Assateague State Park, along with other beaches along the Maryland coast, is experiencing a significant amount of medical waste washing onshore. Access to the ocean will be restricted at this time. No swimming, wading, surfing, or any activities in the ocean are permitted. Visitors to the beach should wear shoes and use an abundance of caution.
UPDATED CLOSURES:
The Chincoteague Public Beach in the Virginia unit has been added to the Closure List. All Ocean Facing Beaches at Assateague Island National Seashore are now closed to swimming or wading due to medical waste coming ashore.
A rundown of current closures:
- North end (all of the island North of Assateague State Park) is closed to all visitor access
- Assateague Island State Park Beach is closed to swimming and wading
- All Oceanside Beaches in Assateague Island National Park are closed to swimming and wading. (This is includes North Beach, Oceanside Camping Beach, South Beach, the beach on the Oversand Vehicle Area and the Chincoteague Beach.
- All Campgrounds, trails, boardwalks, visitor centers, etc. remain open. Bayside remains open for kayaks, canoes and other water activities (at least for now).
Answers to some FAQs:
- 1) The debris is trash with a large component of medical waste, which includes syringes and needles.
- We believe it started to come ashore this morning, so those who were in the water on earlier days should have nothing to worry about.
- We currently have no idea where it came from and will not be speculating about a source. Health authorities will be investigating.
- We do not know how long the closures will be in effect. We do not know how much more material is out there, when it will stop coming ashore, and how long it will take for cleanup.
- For those offering to help, Thank You-at this point we do not know what help would be necessary, but will keep the public advised.
- This is part of a larger area problem-with closure from Fenwick Island to Chincoteague.
Thank you for your patience-Updates will continue as things change or we get more information.
