A Cape May County Health Department sign prohibits swimming in the ocean between the Fifth Street and Seventh Street jetties in Ocean City, NJ, on Thursday, July 30.
The beaches between the Fifth Street and Seventh Street jetties in Ocean City are closed to swimming on Thursday afternoon (July 30).
A backup in a sewage pipe from the public restroom on the boardwalk at Sixth Street led to the possible overflow of a small amount of wastewater into a storm drain on Thursday, according to Ocean City Business Administrator Jim Mallon.
The Cape May County Department of Health closed the nearby beaches to swimming as a precautionary measure until water samples can be collected and tested.
Mallon said work crews installing benches on the boardwalk near the restroom noticed the discharge immediately and shut down the water supply until the pipe was cleared.
The ocean water of the swimming beach south of the Fifth Street jetty and the surfing beach north of the Seventh Street jetty are closed.
The beaches could reopen as early as Friday, if tests reveal no contamination.
All other Ocean City beaches remain open.
