Medical Waste Hindcast; Long Island, New York

Long Island, New York | 1988-Jul-07

Initial Notification: The summer of 1988 was marked by a number of highly visible incidences of floatable waste stranded along the New York/New Jersey coastline. This debris drew much media coverage and became a focus of political attention. The primary concern of this attention was the inclusion of medical waste, including hypodermic needles, blood vials, and plastic tubing, in the debris washing on shore. In an attempt to determine the origin of this material numerous surveys and studies were undertaken by various agencies at the local, state and Federal levels. USCG district 1.