WHAT A HEEL: Waste Not
In August 2008, Wynnewood, PA dentist Thomas McFarland “boarded his motorboat, and headed out into a southern New Jersey inlet [and] dumped … syringes, cotton swabs, and other debris into the water,” reports The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Dental waste started washing up the next day along a 15-block stretch of beach at the north end of Avalon. The waste included approximately 260 dental hypodermic needles, 180 cotton swabs, and numerous blue and white plastic capsules used to hold dental filling material.
Avalon officials recovered a wrapped dental drill bit bearing a lot number that eventually was traced to McFarland's practice. On Sept. 2, 2008, McFarland went to the Avalon Police Department and admitted dumping the waste.
A report from a psychiatrist who is treating McFarland was submitted to the judge before he handed down the sentence. In it, the psychiatrist said McFarland was suffering from "acute and severe depression" and was "hopeless and suicidal" [over his wife's cancer].
McFarland pleaded guilty to unlawful discharge of water pollutants. Under the terms of his plea deal agreement he paid the Borough of Avalon $100,000 to compensate for cleanup costs, and was sentenced to four years probation instead of getting any jail time.
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