Main Line dentist’s home searched in connection with Jersey Shore medical waste case

Pennsylvania authorities today searched the Main Line home of a dentist who investigators say may be connected to the dumping of syringes and other medical waste on the beaches of eight Jersey Shore towns since Aug. 23.

Working with the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, Montgomery County authorities executed a search warrant on the home of Dr. Thomas William McFarland, of the 300 block of Penn Road in Wynnewood, according to county Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele.

Steele confirmed that the Lower Merion Township home was searched in connection with the dumping of medical waste.

McFarland has a second home that is located near a waterway across the bridge from Avalon. New Jersey authorities refused to say whether that residence, on Channel Road in the Avalon Manor section of Middle Township, had also been searched.

More syringes washed up at the shore today, this time in Cape May. The Victorian-era resort was the eighth Jersey Shore town to discover medical waste on its beaches.

The discovery of three syringes early in the day caused city officials to close some of the resort's most popular beaches - at Queen, Stockton and Grant Streets. By 2 p.m. the sands were reopened after a sweep confirmed that the beaches were again safe.

Beaches in Cape May reopened this afternoon after a thorough search of the shoreline turned up no additional medical waste.

"We got a clean bill of health," said Bruce MacLeod, city manager for the Victorian resort town. "We're back open for business."

Teams scoured three beaches after the high tide began to recede at noon. By 2 p.m. the sands were reopened to sun worshipers, swimmers, and castle builders.

Earlier today the discovery of three syringes on the shores of Cape May caused city leaders to shut down some of the resort's most popular beaches - at Queen, Stockton and Grant Streets.

A strolling beachgoer found the first syringe about 10 a.m. and notified the beach patrol. Lifeguards found two additional hypodermics shortly after, said Bruce MacLeod, interim city manager for Cape May.

Beaches in Atlantic City and Brigantine were open this morning after municipal authorities yesterday declared the shoreline free from medical waste.

The glitzy gaming resort and its more sedate neighbor closed their sands to beachgoers yesterday morning after syringes were found at two locations.

In Atlantic City, a lifeguard found more than 100 unused and wrapped hypodermic needles yesterday morning strewn under the famed Steel Pier. In Brigantine, a beachcomber discovered a syringe, a rubber glove, bandages and gauze pads near the shoreline.

Both beaches were reopened several hours later yesterday.

The incidents are not believed to be related to similar discoveries of syringes at five other Shore points in recent weeks.

Medical waste and other debris first came ashore in Avalon, about 25 miles south of Atlantic City, when 200 syringes were found on a crowded beach Aug. 23, a Saturday at the height of vacation season. The beaches were closed, then were reopened the next day after crews cleaned them up.

State officials have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the person responsible for the medical waste.

Though authorities have received several calls to an anonymous tipline, they have made no arrests.

An investigation by the state environmental crimes bureau, the Cape May County prosecutor's office and the Avalon police is ongoing, official said this morning.

Avalon discovered more medical waste last week, as did Ocean City, Strathmere, Sea Isle City, and Stone Harbor. On Friday, Avalon and Ocean City closed about half their beaches until they could be thoroughly searched and groomed. All were back in business Saturday.

The syringes discovered in Atlantic City were strewn over an area 25-feet long and found less than an hour after an Atlantic City patrol officer found the area clean.

The beach was not closed, Beach Patrol Chief Rod Aluise said, because the items "posed no harm to the public."

"They appeared to be dumped by someone. They did not wash up," he said.

Brigantine officials closed their beaches about 11:30 a.m., four hours after a man taking a walk found a syringe, a rubber glove, bandages and gauze pads near the shoreline. The beaches reopened about 3 p.m., Police Sgt. Jim Bennett said.

The waste was within a two-block stretch at 34th Street, he said. A "medical ID tag of some type" also was found, he said.

Brigantine is on a barrier island just north of Atlantic City, which is on Absecon Island.

Before the recent discoveries in Atlantic City, Cape May and Brigantine, the medical waste was discovered when beaches were heavily manned with beach patrols and summer police. Since Labor Day, staffs have been reduced, making monitoring the shoreline more difficult, officials said.

"We're going to have to do our best to remain as vigilant as we can as this investigation continues," Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi said.

The debris of the last two weeks has brought back unpleasant memories of medical waste along New Jersey beaches in the late 1980s, which inspired strict federal bans on ocean dumping.