The syringe tide was an environmental disaster during 1987–88 in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York where significant amounts of medical waste, including hypodermic syringes, and raw garbage washed up onto beaches on the Jersey Shore, in New York City, and on Long Island.
[1] Officials scrambled to identify the source of the material as some local economies struggled with diminished tourism.
[2] Officials finally traced the source of the waste to the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island.
No reparations were paid to the business owners on the Jersey Shore for revenues lost during the months of inactivity.
[3] In response to syringe tides of 1987 and 1988, the participants in the New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program (HEP)[4] implemented the Short-term Floatables Action Plan.