Clean Ocean Action

Three New* Threats to Our Ocean

2012-02-17T17:36:00.000-05:00

Recently, three new programmatic changes at the federallevel are threatening our clean ocean economy and clean ocean zone.

1. EPA To Cut CleanBeach Programs

First, in a shocking turn of events, the EPA announced that,in President Obama’s 2013 EPA budget,they will no longer be implementing the “Beaches Program” or issuing BeachesProgram grants to states.

The Beaches Program,under the Clean Water Act and the “BEACH Act” is a program at the EPA forprotecting the health of swimmers and beachgoers from sewage and pollutionrisks.

Each year, in furtherance of these goals, the EPA works on:

promoting recreational water quality programs nationwide,
creating scientific improvements that support timelyrecreational water monitoring and reporting,
issuing grants (~$10million in 2012) to eligible coastal states to develop and implement beachmonitoring and notification programs,
publishing an annual BeachNotification Summary, giving information on beach water quality monitoring,beach advisories and closings, pollution sources, and state and local beachprogram contacts to the public, and
developing new or revised recreational water criteria forthe most up-to-date protection of public health.

Unfortunately, the President’s EPA budgetproposes ending this program:

“To help meet thefiscal challenges of FY 2013, the EPA has reviewed its programs for areas whereany potential efficiencies and streamlining can yield savings and is eliminatingthe Beach Program.”

The report continues:

“While beach monitoringcontinues to be important to protect human health and especially sensitiveindividuals, … [n]o additional funding will be provided for the following: (1)implementing monitoring and notification programs consistent with theEPA’s National Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria for Grantsand (2) submitting monitoring and advisory data to the EPA so that the Agencycan provide this information to the public in a timely and easily accessiblemanner.”

The EPA says that the Beach Program has accomplished it’smission, yet without the program, many states will have no resources for anyswimmer-safety tests, states will be free to adopt lax standards (or endtesting altogether because they are no longer held to a federal regulatory “floor”),and, by and large, the public health will be put at risk.

Please call your elected officials and ask them to stand upfor swimmer safety by re-authorizing this program to give states the scienceand tools they need!

2. Renewed AtlanticOcean Oil Drilling Push in the House – H.R. 7

Second, the House of Representatives yesterday passed a billwhich opens up the Atlantic Ocean to oil drilling – as soon as this year! The bill, a floor-modified version of HR3408, requires that a large portion of the ocean off of the coast of Virginiabe opened for drilling almost immediately, and that the rest of the AtlanticOcean be considered open for business as well.

When this bill was being debated in Committee (beforehitting the House floor), New Jersey Representatives Pallone, Holt, and Runyan allvoted against the bill(rollcall votes).

Once the bill hit the House floor, one amendmentwas proposed that would ban drilling in any ocean areas that would “affect” New York orNew Jersey - essentially banningdrilling in Virginia and points south in the Atlantic. In the vote on the amendment, 5 of New Jersey’s6 Republican Representatives voted to pass it (Mr. Garrett was the lone NJCongressman voting against this ocean-protection amendment), standing with theunited Democratic NJ Delegation in defense of the shore.

For 50 years, members of Congress from both sides of theaisle have fought to keep the Atlantic Ocean off-limits from oil drilling. Withyesterday’s vote, it is clear that this long-standing support is eroding, but inNew Jersey, our elected officials know that a clean ocean economy is anon-partisan issue – it is too essential to the people, communities, and businessesof the Shore.

We thank the 8 NJ and 19NY Representatives who voted against this bill (see Floor Vote, Roll#71), but urge you to call your elected officials (Senators, Congressmen, State Officials) and ask them to takeevery step they can to see that the opening of the Atlantic Ocean to oildrilling doesn’t happen.

3. Proposed Closure ofthe NOAA Fisheries Service James J.Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory onSandy Hook

Third, President Obama announcedin the budget proposal for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationthat the James J. Howard Fisheries Lab on Sandy Hook will be closed – one yearafter its 50th anniversary celebration.

The decision to close this lab could not have been made at amore inopportune time. Our oceans, andthe Mid-Atlantic Ocean this lab directly adjoins, are changing. For the first time in decades, there may beoil drilling in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean, most notably in Virginia. Your Department of Interior recentlyannounced lease availability for over 800 square miles of the Mid-AtlanticOcean. The shores of this region are themost densely populated in the nation. The fisheries, tourism, and recreation value of the Mid-Atlantic Oceanis nearly incalculable. Algal blooms,sewage spills, sedimentation, and the science of managing the Port of New Yorkall fall within the scientific ambit of this region.

