New Jersey Beach Advisories Persist at Five Shore Locations as Bacteria Levels Stay Elevated

Five specific coastal locations remained under active swimming advisories as of June 21, 2026, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Where the Advisories Stand

The five sites under advisory are Cedar Point Beach and Beachwood Beach West in Ocean County, plus Wildwood and Bay, Baywyn and Bay, and Ferry and Bay in Lower Township, Cape May County, according to the DEP's monitoring dashboard.

All five advisories were triggered by elevated levels of enterococci, bacteria used as a standard proxy for fecal contamination in recreational water. New Jersey's threshold is 104 enterococci colonies per 100 milliliters. Exceed that once, and an advisory goes up. Exceed it on two consecutive samples, and the beach closes.

As of June 21, the DEP dashboard showed no active closures. Meaning none of these sites had failed two back-to-back tests. The advisories signal a warning, not a shutdown.

How We Got Here

The current round traces back to June 16, when water testing found elevated bacteria at three ocean beaches in Monmouth County and six river and bay locations along the Jersey Shore, according to NJ.com. Most of those sites cleared on follow-up testing. The five locations still under advisory did not.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identifies the likely sources of enterococci as wastewater treatment discharges, leaking septic systems, stormwater runoff, sewage from recreational boats, and animal waste. The EPA describes enterococci themselves as "typically not considered harmful to humans." They are flagged as a warning indicator that other disease-causing organisms may be present.

A positive enterococci test does not mean swimmers will get sick. It means the water contains contamination markers that justify caution until cleaner results come back.

The Strongest Counterargument

Critics of aggressive beach advisory systems argue that temporary spikes in bacteria, common after heavy rainfall flushes runoff into coastal waters, are being used to generate alarm that discourages beach use without proportionate public health justification. They point out that enterococci thresholds in the U.S. are among the most conservative in the developed world, and that brief exceedances tied to weather events typically resolve within 24 to 48 hours. Under that view, advisories issued on a single test result (rather than waiting for a second confirmation) effectively penalize beaches for normal weather-driven fluctuations.

New Jersey's two-consecutive-sample rule for closures reflects exactly this concern. The state does not shut beaches on a single data point. Advisories, however, go up immediately, which is where the tension sits. Whether the threshold and advisory trigger are calibrated correctly is an open regulatory debate.

What the Testing System Actually Does

New Jersey's DEP tests recreational bathing beaches regularly in partnership with the state Department of Health and local health officials. The system is designed to be transparent: results feed a public dashboard that anyone can check. The monitoring exists, it's public, and the state publishes the numbers even when they're unflattering.

Fox News covered these advisories against the backdrop of a broader Potomac River sewage spill story and featured commentary from Dr. Marc Siegel on public health risks. That coverage tied the New Jersey advisories to a separate D.C. sewage event. The New Jersey situation stems from routine stormwater and bacterial testing cycles, not a discrete spill event like the Potomac incident.

What Comes Next

The DEP will continue collecting water samples at the five advisory sites. Under New Jersey protocol, advisories lift only when testing shows bacteria levels have returned to acceptable levels. Whether that happens before the full summer travel season hits its peak is the open question. Ocean and Cape May counties are among the most heavily visited shore destinations in the Northeast during late June and July, and the timing of any lingering advisories will determine how much beach access is effectively restricted during peak weeks.