Authorities have closed access to waters at beaches from Delaware to Virginia’s Eastern Shore due to debris with medical waste washing ashore.
Sunday brought a series of beach closures rolling down the East Coast. The Town of Fenwick Island in Delaware announced swimming closures following reports of medical waste washing ashore from Indian River Inlet to Fenwick Island.
The Town said it was sending out an emergency response team. Closures continued through the early days of this week as debris, “including syringes,” reportedly continued washing ashore.
Also on Sunday, Assateague Island National Shoreline announced “immediate closures” for swimming and wading closures at all beaches in the Maryland district “due to medical waste on the beach.”
Visitors were still allowed to go onto the beach but were advised to keep their shoes on.
In that initial Sept. 15 announcement, park authorities said, “this closure does not yet effect beaches in the Virginia Unit.”
Less than three hours later, authorities announced the Chincoteague Public Beach in the Virginia unit and all ocean facing beaches at Assateague Island National Seashore were closed closed to swimming or wading due medical waste coming ashore.
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In all, the closures Assateague Island National Shoreline announced included:
- North end (all of the island North of Assateague State Park) is closed to all visitor access
- Assateague Island State Park Beach is closed to swimming and wading
- All Oceanside Beaches in Assateague Island National Park are closed to swimming and wading. This includes North Beach, Oceanside Camping Beach, South Beach, the beach on the Oversand Vehicle Area and the Chincoteague Beach.
Park authorities said a large portion of the debris that was washing ashore was medical waste, including syringes and needles.
“We currently have no idea where it came from and will not be speculating about a source. Health authorities will be investigating,” the announcement from park officials stated.
They added, “We do not know how long the closures will be in effect. We do not know how much more material is out there, when it will stop coming ashore, and how long it will take for cleanup.”
As of this morning, Virginia Dept. of Health’s Eastern Shore District announced some areas of the Assateague Island National Seashore remain closed to swimming as it appears the clean-up effort is still underway.
“A response team is working to properly and safely remove the medical waste that has washed up on the beach,” health officials said.
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