Some people who are returning to Brick's beaches this year are surprised by what they seeing.
A line of dark sand can be seen on Brick Beach 3, which denotes the sand that flowed into Barnegat Bay during Superstorm Sandy, which has now been returned to the beachfront.
The sand is not dredge material, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis recently told Patch, simply sand that was identified as having built up from ocean washovers during the storm. The sand is environmentally tested and then sifted for debris before being returned to the beach, he said.
Acropolis said the wet sand currently looks darker than the sand that is currently on the beach, but it will likely lighten over time as it dries and bleaches in the sun.
But that did not seem to assure some of the visitors to the beach, and to some posters on Brick Patch.
"I have been to Brick Beach 3 several times over the past few days and all I have to say is that's sand? If that is sand its the darkest dirt looking and smelling sand I have ever seen," one poster, who identified themselves as Comfortably Numb wrote.
Ric Toscano, who runs Beach Express, a snack shop on the beach, said that he has heard some visitors complain about the darker sand.
He said he has concerns that the sand color - coupled with the fact that people are unsure whether the beaches are open and the charges for parking - will have a negative impact on his business this summer. The stand is already down 70% in profits from the same time last year, he said.
"A lot of people don't know we're open," Toscano said. "I am hoping the word gets out."
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