Wynnewood Dentist Questioned in Avalon Medical Waste Dumping..

carla's picture

There sure has been a lot of activity around Ardmore and Wynnewood today - copters circling near Montgomery Ave and Cherry Lane and Penn Road, and over the Township Building, so whomever Dr. Needle is, he must live close by, eh? Main Line Life is reporting Penn Road....

Whatever. Hope he gets the book thrown at him over this. Of course I love how one media outlet is reporting he is being treated for some mental disorder. Well of course he is - only someone with a screw loose would try to dump medical waste around a major holdiay and think they wouldn't get caught, right? Yucky. Hope they announce his name soon so his patients can make other plans. This guy is a big bag of wrong....

Main Line Life: Posted on Thu, Sep 4, 2008 Lower Merion dentist linked in Avalon waste dumping case
By Richard Ilgenfritz

New Jersey officials Thursday executed a search warrant at the Wynnewood home and office of a dentist who walked into a police station in the Garden State claiming that he was responsible for the medical waste that has been washing up on beaches over the last several days.

Montgomery County detectives, while working with New Jersey investigators, filed the search warrant for the house on the 300 block of Penn Road this week in Lower Merion Township.

NBC10:Local Dentist Questioned In Medical Waste Case
No Charges Have Been Filed

POSTED: 9:53 pm EDT September 3, 2008
UPDATED: 1:12 pm EDT September 4, 2008

CBS3:Sep 4, 2008 12:33 pm US/Eastern
Dentist Suspect In Avalon Waste Dumping Case
AVALON, N.J. (CBS 3)

Sources tell CBS 3 police have zeroed in a suspect in the alleged dumping of waste off the coast in Avalon, New Jersey.

Sources say the suspect, a Main Line dentist, allegedly confessed to the crime shortly after waste washed ashore. The dentist allegedly told Avalon police he dumped the waste from his boat. Sources say the dentist is now being treated for unspecified issues at a mental health facility as detectives seek additional evidence and prepare charges

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lmwatcher's picture

Well, if this guy walked into the police department and just turned himself in over this due to mental issues that caused him to do it than I hope he gets the help he needs.

If he is using the mental issues as an excuse because he knew the police were on to him, then shame on him on top of what he did.

ArdmoreWilley's picture

I got a call from a friend a few days ago that the dentist in question is Mr. McFarland off of Penn Rd, a regular at the Italian Clubs over on County Line Rd in Ardmore. One of the club members told me he recognized the shore house as McFarland's. I wanted to wait for the official release of the name before posting it. He is now charged with the illegal dumping that washed up on beaches from Avalon to Brigantine and closed many in the days leading up to one of the biggest shore holiday weekends - Labor Day.

How many vacations were ruined and how much money was lost by the people who run summer businesses at the shore by this extreme act of stupidity?

carla's picture

I knew the first day who it was, as it wasn't so tough to figure out. I feel badly for this guy's family because he has ruined life for them pretty much forever. He was the front page of the Saturday Inquirer and in Daily News as well:

Posted on Sat, Sep. 6, 2008
Pa. dentist charged with dumping medical waste
By Jonathan Tamari and Jacqueline L. Urgo
Inquirer Staff Writers

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. - New Jersey authorities have charged a Main Line dentist with illegally dumping needles and other medical waste that washed up on Avalon beaches, forcing a spate of closures.

Thomas McFarland, 59, a Wynnewood resident who owns a summer home across the bridge from Avalon, confessed to police Tuesday that on Aug. 22 he dumped a bag of used medical supplies from his Boston Whaler boat into Townsends Inlet on the resort's north side, Attorney General Anne Milgram told a packed news conference here yesterday.

Posted on Sat, Sep. 6, 2008
Montco dentist, charged in med-waste dumping, reportedly told police he was suicidal
By JASON NARK
Philadelphia Daily News
856-779-3231

It costs anywhere from $75 to $150 for a dentist to get rid of medical waste each month.

Dr. Thomas W. McFarland's bill for dumping medical waste at the Shore is still being tallied, but it's definitely going to hurt.

New Jersey officials say McFarland, 59, took his Boston Whaler fishing boat into Townsends Inlet, near Avalon, on the night of Aug. 22 and dumped about 300 dental needles, along with 180 cotton swabs and other waste from the Wynnewood home that houses his practice.

"This was an isolated incident of intentional dumping," New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said yesterday during a news conference.

I did however, find something in the paper today which disturbed me almost as much:

Posted on Sat, Sep. 6, 2008
Cops looking for youngsters who burned pit bull to death
By DAVID GAMBACORTA
Philadelphia Daily News
215-854-5994

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