Police deem suspicious item found at recycling center safe

A suspicious item discovered at an Ocean County recycling facility Tuesday evening was ultimately deemed harmless.

An employee at the Atlantic Coast Recycling Center on New Hampshire Avenue in Lakewood alerted police to a possible pipe bomb at the facility shortly after 8 p.m., according to a Lakewood Police Department news release.

That’s when police alerted the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, and the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad. The Lakewood Chaveirim Volunteer Emergency Services team also responded.

Authorities closed New Hampshire Avenue and established a large scale perimeter. Specialists determined that the “device,” produced in the late 1960s, was likely used for flares or fuses.

“It is unknown how the device arrived at the facility but was most likely brought in sometime last week by a refuse company dropping off recyclables to be sorted,” the release said.

New Hampshire Avenue was reopened about 90 minutes later.