Hempstead beaches reopen, deemed clear of medical waste

Hempstead town beaches reopened Sunday after medical waste and needles washed ashore Friday evening.
 As News 12 has reported, nearly 60 used needles were found washed up on Long Island's South Shore beaches, including East Atlantic Beach and town beaches in Lido.
 Some beaches, like Long Beach, never closed. The city posted on its website that its beaches would remain open because no medical waste washed ashore.
 Officials are now working to find out where the waste and syringes came from.
 "It's not just from one person, I believe it's from some debris, tide shifting, Mother Nature doing its thing," says Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. "Some trash dumped 20 years ago could have been re-churned. We'll know that when we start looking at the bar codes, how long this medicine goes back."
Similar kinds of medical waste also washed up along Jones Beach and Robert Moses Saturday and Sunday. Those beaches were not closed. The DEC is investigating.