BEACHWOOD -- Beachwood officials have tried nearly everything to reopen the borough beach to swimming.
Employees here used reflective streamers and flashing lights to scare away geese — and their droppings. They have scoped their sewers with cameras looking for leaks and even hired a sewerage sniffing dog to smell out beach contamination. They have installed aerators to clean contaminants from the water.
But so far, nothing has worked to reduce bacteria counts in this riverfront beach. The situation is a source of nonstop aggravation for elected leaders and administrators here.
Earlier this year, the Borough Council decided to close Beachwood Beach to swimming for the entire upcoming summer season while they continue to explore what can be done to fix the problem.
Despite the announcement, Mayor Williams Cairns said he is not giving up on reopening the beach to swimming in the future. For now, visitors are only permitted on the sand.
"It's very upsetting," Cairns said Monday in his office at Borough Hall. "It's not an easy decision to sit here and go 'Well, we have a bathing beach, but you can't use it.'"
Why is Beachwood Beach closed?
Water quality experts have not identified one single cause for the high bacteria levels along Beachwood Beach, but they suspect it could be a combination of problems. The most common causes of bacteria contamination along beaches are wildlife droppings, leaky sewer systems, or stormwater runoff contaminated with lawn fertilizer or pet droppings.
In Beachwood, another cause is likely contributing to the long-term problem: the beach's cove-like location along the Toms River. This position prevents contaminants from being washed downstream; rather, bacteria and other microbes circulate within the cove and build up to levels unsafe for swimming, a representative of the Ocean County Health Department told the Asbury Park Press last year.
"I have stood down there for 45 minutes just watching the flow of the water," said Cairns, the mayor. "It just seems to eddy in the cove there, and it's not getting that flush out (into the river)."
Why is swimming at Beachwood Beach dangerous?
During the swimming season, health officials test beaches in Ocean County weekly for Enterococci, a type of bacteria commonly found in feces of humans and animals. The bacteria is used as an indicator species, one that suggests that other illness-causing microbes, viruses and pathogens are likely in water as well.
These microbes, in large enough amounts, can cause illness, gastrointestinal cramping, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as ear, nose and throat infections, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are particularly susceptible to getting sick from swimming in contaminated water, according to the agency.
Beachwood Beach is not the only one in the area plagued with frequently high bacteria counts. Other beaches in the region are also susceptible to similar problems, particularly ones along areas of the Barnegat Bay where warm and slow moving summer water provides an easy breeding ground for pathogens.
What has Beachwood tried so far to fix the problem?
The borough mayor said local officials are working with environmental groups and state and county officials to try to reopen the beach for swimming, but so far, their efforts have proven unsuccessful over the long term.
"We're doing everything that we can possibly do to get our beach back open," Cairns said.
Years ago, the borough public works staff moved a stormwater outflow pipe away from the beach, hoping that preventing rain contaminated with yard and road pollution from flowing near the beach would decrease the bacteria counts.
The borough also received a $10,000 grant from Save Barnegat Bay and Clean Ocean Action, two environmental groups focused on improving water quality in the region. Borough staff used the grant for frequent water testing at the beach and to scope Beachwood's sewer lines with cameras to look for leaks that might be contributing to the problem.
T.J. Wrocklage, director of Public Works, said a team with a sewerage sniffing dog came and inspected the beach for possible contamination sources.
Borough employees have also tried to deter Canada geese from lingering at the beach, in hopes of reducing their droppings and improving the local water quality. They tried installing wooden stakes with reflective streamers, specially designed flashing amber lights, fences and fishing wire, hoping at least one of those efforts would scare off the birds or deter them from gathering, Cairns and Wrocklage said.
They have also tried aeration pumps by the beach to improve the water quality, they said. Aeration helps natural processes remove contaminants from water, by helping fish and tadpoles breath so they consume nutrients in stormwater, according to University of Florida researchers.
This year, Beachwood employees will also notify boat owners at the local marina about the county's pump out stations, Cairns said. Their hope is that boat owners use the stations, rather then illegally dumping their sewerage holding tanks into the river.
"I don't blame the residents for being upset (that the beach is closed to swimming)," said the mayor. "But I want them to realize that it's not an easy decision."
It was a decision aimed at protecting their safety, he said.
"We're trying everything," he added. "Our goal is to be able to reopen our beach."
Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 17 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, [email protected] or 732-557-5701.