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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that Pennsylvania dentist Thomas W. McFarland
Jr. was indicted today by a state grand
jury on charges that he dumped the needles
and other medical-type waste that washed
up in Avalon during the last week of August,
causing the borough to close its beaches
five times.
The
Division of Criminal Justice obtained an
indictment today charging McFarland, 59,
of Wynnewood, Pa., with unlawful discharge
of a pollutant and unlawful disposal of
regulated medical waste, both third-degree
crimes. The indictment is the result of
an intensive investigation by the Division’s
Environmental Crimes Bureau, the Avalon
Police Department and the Cape May County
Prosecutor’s Office which commenced
with the discovery of the waste and quickly
led to charges against McFarland.
“By
dumping medical waste into the waters near
Avalon, this defendant forced the borough
to close its beaches five times, preventing
summer visitors from enjoying one of our
state’s most precious resources, our
Jersey Shore,” said Attorney General
Milgram. “This indictment is a step
forward in the prosecution of this crime.
It reinforces our message that, working
with the Department of Environmental Protection,
we will keep New Jersey’s beaches
clean and safe through vigorous enforcement
of our laws.”
McFarland,
who owns a house in the Avalon Manor section
of Middle Township, allegedly took his small
motor boat into Townsend Inlet at the north
end of Avalon on Aug. 22 and dumped a bag
of waste from his dental practice in Wynnewood,
Pa.
Beginning
on Saturday, Aug. 23, dental waste was found
washed up along a stretch of beach at the
north end of Avalon between 9th Street and
24th Street. The waste included approximately
260 “Accuject” dental-type needles,
180 cotton swabs, a number of blue and white
plastic capsules used to hold dental filling
material, and other items. Officials in
Avalon alerted the state Department of Environmental
Protection, which notified the Environmental
Crimes Bureau.
As
investigators from the cooperating agencies,
led by the Environmental Crimes Bureau,
worked to identify the source of the dental
waste, the Attorney General offered a $10,000
reward on Aug. 27 for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of the person
responsible.
Certain
information obtained in the first days of
the investigation pointed to McFarland’s
practice as a potential source of the waste.
Avalon officials recovered a wrapped dental
drill bit bearing a lot number. Detectives
from the Environmental Crimes Bureau contacted
the manufacturer and learned that McFarland’s
practice was one of a small number of practices
in the Middle Atlantic States that purchased
such drill bits from the lot in question.
Detectives
also determined that McFarland received
promotional merchandise from the Accuject
manufacturer at a time when they were distributing
needles bearing the same lot numbers as
those that washed up in Avalon.
On
Sept. 2, McFarland went to the Avalon Police
Department and admitted dumping the dental
waste. After searching his beach house,
Boston Whaler boat and SUV in New Jersey,
investigators obtained a search warrant
for his dental office in Pennsylvania and
executed it on Sept. 4. They discovered
evidence corroborating McFarland’s
statement that the waste came from his practice,
including drill bits and Accuject needles
bearing the same lot numbers as those found
in Avalon.
McFarland
was charged at that time by warrant complaint
and released without bail.
Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Ed Bonanno presented
the case to the state grand jury for the
Environmental Crimes Bureau.
Each
of the charges contained in the indictment
carries a maximum sentence of five years
in state prison. In addition, a fine of
up to $75,000 can be imposed for the charge
of unlawful discharge of a pollutant, and
a fine of up to $50,000 can be imposed for
the medical waste charge.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty.
The
indictment was handed up to Superior Court
Judge Linda R. Feinberg in Mercer County,
who assigned the case to Cape May County,
where McFarland will be order to appear
at a later date to answer the charges. A
copy of the indictment is posted with this
release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
Attorney
General Milgram credited the following investigators:
From the Division of Criminal Justice Environmental
Crimes Bureau, the individuals who led the
investigation were Supervising Deputy Attorney
General Ed Bonanno, Lt. Jeffrey Gross and
Detectives Steven Ogulin, Stephen Politowski
and Dawn Ryan. From the Avalon Police Department,
Chief David Dean, Detective Ben Geary and
the entire department. From the Cape May
County Prosecutor's Office, Chief James
Rybicki, Lt. Lynn Frame and Detective Matthew
Leusner. In Pennsylvania, from the Lower
Merion Township Police Department, Detective
Charles Craig and Patrolman Stieber. And
from the Montgomery County, Pa., District
Attorney's Office, Detective Mike Gilbert.
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