The research undertaken at the Howard Lab on these issues,and on ocean acidification and climate change impacts to marine ecosystems, arethe foundation upon which informed decisionmaking is built. Indeed, this labwas recently recognized by NOAA leadership asthe premier state-of-the-art facility for conducting ocean acidificationresearch on the East Coast. Moreover,research conducted at the lab is instrumental in ongoing planning efforts forthe siting of the first offshore wind facilities in the United States – apriority for your Administration.

Senators Lautenberg and Menendez, with Congressman Pallone pledgedto prevent the closing of the Lab in a letter sent directlyto the President.

Sign the E-Petition to Save the Sandy Hook Lab

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To find out how you can help on any of these issues, contactthe Clean Ocean Action office at 732-872-0111 and ask for Zach, or email citizens@cleanoceanaction.org.

Guest Blogger: Quincy Mumford

2012-02-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

I remember the first time I ever heardabout Clean Ocean Action. It was a few years back, and I just started my careeras a local musician. Because I was new, I naturally looked up to the othergreat and well know bands in the Asbury Park area. My father told me that DeSoland P Dub Assassins were playing a benefit concert on the boardwalk in AsburyPark. I loved both of these bands and still do very much. Before I jumped inthe car to go see the show, I asked my father what the event was for. He toldme it was to raise money for an organization called Clean Ocean Action. I likedthe sound of the name, but I wanted to find out more about this organizationand see if there was anyway for me to get involved. We went to the show, bothbands were amazing, and I picked up a bunch of information to see how I couldget involved.

Itturned out that my dad had been working with Clean Ocean Action for years, bydonating a ton of food for their events (my father is a chef). Because mymusic is very beach inspired, and I grew up surfing and living only a mile fromthe beach, I felt like it made sense to be involved musically with COA. As myname grew a little bigger in the area, I contacted COA to play for one of theirevents. It was at a beach club in Sea Bright, NJ , where they were raisingmoney for COA and raising awareness about the over use of plastics. Walkinginto the outside tent was mind blowing! They had plastic tops hanging from thetent as decorations, massive beach balls everywhere, and tons of amazing food.I remember eating so much I could not move! My band (Quincy Mumford and theReason Why) played with another great local band that day, Random Test ReggaeBand. We both got a great response, and I could see a promising relationshipwith COA. Since that day, my family has been a big supporter of COA, and I haveturn on a lot of other people to COA because they deserve the support.

Whenthe band and I got the idea a few months ago to record a live album, it madesense to involve some organizations and put some money in their pockets. Wecame up with the idea to record a live album and DVD over the course of twodays, we picked March 2nd and March 3rd, 2012. We planned for it to be threeshows over two days, Friday night, Saturday night, and Saturday during the dayfor an all ages crowd. There are so many people that have been telling us thatthey love us even better live then our records. Well, we listened, and now weare putting on these three shows to please our fans! We felt like it would be agreat idea to involve some organizations, Clean Ocean Action came to mindfirst. We gave them a call, along with Surfrider Foundation, and told them thatwe wanted to donate all of our ticket sales for these live shows to them! Wegot some great sponsors involved to cover the cost of production, so that allof the proceeds made from these shows, will go straight into Surfrider andCOA’s pockets!

Ihave always been a big fan of Clean Ocean Action. Not just because they keepour beaches clean, or keep the plastic bags out of the ocean, or keep our oceanwild life healthy. I am a fan of COA because of their real “go get ‘em”attitude. They are always the first to come up with new ideas, and plans tokeep the ocean the way it should be. Like their new plan to create the firstever “Clean Ocean Zone”. When we had a meeting about the show, they told meabout the Clean Ocean Zone, and it blew my mind! COA is smart, active, and aneffective organization. They are strong, with a great support from thecommunity. I am proud to be connected with them, and I am stoked to have themon board for the recording of our live album. It is going to be a great eventfull of good vibes, good music, and all for a great cause. Get your ticket todayat quincymumford.com!

Cheers!

