U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th) said he’s frustrated with what he says is a lack of answers regarding staffing levels at Sandy Hook this summer.

“The money was allocated by Congress. The lifeguards are willing to work. They’re not being hired. And people are still paying the fee,” Pallone said. “People go to Sandy Hook and they’re going to swim and they’ll go to a protected beach if they can. But if they can’t, because there’s no lifeguard, then they’re just going to swim anyway. We’ve had drownings. There’s real potential for that to occur.”

Pallone sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior in early June expressing his concern about the “historically low staffing at the Sandy Hook Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area (NRA) at the start of the summer beach season” and asking if the National Park Service can maintain safe lifeguard staffing levels there; Pallone said he never received a response. The recreation area brought in nearly nine million visitors last year, fourth-most among Park Service sites nationwide.

A federal hiring freeze has limited the number of workers the Park Service can bring on.

“The amount of risk that we’re taking by having unguarded beaches this summer is tremendous. It’s unfathomable,” said Lauren Cosgrove, northeast campaign director for the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association.

We asked a spokesperson for the Gateway National Recreation Area for updated numbers of lifeguards working at Sandy Hook and if swimming has been affected there, but did not hear back before our deadline.