Beaches reopen weekend after medical waste contamination crisis

OCEAN CITY, Md. — Most beaches in Maryland and Delaware will be open this weekend, after needles and other medical waste began washing up in the surf early this week, causing closures in three states. However, finding out where the waste came from and who might be held accountable remains an open question that is leaving some local officials frustrated.

Maryland authorities issued a statement through the Department of Health, saying an investigation remains pending.

“Because the debris has washed ashore over three states, agencies focused first on safety and clean up, and are still working to determine the best course of action as waste is collected and beaches open," the statement said.

On Tuesday, Ocean City Maryland authorities said health officials were looking into the source of the waste.

But six days after the first reports of needles on beaches, no law enforcement agency at any level of state or federal government has confirmed to WUSA9 that a criminal inquiry is underway.

While beaches from Delaware through Maryland will be reopened for the weekend, authorities Friday cautioned that rough surf was a safety issue unrelated to the waste cleanup.

“We have knee-deep restrictions. These restrictions are due to the high rip currents," said Rehoboth Beach Patrol Captain Jeff Giles. 

Giles urged caution in the wake of the medical waste cleanup.  

"It has died down for us, but you don't know if anything is still out there, so we want them to be aware of that.”

State authorities in Delaware say state beaches will be open this weekend, but they continue to urge visitors to wear closed-toed shoes and be cautious about the possibility of medical debris and rough surf.

Officials in Ocean City, Maryland, announced its beaches are cleaned and open for the weekend with the same cautions about surf conditions.

Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland and Virginia also reported limited beach openings.

"We have cleaned and reopened what we call our lifeguarded beaches. So the lifeguarded beaches in both Virginia and Maryland have been reopened as of about 10 o'clock this morning. Unfortunately, there's no swimming because of surf conditions," reported Hugh Hawthorne, the Superintendent of the Assateague Island National Seashore.

Hawthorne said he's hopeful for additional beach openings on Saturday.

"Most of the stuff came in either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday morning. What we're calling medical waste is primarily used needles. Most of them are used diabetic needles.  We also found a large amount of what we would call feminine hygiene products and miscellaneous pieces of plastic, which all seems to be coming in together," Hawthorne said.

"We've seen very little of it since Tuesday morning. I don't think we got any more yesterday, and I don't think we got any more this morning." 

 Hawthorne said items have been collected as possible evidence in a future investigation.

"We have a few, a few items that might be traceable. We are keeping them on hand. Our law enforcement rangers have them. So if we get to that point, we have some evidence," he said.