By the Numbers: Beach Water Quality in New Jersey

By Tom Johnson (courtesy of NJ Spotlight)

245: Closing and advisory days for New Jersey beacheslast year, up 87 percent from 131 in 2011. A big factor in the jump was Long Beach Island’s health officer closing 103 beaches for one day due to floating debris.

4 percent: New Jersey beach water samples violating national health standards in 2012, a small bump from 3 percent the previous year. At 7 percent, Ocean County had the highest number of failures; Cape May was the lowest with only 2 percent. Atlantic and Monmouth counties tied with 3 percent failed samples.

25 percent: Total number of samples in violation of national standards at Beachwood Beach in Ocean County since the National Resources Defense Council began monitoring water quality in 2005. Last year, Beachwood racked up the highest number of violations in the state at 35 percent.

69 percent: Preemptive beach closings last year. The good news: no extended or permanent beach closings occurred in 2012.

Read more at NJSpotlight.com

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