New Jersey

NJ Beach Reopens After Failed Test

Health officials allowed bathers to return to a Jersey Shore beach that was closed after a failed water quality test.

Barnegat Light’s 25th Street Beach on Long Beach Island failed a recent water test, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection's Cooperative Coastal Monitoring Program.

DEP spokesman Larry Hajna said that the closure occurred after a test Tuesday revealed unacceptable levels of Enterococcus. The bacterium is used by the state to indicate the possibility of other bacteria in the water.

Tests on Wednesday revealed an acceptable level of the bacteria at the Ocean County beach and the state reopened the beach in time for the weekend.

Hajna said that it isn't uncommon for bacteria to increase in the water at bayside beaches like the 25th Street Beach following heavy rainstorms -- like Sunday's downpours -- because the water doesn't flush out as quickly as it does on the oceanside.

The same beach recently landed on the Natural Resources Defense Council’s list of the 10 worst beaches in New Jersey when it comes to water quality.

No other beaches in the area were closed and no other beaches in the state failed the water quality standard, according to monitors.

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