Raw sewage forces closure of Jersey shore beach

Officials say sewage overflow contaminated a New Jersey beach's water with unsafe levels of bacteria, forcing its closure.

According to test results released Wednesday, bacteria counts at the L Street Beach in Belmar came in well over twice the safe swimming standard. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection says that raw sewage from a sewer line seeped into a storm drain - contaminating local waters.

Follow-up testing was performed on Wednesday but the remain closed on Thursday.  The beach along Ocean Avenue was open.

New Jersey state officials perform weekly testing at 217 stations near public swimming beaches to identify potential bacteria hot spots.  The bathing standard for safe swimming is 104 CFU/100mL.  The testing at the L Stret Beach came in at 260 CFU/100mL, more than twice the safe levels.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.