Vacationers were banned from our region’s most popular beaches this weekend, with some closed to swimming for at least three days. The reason? More than 50 miles of beaches were inundated with medical waste.
The startling development was first discovered before dawn Sunday morning and quickly put our beaches in the national news. A large amount of medical waste was washing ashore from Fenwick Island, Delaware, all the way down to Chincoteague Island, Virginia.
One by one, several mid-Atlantic beaches shut down to the public. Fenwick, Ocean City, Assateague (both the Maryland State Park section and the National Seashore section) and Chincoteague’s beaches all closed. Later, Rehoboth and Dewey beaches, both popular tourist towns, closed their waters to swimming, too.
Assateague Island National Seashore describes the debris that has been washing ashore as “trash with a large component of medical waste, which includes syringes and needles.” They and officials at other beaches, like the Ocean City Beach Patrol, first noticed the waste washing up Sunday morning.
Maryland State Parks announced around noon Sunday that it was “experiencing a significant amount of medical waste washing onshore.” In addition to banning swimming, wading, surfing or other ocean activities, State Parks said visitors should wear shoes and use “an abundance of caution”.
Ocean City, which hosts about 8 million visitors annually, still sees beach tourists in mid-September, on warm and sunny weekends like this one. Sunday marked the end of Ocean City Bikefest, which calls itself the largest motorcycle rally on the East Coast. Any motorcyclists and other tourists hoping to enjoy the beach on Sunday didn’t get the chance.
Meanwhile the Town of Ocean City said in a Facebook post that it is currently monitoring the beach, removing debris, and will continue updating the public. Although the medical waste washing up lessened significantly after Sunday, the town kept the beach closed to swimming through Monday and Tuesday as a precaution.
Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald said that the situation was complicated by the rough seas Ocean City is currently experiencing.
“We will work closely with the Worcester County Health Department and other public health authorities to investigate the source of the medical waste,” Theobald said. “Until we are confident that the situation is under control, we recommend wearing shoes on the beach and avoiding the ocean entirely.”
Assateague Island National Seashore specified, “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,” also including Assateague Island State Park Beach. The area of the island north of the State Park Beach is closed to visitors altogether.
Assateague Island National Seashore’s campgrounds, trails and visitor centers remain open, and the National Seashore says the Bay side is still open for water activities “at least for now”.
The National Seashore says people who were in the water in the days prior to Sunday should have nothing to worry about, since no debris was seen until then. Authorities say there is no way to know how long the closures will be in effect, because it is unknown how much more medical waste is out there or when it will stop coming ashore.
There’s no telling whether this high-profile incident will hurt the mid-Atlantic beaches’ reputations or deter tourists in the weeks to come. Ocean City is set to host the second annual Oceans Calling Music Festival on Sept. 27-29, which brought 45,000 people into town in 2023 for its inaugural year. Room rates, occupancy and revenue all jumped during last year’s festival. The town of Ocean City stands to gain up to $30 million in economic impact during the sold-out show. The town has not announced any changes for festival weekend related to the medical waste.
Of course, the biggest question now is where the medical waste came from and who should be held responsible. Assateague Island National Seashore said Sunday evening, “We currently have no idea where it came from and will not be speculating about a source. Health authorities will be investigating.”
