TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A grand jury in New Jersey has indicted a Pennsylvania dentist on charges of dumping medical waste.
The needles and other debris forced officials in Avalon to close beaches five times in August.
Thomas McFarland Jr. is charged with unlawful discharge of a pollutant and unlawful disposal of regulated medical waste.
Prosecutors allege the 59-year-old Wynnewood, Pa., resident, who owns a house in Middle Township, dumped a bag of waste from his dental practice off a boat into Townsend Inlet.
The debris, including 260 dental-type needles, washed up along a stretch of beach the next day.
Authorities say McFarland went to the Avalon Police Department and admitted dumping the waste more than a week later.
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