Q-Mumf

Guest Blogger: Joe Reynolds

2012-02-08T10:46:00.000-05:00

Celebrate Winter Wildlife! Sunday, Feb. 19

Even though the winterseason has been mild, many people unfortunately still shun the beach this timeof year. You shouldn't be one of these people. Get outside!

Winter is really a greattime to bundle up and take a walk along the shore to see somemagnificent coastal wildlife that can only be spotted during the winter,particularly seals. Each year, numerous seals, including Harbor Seals, migrate500 miles or more starting in November from the cold waters of Maine and Canadato the Jersey Shore. They can be found in particular abundance within SandyHook Bay.

These large marine mammalsare not always in the water though. During the daytime seals will often haulout to rest and digest food on remote sandy beaches, exposed sandbars, rocks,piers, and jetties. The seals are wild animals. They are a sight to behold inthe local environment, downstream from New York City and within the largesturban-suburban coastline in the world.

Though seals are commonwinter residents, they are not always easy to spot, either resting on land orbobbing their heads in the water. Seals are shy and sensitive wild animals, andwill swim off if people get too close.

One of the best ways tosee seals without stressing them out is on a naturalist-guided seal walk. OnSunday, February 19, 2012 Clean Ocean Action is hosting a guided seal walk atSandy Hook with me as your leader. This is a great opportunity not only foradults but for children as well. It promises to be a fun event and a wonderfulway to lean more about marine mammals.

We will meet up in themorning and walk to a remote area along the bay where seals haul out, sometimesin large numbers. This will provide everyone a chance for an excellent wildlifesighting, while at the same time staying far enough away to not disturb theseals resting onshore.

Best of all, afterwards wewill enjoy brunch and the sight of live penguins from Jenkinson's Aquarium atWaters Edge in nearby Sea Bright, NJ. For those who are lovers of seals (andreally who isn't) and other coastal wildlife this event on Sunday, February 19,2012 is for you. Sign up now before it sells out!

To register for the sealwalk, please visit Clean Ocean Action's website at http://www.cleanoceanaction.org/

General Information aboutthe Seal Walk: The walk will take approximately one and half hours and will beone mile round trip. The walk is suitable for children over 5 years of age.Please be prepared for the weather, i.e., wear warm clothing in layers(outerwear should be in muted colors). Hats, gloves, and warm waterproof shoesare recommended, as are cameras, binoculars, and spotting scope.

Joe Reynolds

The Next Time you Shop – Consider the Ocean and Plastic Pollution from Clothes!

2012-02-07T10:51:00.000-05:00

Researchers, who are studying the accumulation of microplasticsin the global oceans, have documented a link between microplastics and laundry. Yes that’s right – ourwashing machines!

A single garment made ofsynthetic plastic-based material (for example: polyester, acrylics, nylons) canrelease > 1900 plastic fibers per wash. These fibers are then transported to wastewater treatment facilitiesthat discharge to rivers that travel to the ocean or are directly discharged tothe ocean. Scientists looked atshorelines at 18 beaches worldwide and found microplastics at every beach onsix continents! As expected, greater concentrationsof microplastic were found in more densely populated areas.

Much of the plastic in the ocean is in theform of tiny pieces which can be eaten by marine life and passed through thefood web. Plastic can be toxic or mayphysically harm or kill ocean life. Microplastics may the result of broken down larger plastics items andnow we know are also from wastewater discharges. Microplastics do not breakdown completely inthe environment and pose a long-term hazard in the ocean.

So the next time you shop – check the materialcontent and consider the ocean! Click here for the study’sabstract.

Join Clean Ocean Action & Friends for Winter Fun!

2012-01-30T17:23:00.000-05:00

Land to Sea: Cooking with Marilyn Wednesday, February 8th, 7pm. Join us at Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park, NJ for an incredible evening of food and fun. Learn from the best: Marilyn Schlossbach will teach a cooking class highlighting the fabulous vacation-inspired cuisine served at each of her four restaurants. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Clean Ocean Action. Cost: $50 per person. Reserve your spot by calling 732-455-3275 or emailing info@langostalounge.com.

Celebrate Winter Wildlife! Sunday, February 19th, Seal Walk at 10:30am, Brunch at 12:30pm. Join us for a walk on Sandy Hook to observe seals in their bayside habitat led by Naturalist Joe Reynolds. After the walk head over to Merri-makers in Sea Bright, NJ for a warm 'n wintry brunch with an African Penguin!!! Fun environmental activities for kids and a NJ wildlife slide show complete the day.

