Toms River
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For the community named Toms River, see Toms River, New Jersey
The Toms River, in southern New Jersey in the United States, is approximately 19 mi (31 km) long. The community of Toms River at the river's mouth is named for it.
It rises in the Pinelands in northern Ocean County and flows southeast and east, fed by several branches, in a meandering course through wetland area and empties into Barnegat Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. The lower 5 mi (8 km) of the river is a broad tidal estuary navigable within the community of Toms River. The lowest reaches of the river provide convenient locations for marinas and yacht clubs and excellent points from which to go fishing and crabbing.
Until the 1960s, the lower river was polluted for many years from the open discharge of waste from a Ciba Geigy dye manufacturing plant. Recent public-private coalitions to restore the river and to purchase and preserve the wetland areas near its source in the Pinelands have resulted in an increase in water quality.