Officials have had to close several popular beaches in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia after medical waste washed up on shore.
The medical waste also included hypodermic needles, Fox News reported. Reported on sunday.
“Swimming was prohibited at beaches in Ocean City, Maryland, Fenwick Island, Delaware, and at state and federal beaches on Assateague Island, which straddles Maryland and Virginia,” the news outlet reported.
The City of Ocean City's emergency services team quickly responded to the issue, informing visitors that the beach would be temporarily closed. Officials also urged people to wear shoes on the beach and to stay out of the water while the incident is investigated.
Ocean City and Assateague Island finally reopened to swimmers, WTOP News Reported on friday.
“In a message posted Friday, Joe Theobold, emergency services director for the town of Ocean City, said that after several days of multiple storm surges and beach flooding, 'shoreline waste is no longer occurring,'” he said, adding that tests have shown water levels to be normal,” the article read.
The media outlet noted that the north end of Assateague Island remains closed and may remain closed for longer for the cleanup effort, as officials are still working to determine the source of the waste.
Video footage show Medical waste has been littering Ocean City beaches, and visitors have expressed their concerns to a WTKR reporter.
According to a Fox article, Fenwick Island beaches were closed to swimming and officials urged people to wear shoes to avoid stepping on needles that had washed up on shore.
“As of Thursday, rough seas continued to be a hazard for beachgoers, but officials had not updated the town's social media channels on whether medical waste was still a problem,” the report said.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Define Medical waste as a “subset” of waste generated from places such as hospitals, clinics, veterinary facilities, and laboratories.
“Medical waste is primarily regulated by state environmental health departments. Since the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 (MWTA) expired in 1991, EPA has not had any authority specifically over medical waste,” the EPA said.
“After medical waste washed up on several East Coast beaches in the 1980s, concerns about the potential health hazards of medical waste grew. This prompted Congress to enact the MWTA in 1988,” the report states.