Seal Walk & Brunch: $100 Adults/$50 Children (8-12yrs) Brunch Only: $50 Adults/$25 Children (under 12). Generously sponsored by Chapel Beach Club and Jenkinson's Aquarium. For reservations and additional sponsorship opportunities contact Emily at COA's office.

LIVE at The Saint with Quincy Mumford and The Reason Why Friday March 2nd at 8:00pm (18+yrs) and Saturday March 3rd at 3:00pm (ALL AGES) and 8:00pm (18+yrs). Join us for a series of concerts to benefit COA and Surfrider Foundation while Quincy and the band record their upcoming DVD and live album "Live at the Saint". Tickets are $12 per show or $30 for all three shows! Details and tickets are available at http://www.quincymumford.com/.

Maps! Maps! Maps!

2012-01-25T16:05:00.000-05:00

EPA Water Pollutionand Enforcement Maps of NJ & NY Paint an Interesting Picture

EPA’s “ECHO” initiative (for “Enforcement and ComplianceHistory Online”) has finalized a new series of interactive maps and datasets tohelp YOU, the ordinary citizen, visualize how our water laws, regulations, andprotections are enforced.

These maps are searchable, you can zoom into yourneighborhood, and color-coded for easy interpretations.

For instance, take the “State Dashboard” for NewJersey and NewYork.

These maps let you see which facilities were inspected, given violations, subject to enforcement,and issued penalties. Also, you can search in specific ZIP Codes tosee all the problems around your house.

There’s also a combinedAir/Water/Waste enforcement maps (complete with 2011 data). Each bubble on the map (representing anenforcement action of some type) can be clicked on and a link to the EPA orState page with more information appears. The home page for these enforcement maps shows the number of violationsin 2011; apparently Louisiana (439 violations), NY (416), and California (296) werethe states home to the most Air/Water/Waste violations!

Here’s the map for the 07732 ZIP – home to Clean Ocean Action (on Sandy Hook):

EPA (blue) and State (purple) enforcement actions for water (triangle) and waste (circle) violations (2011 data).

For an “Annual Noncompliance report” map – to compare, withease, States against other states, click here. Check out the map for NJ’s general waterstatistics which shows that, in 2009, NJ assessed around $2.4 million inpenalties on 67 violations (out of 98 total violations):

Data for number of facilities in New Jersey, number with violations, and number of enforcement actions.

The EPA’s recently re-done “EJ Map” (for EnvironmentalJustice) lets you map a variety of things from streams and rivers with waterquality below standards to Superfund and brownfield sites or recent toxicspills. Click here forthe EJ Map and play around with the features to get a good idea of what’shappening in your neighborhood.

The most recent Map, the “Discharge Monitoring Report(DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool” lets you compare sources of pollutionstate-by-state, so you can see, for instance, that New York has fewerwastewater treatment facilities that violated their limits for “prioritypollutants” (31) than Pennsylvania (62), but more than New Jersey (26) in 2010.

For other EPA Maps, go to their ECHO map portal here.

Exporting US Natural Gas - a "Lose-Lose" for American Consumers

2012-01-20T15:03:00.000-05:00

Exporting American-Made energy overseas?

Thanks to recent reports, it is even more clear that Big Energy companies are undermining America's push for energy independence. By the close of this week, energy companies have been given license to export about ~10% of all the gas produced daily in America. Why? Because U.S. gas prices are the lowest they’ve been in 10 years, while prices in Europe and Asia are 3 to 6 times more expensive. To make more money, these energy companies want to sell to the highest bidder – even if it drives up energy costs here domestically.

How’s that for a move toward energy independence!?!

We’re so troubled by this that we’ll say it again:

The U.S. government is allowing the export of American-made energy when we’re using (and needing) more and more energy each year. When you’re striving to wean yourself off of foreign energy, one would think the first thing you’d do is stop sending your own supply overseas!

Will these Exports Impact the US Economy?

This week, the Department of Energy’s “Energy Information Administration” (EIA) completed a study as to how these exports of US gas will impact prices of natural gas and electricity for Americans when the first export facilities are completed and come online (first exports expected in 2015).

