About 50 Syringes Wash Up on LBI

Updated 7:30 p.m.: According to Larry Hajna, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, about 50 syringes were among the debris that crews cleaned up from the beaches in Long Beach Island today.

An examination of the syringes confirmed they were washed from storm drains, Hajna said.

The syringes were part of a lengthy washup of eel grass and trash along the beaches from Barnegat Light all the way to Ship Bottom, Hajna said.

"This happens from time to time after a heavy rain, like we had on Wednesday," he said earlier in the afternoon.

Beaches, which reportedly were closed while the debris was removed, were expected to reopen Sunday.

Earlier: Crews are headed out to the beaches on Long Beach Island to clean up trash, including used syringes, that has washed up there today, according to the DEP.

Larry Hajna, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, confirmed that debris has washed up on the beaches from Barnegat Light all the way south to Ship Bottom, and that the debris included "some syringes."

"This happens from time to time after a heavy rain, like we had on Wednesday," Hajna said, adding that eel grass was the primary item that washed up.

Local crews were being mobilized to clean up the debris.