Dentist Accused Of Dumping Waste On Beach

Pennsylvania Dentist Charged With Dumping Needles, Other Materials Along Jersey Shore

(AP)  A Pennsylvania dentist has been charged with the Jersey Shore's most serious beach-dumping case in two decades, medical waste that sullied the coast in a popular area and forced beach closures at the height of vacation season.

Authorities said Friday that Thomas McFarland took his motorboat to Townsend Inlet near Avalon on Aug. 22 and dumped a bag full of some 300 dental-type needles, along with 180 cotton swabs and other materials from his Wynnewood, Pa., medical office. According to police affidavits, McFarland admitted tossing the material from his boat.

McFarland, 59, is charged with unlawfully discharging a pollutant and unlawful disposal of regulated medical waste. Each charge carries a maximum prison term of five years. Fines could total $125,000 if he is convicted on both counts.

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said a complaint was served on his lawyer Friday. Milgram said authorities know where McFarland is, but would not disclose his location.

Phone messages left at McFarland's Pennsylvania and Jersey Shore homes were not returned on Friday. An assistant to his lawyer, Joseph Rodgers, said Rodgers would not discuss the case. A man on the property Friday at McFarland's New Jersey house declined to answer questions and told an AP reporter to go away.

Milgram would not say whether McFarland, who turned himself in to Avalon police on Tuesday, explained why he dumped the materials.

Needles and other medical materials began washing up Aug. 22 on the northernmost beaches of Avalon. The upscale resort town about 25 miles south of Atlantic City was recently named by National Geographic Adventure magazine as one of the nation's 10 best places to live, work and play.

The debris forced beach closings in Avalon throughout the week leading up to Labor Day weekend. In all, more than 200 syringes were picked up.

"Many people at the Jersey Shore could not enjoy one of the state's most precious natural resources, the ocean," Milgram said.

The washup was the most serious since the late 1980s, when thousands of beach-going days were lost because of waste washing ashore. That problem prompted a ban on trash dumping off the New Jersey coast. New Jersey has 127 miles of bathing beaches on the Atlantic Ocean, which comprise a large part of its $35 billion tourism industry.

The state's environmental crimes unit dug into this case and publicized that it would be able to use serial numbers on the needles to trace them back to their source. A $10,000 reward was also offered.

Milgram said investigators had narrowed down the source of the needles to a handful of offices, including McFarland's, before he showed up at the Avalon police station on Tuesday and confessed.

McFarland has been licensed as a dentist in Pennsylvania since 1977 and was in good standing.

[usclimey]

WHERE DO YOU PEOPLE THINK THE US NAVY PUTS THE WASTE OF 1500 MEN OPERATING A NUCLEAR SUB AT SEA FOR WEEKS

Posted by tootall10142

I doubt they have 150 men on the biggest boomer.

[usclimey]

God, I''''m good. A regular Solomon. I shoulda run for president, on the Grumpy Ol'''' Desert Cat From The Remote Utah Desert ticket ... heh.

Posted by Gatofeo

Until last week, it seems you had just as much chance as anyone else in the country of getting the Veep nod from the GOPigs!!!

[tootall10142]

WHERE DO YOU PEOPLE THINK THE US NAVY PUTS THE WASTE OF 1500 MEN OPERATING A NUCLEAR SUB AT SEA FOR WEEKS


OK- YOU HAVE 1500 MEN OPERATING A NUCLEAR SUB OUT TO SEA TWO WEEK RORTATIONS. EACH MAN OR PERSON DISPOSES OF AVG. THREE POUNDS OF WASTE PER DAY. THATS 31,500 LBS PER WEEK . WHERE DO YOU THINK IT GOES?THE NEXT TIME YOUR AT THE BEACH WITH YOUR KIDS WADING IN DILUTED WASTE THEN YOUR CHILD TURNS SICK 24 TO 72 HOURS LATER DOES IT DAWN ON YOU THAT THEY MAY HAVE GOTTEN SICK ON THE BEACH OF YOUR upscale RESORT BEACH?

You*re right, more than likely he could pay any fine, but time, now that*s something you can*t assign a price to. How about community service, by cleaning the beaches for 2000 [thats 1 year at 40 hrs for 50 wks] to 5000 hours?

[minnick8-2009]

I have spent Thousands at the dentists office for my family. The idea of this guy disposing medical waste like this is disgusting. I hope he looses his license to practice.

Posted by deacon20081

I agree. It is disgusting. The dentist must be losing his mind to think he could get away with this. Anyone that far gone shouldn''t be practicing medicine. I wonder if he re-uses needles from one patient to the next to save money?

To Posted by Gatofeo

I''m from Utah too:

I shoulda run for president, on the Grumpy Ol'''' Desert Cat From The Remote Utah Desert ticket ... heh.

[gatofeo]

"... some 300 dental-type needles, along with 180 cotton swabs and other materials ... Jersey Shore''s most serious beach-dumping case in two decades ..."

This is the worst dumping in two decades? 300 needles and 180 cotton swabs?
Wow.
Apparently, the Jersey Shore has really been cleaned.
I''m not making light of it -- and I believe they should hang the rigging on this dentist -- but I''m surprised that this is the worst in two decades.
Obviously, New Jersey has really cracked down on beach dumping. Good for it.
Fines won''t hurt this guy much. If he owns two homes he almost certainly has money stashed away in other investments or offhshore banking.
I propose that he be sentenced to offer free dentistry to the poor, with the cost coming out of his own pocket, rather than as fines.
Fines just go into the state''s kitty, where the money gets spent -- and often squandered -- on other things.
Put his expertise to use.
Or sentence him to fund a struggling dentistry student''s tuition, books, room and board until that student graduates.
But no slackers! The student must show real and measured progress in his studies!

God, I''m good. A regular Solomon. I shoulda run for president, on the Grumpy Ol'' Desert Cat From The Remote Utah Desert ticket ... heh.

[feddupp]

What on Earth was this man THINKING?? Don''t they have ways to dispose of "medical waste" without him doing this thoughtless act? What? Would it have COST him a FEW DOLLARS to dispose of properly??

Also, did he think he wouldn''t get caught??

I hope he gets his license taken away and is BANNED from all beaches for life!

[airboatboy]

The Jersey Shore? He was just addin'' to the ambiance.

[deacon20081]

I have spent Thousands at the dentists office for my family. The idea of this guy disposing medical waste like this is disgusting. I hope he looses his license to practice.