In this report (found here), the EIA clearly, and unambiguously states that “Increased natural gas exports lead to increased natural gas prices.”

Additionally, the EIA found that the increases in “shale gas” [Marcellus Shale for example] production and more reliance on coal for power generation will also follow once LNG Exports begin. This chart below (showing, under four export scenarios, the price of wholesale natural gas) illustrates how energy prices could be as much as 54% higher in 2018, a few years after these already approved exports start heading overseas.

Natural gas wholesale price changes for four export scenarios. EIA report.

Specifically, the EIA came up with these impacts from LNG exports:

There will be an "increase by between 0.14 and 0.29 cents per kilowatthour (kWh) (between 2 and 3 percent)" in electricity costs by end-users;
Over the next 20 years, “total U.S. end-use electricity expenditures as a result of added exports…increase between $5 billion to $10 billion” while gas export companies make an extra “$14 billion [to] $32 billion” in revenue because of these overseas export sales; and
"Coal producers benefit from the increased coal demand" as power plants switch from gas to coal due to rising costs - over the first 20 years of exports, coal revenues increase by at most 6.2 percent,

Basically, as we export up to 10% of all the gas we produce in the US daily, natural gas and electricity costs to consumers will go up, revenues to both coal and natural gas companies will go up, and our energy independence potential will go down.

Read a report by energy news source Platt’s here, and one by Financial Times here.

On top of this report, the DOE this week approved an eighth license to export American-produced domestic natural gas. For a complete list of export applications and the status of each (as of December 22, 2011) click here.

To read more (from our post last November on this energy export issue), click here

Keystone XL Pipeline Nixed

2012-01-19T10:02:00.000-05:00

The Keystone XL pipeline, a plan to run Canadian "tar sand" oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico for export overseas, was Rejected by President Obama yesterday.

The pipeline, much like LNG ports here in New Jersey, was not needed, harmful, and wouldn't help our energy security one bit.

Read the President's statement here: http://goo.gl/ygI6z

For more on this environmental victory from the Great Plains, check out these blogs:

NRDC: http://goo.gl/2FI84
Sierra: http://goo.gl/ps4nW

The Real State of Our State - New Jersey's Waters are Trashed Top to Bottom

2012-01-17T12:10:00.000-05:00

Clean Ocean Action, along with ANJEC, the Delaware Riverkeeper, Environment New Jersey, NJ Environmental Federation, the NJ Environmental Lobby, the NJ Highlands Coalition, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, and the Sierra Club released a statement calling for the Governor and the New Jersey Legislature to take positive steps towards ending rollbacks of environmental regulations and towards protecting our future. The text of the statement is below:

As the Governor delivers his State of the State today, the state’s environmental community came together to voice their concerns over the state of our state’s waters: nearly every drop is polluted. The major pollutants of concern across the state – phosphorus and nitrogen – stem from overdevelopment of critical watershed lands, making development the number one threat to New Jersey’s waters.

As reported by the Asbury Park Press, Courier News, and other Gannett papers New Jersey’s waters are in dire straits. There is only one place in the state where you can safely swim, drink the water and eat the fish without restrictions. The paper based its Sunday, January 14^th news coverage on NJDEP reports prepared for the USEPA.

The group challenged the Legislature and Governor Christie to stand up to developers, stop the rollbacks to our clean water protections and move forward with an agenda that will save New Jersey’s failing waterways – instead of making them worse.

“Developers have given us a legacy of pollution. Instead of letting developers dictate our water quality policy, it’s time for the Legislature and Governor Christie to make decisions that are in the best interest of New Jersey. This means stopping all attacks on our clean water protections and forging an agenda that focuses on protecting, not polluting. The Governor’s consideration of the dirty water bill today further solidifies the need to chart a new course, and make clean water a priority again in the state,” said Megan Fitzpatrick, clean water advocate with Environment New Jersey.

To reverse the fate of New Jersey’s waters the group of environmental leaders pointed to several key priorities: fully implement the Highlands Act, set a pollution limit for Barnegat Bay, ban fracking in the Delaware River Watershed, expand development free buffers, protect the state’s last remaining forests, and commit to upgrading inadequate stormwater infrastructure and sewer systems.

“The state of our state is that it is under siege by developers and has been for years. They have paved, striped, and mangled nearly every corner of New Jersey leaving essentially no waterway unharmed. At the same time, developers abused the political system with contributions resulting in many elected officials beholden to their reckless actions. It’s left our state’s waterways polluted and us with a huge clean up bill; this must not stand. It’s time for developers and those who fail to defend our quality of life to be held accountable,” said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action.

“As the Governor delivers the State of State address the state of our waterways are failing. The Legislature and the Governor are putting our drinking water at risk by siding with developers and polluters over protecting our drinking water. New Jersey has some of the most polluted waters in the nation and instead of cleaning up our waters they are roll back vital protections. This is the power of special interest money threatening our environment and our future. This is wrong and we are going to fight to change this and protect our drinking water for future generation,” continued Jeff Tittel, director of NJ Sierra.

“We have tremendous challenges facing our state to protect and restore our environment, work we must do to guard our quality of life, our communities and our children's future. Most politicians seem to more interested in protecting special interests than the public interest. That is the major political challenge facing New Jersey,” said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society.

“While we are in the midst of the longest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, when we are vulnerable with fear and uncertainty about our future, it is absolutely shameful that the builder's lobby is aggressively and successfully exploiting us to undo the rules and regulations that protect our water supply and waterways, rules that are absolutely necessary for a sustainable future in New Jersey,” added Julia Somers, executive director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition.

“Our rivers, wetlands and environment are not luxuries or indulgences to be set aside when it is politically or financially expedient. They are the irreplaceable and fundamental basis of our very lives – present and future. In New Jersey we have worked and voted time and time again to protect the water we drink, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the lands we can safely live on. Governor Christie needs to stand with the people, not the polluters, and veto this bad legislation,” stated Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper.

“The biological science is as clear as the political science and the result is dirty water and dirty politics. Development is trashing our waterways, developers scapegoat the environment, and too many politicians looking for an easy fix, sound bite and campaign cash do the builders' dirty work. Until the politicians become statesmen or the citizens demand it, the state of the state's waters will continue to be just like our politics, too dirty,” added David Pringle, campaign director of the NJ Environmental Federation.

“By passing legislation that benefits a few special interests, the Legislature is turning its back on years of good land use planning and environmental protection. They are allowing development to proceed piecemeal, without regard to where capacity can support it or residents want it,” said Sandy Batty from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions

“Having only one stream in New Jersey that is clean and healthy enough to drink as well as swim and fish in is disgraceful. It is clear that developers are paving the way to dirty water. Governor Christie and the Legislature need to stop making it easier for the special interests to pollute our water. Clean water is essential for drinking and a healthy environment, but also for a strong economy. New Jersey's leading industries including pharmaceutical, agricultural, and tourism, need clean water to survive. Until our elected officials decide to start listening to the people of New Jersey and make clean water a priority, our quality of life, environment, and economy will continue to suffer,” concluded Jennifer Coffey, policy director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association.

Obama Releases Draft National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan

2012-01-12T18:47:00.000-05:00

Today, President Obama released his Draft Implementation Plan for advancing a National Ocean Policy in U.S. ocean and coastal waters and the Great Lakes. The 92-page document outlines 50 actions to collaborate, coordinate and consolidate agency actions to improve the ocean.

Find out more about the Plan HERE. Contact Clean Ocean Action Citizen Action Coordinator Zach McCue HERE for more information and to find out how you can help.

On the Plan, this Statement from Clean Ocean Action was recently released to the media:

“On the positive side, the Draft Plan clearly lists actions to be taken, identifies the agencies responsible for those actions, and suggests timelines within which those actions should occur. This level of detail allows the public to hold the Administration responsible for carrying out these plans and coming through on its promises.”

“The Draft Plan, however, does not answer the questions ‘Will I be able to safely swim at my beach in 5 years?’ or ‘Will there be new oil rigs or industrial complexes built off my beach in the future?’ These are the real questions citizens want answered.”

“The Draft Plan, with its ambitious targets and lofty goals, underscores the need for citizens to get involved in every step of the National Ocean Policy implementation – without independent, local, and robust oversight, this plan could result in a series of reports collecting dust on a bookshelf in D.C.”

“Clean Ocean Action has participated in every step of the development of this Implementation Plan to ensure that it follows through on its commitment to citizen and community involvement,” said Executive Director Cindy Zipf. “COA is confident that with robust citizen action, this plan can help end ocean pollution and ensure resilient coastal ecosystems. This plan invites federal agencies to tackle issues that have long plagued the NY/NJ coastlines (like marine debris and plastic pollution) and to back up their initiatives with environmental and education programs.”

Ensuring the health and resiliency of our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes is crucial to the health of our nation’s economy. Our oceans and coasts support tens of millions of jobs and are a vital part of the U.S. economy.

Shore-adjacent counties are home to 108.3 million people, 48.6 million jobs, and contributed $5.7 trillion to the U.S. economy. With only 18% of U.S. land area, these counties accounted for 36% of population and 42% of the national economic output in 2007 [i]
In 2008, recreational fishing supported 384,000 jobs and had a support base of 12.4 million anglers, spending $4.9 billion annually, and the commercial seafood industry supported 1.5 million jobs and generated $104 billion in sales impacts [ii]

“The citizens, businesses, and communities along the NY/NJ coasts have been working for decades to ensure that all ocean uses support one another - producing initiatives like the NY/NJ Clean Ocean Zone plan and state-based coast-wide economic forums,” noted Sean Dixon, Coastal Policy Attorney for Clean Ocean Action. “We look forward to bringing these initiatives, and the citizen who worked on them, to the National Ocean Council – we’ve done the work, now we need our plans implemented.”

Sources:
[i] National Ocean Economics Program. (2009). State of the Ocean and Coastal Economies, p.6, http://www.oceaneconomics.org/NationalReport/.

[ii] National Marine Fisheries Service. (2010). Fisheries Economics of the United States, 2008. U.S. Dept. Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-109, p.7, http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st5/publications/index.html.

Tracking Greenhouse Gas Emissions – New EPA Map!

2012-01-12T11:57:00.000-05:00

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new map for tracking greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions from major industrial sources across the United States.

Under the Clean Air Act, and the “Massachusetts v. EPA” decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007, the EPA has the authority to regulate pollution from major industrial facilities. GHGs, defined by the EPA as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), are considered to be pollutants by the courts and the EPA when emitted in huge quantities by these “major” sources.

On the map, you can view the emissions of facilities like power plants and landfills, and compare and contrast states, zip codes, facilities, etc. It really is a well-designed (if a bit “full of information”) map!

Access the map here: http://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.do

According to the EPA, these GHGs contribute to the Greenhouse Effect which is defined as:

Trapping and build-up of heat in the atmosphere (troposphere) near the Earth’s surface. Some of the heat flowing back toward space from the Earth's surface is absorbed by water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and several other gases in the atmosphere and then reradiated back toward the Earth’s surface. If the atmospheric concentrations of these greenhouse gases rise, the average temperature of the lower atmosphere will gradually increase.

This Greenhouse Effect, coupled with ocean currents and other natural processes that distribute heat across the globe, contribute to Climate Change, defined by the EPA as:

Any significant change in measures of climate (such as temperature, precipitation, or wind) lasting for an extended period (decades or longer).

Climate change may result from, according to the EPA:

natural factors, such as changes in the sun's intensity or slow changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun;
natural processes within the climate system (e.g. changes in ocean circulation);
activities that change the atmosphere's composition (e.g. through burning fossil fuels) and the land surface (e.g. deforestation, reforestation, urbanization, desertification, etc.)

So check out the map!

Best-laid-plans Bulldozed for Profits

2012-01-10T11:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we asked you, our ocean champions in New Jersey, to call your elected officials and ask them to Vote No on a bill that would open up 300,000 acres of New Jersey's undeveloped land to new malls, new parking lots, and new big-box-stores. This bill was passed last night by a wide margin, and will become law in New Jersey. (Read more here)

Thanks for everyone who made calls yesterday!

At the final votes, this bad bill was amended to provide two years of “build-anywhere-you-want (no matter the consequences)” help for developers (down from the original three year proposal), and the bill was amended to not include development in the Pinelands and Highlands regions of the state.

Overall, however, this bill represents a land grab for developers to allow them to build malls where there once were farms, big box stores up the road from mom-and-pop Main Streets, and parking lots on top of parking lots.

The New Jersey Legislators that voted “NO” on this bill are:

NJ Senate:

Allen, Diane B.

Bateman, Christopher

Buono, