Officials reporting the 21st annual State of the Shore survey agree that New Jersey is looking at a good summer. “I’m happy to share that our beaches are ready to go,” said Shawn LaTourette, commissioner at the Department of Environmental Protection. “We continue to experience an exceptional water quality up and down our coastline,” he said Thursday.
Shore towns test water samples from 195 ocean and 25 bay beaches every Monday. “We want to catch that influx of people there on the weekend, so we sample first thing Monday morning and then as long as that sample comes back OK, we don’t sample again until the next Monday,” said DEP beach program manager Sheri Shifren.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th) announced another round of federal funding, about $300,000 for beach monitoring. Pallone also announced Friday that he is co-sponsoring legislation to help towns upgrade their water infrastructure, and to strengthen monitoring standards — like requiring a same-day test turnaround.
For the latest information on beach test results, go to https://njbeaches.org/
