OCEAN CITY, MD - Ocean City officials have announced the reopening of the Town’s coastal waters to swimming following days of closure due to medical waste being found ashore.
Ocean City, along with other coastal towns, closed the ocean to swimming on September 16th after medical waste including needles was found on beaches from Delaware to Virginia.
According to the Town, Ocean City Emergency Services and the Worcester County Health Department and Environmental Programs have conducted thorough testing of the water and observed normal results.
High tides and several days of beach sweeping have also resulted in no further waste washing ashore, Town officials say.
“We are confident that it is now safe to reopen the ocean for swimming and surfing,” Ocean City said in a statement Friday. While the source of the waste is still unknown, we will continue to work in coordination with agencies from Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.”
Town officials remind beachgoers of the importance of swimming in front of lifeguards and only when lifeguards are present.
WBOC spoke with Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan. Meehan says Maryland Governor Wes Moore told him during a phone call yesterday that state and federal agencies would be investigating where the waste came from.
"I kind of reiterated to him how important it is for us to find out the source, because this was hopefully a once time occurrence, but it's certainly something you want to make sure doesn't happen again," says Meehan
