Medical waste, including syringe and vial of blood, found in Delaware River

Maggie Kent Image
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Medical waste found in Delaware River
Medical waste found in Delaware River. Maggie Kent reports during Action News at 4:30pm on September 9, 2019.

NATIONAL PARK, N.J. (WPVI) -- Mel Cramer comes to the shores of National Park, New Jersey for the occasional catfish and the view.

"I just enjoy sitting here watching the boats go by, the airplanes. It's relaxing," Cramer said.

He's also spotted several other items.

"I've seen syringes once in a while floating by," said Cramer.

Boe Giansanti has seen it, too.

"I turned around and there it was in the water," Giansanti said.

Last week, the employee of DHY Motorsports was testing out repaired jet skis when he found what he believes is dumped medical waste including a syringe and a vial of blood.

"I was sitting on the dock and I look over my shoulder and there's a vial of blood and a needle floating in the water next to us," said Giansanti.

Giansanti took photos of the vial and syringe and shared them with the Divers Against Marine Pollution Facebook page.

It's run by a 13-year-old girl, Zoe DeAngelis, who is an avid diver and budding environmentalist.

"Those pictures had us concerned," said DeAngelis.

She shared the photos of the discarded medical waste on her page along with a call to action.

"It's just crazy because I know so many people like to bring their kids and dogs here to run around and play, but they can't really do that with all the trash," said DeAngelis.

Now, DeAngelis and her mom plan to confront the township to clean the biohazards from the shoreline.

They also plan to organize their own trash pickup, clearing out items which are safe to touch.

"If everyone picks up something once in a while, eventually everything will be fine," said DeAngelis.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said it's been notified of the photos of medical waste in the Delaware River, but cannot confirm where it came from or if there was an issue of dumping.