pacific Northwest Heat Wave, Study Shows it Was ‘Almost Impossible’ Without Global Warming
- Microsoft slashes 10,000 jobs, the latest in a wave of layoffs
Recommendation
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Watch the Moment Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker Revealed They're Expecting
How Capturing Floodwaters Can Reduce Flooding and Combat Drought
As Biden Eyes a Conservation Plan, Activists Fear Low-Income Communities and People of Color Could Be Left Out
NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
Squid Game Season 2 Gets Ready for the Games to Begin With New Stars and Details
Unsolved Mysteries: How Kayla Unbehaun's Abduction Case Ended With Her Mother's Arrest
Google is cutting 12,000 jobs, adding to a series of Big Tech layoffs in January