Clean Ocean
Action’s Municipal Blue Star Program was established in 2014 to encourage towns
in coastal regions and beyond to prioritize water quality protection measures,
while achieving Sustainable Jersey Certification. The Sustainable Jersey
program is an action and point-based certification for municipalities in New
Jersey that want to go green, reduce costs, and take steps to improve their
quality of life over the long term. These two programs encourage communities to
promote healthy waters, resilient communities, and environmentally sound
practices.
On Friday, July
24th, Clean Ocean Action awarded the first of two inaugural Clean
Ocean Action Municipal Blue Star Certifications to Long Beach Township, NJ, to
recognize their effort to improve water quality. Long Beach Township has been a
pioneer in their region for sustainability work and planning for resiliency. They
are influencing success in their neighboring towns, which ultimately is in the
best interest of the watershed and estuary.
Long
Beach Township achieved 140 of the necessary 75 points to attain the
Municipal Blue Star certification. Examples of the actions that they completed
include Community Education & Outreach, Education for Sustainability
Programs, Rain Garden Installation, and Recycling Education &
Enforcement. In addition to Sustainable Jersey projects, towns are required to
choose one of COA’s additional actions. Long Beach Township completed the
Climate Adaptation: Flooding Risk action. Outcomes from this project include
infrastructure upgrades for water and sewer piping, as well as finalized plans
to rebuild all pump stations above base flood levels to avoid storm damage and
shut downs.
No comments:
Post a Comment