Deal Dumping Debacle

Clean Ocean Action (COA) has continued to monitor the dumping debacle, that occurred in Deal from February 17 to 19, 2016, to ensure that environmental and public health is protected and the laws are enforced. 

The law office of Litwin & Provence sent a letter to the NJDEP on COA’s behalf which urged the NJDEP to cite Agate Construction Co., Inc. for violating the Clean Water Act when they illegally dumped the material excavated from the Poplar Brook Stream Stabilization site into the Atlantic Ocean in February. Currently, the NJDEP had only cited Agate for land use law violations. The letter stated, “The Federal Clean Water Act prohibits any person from discharging any pollutant from a point source in navigable waters of the United States without a discharge of fill permit. In reviewing the CWA, this prohibition appears to have been clearly violated by Agate Construction.”

On March 17, COA released two letters to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) that seek further action against Agate Construction Co., Inc. for illegally dumping muck and debris into the ocean off Deal, NJ.

Additionally, COA sent a letter asking NJDEP to conduct tests and quantify the amount of material that was dumped, and to make the information available to the public. See our blog and website for pictures, background and documents associated with this dirty debacle.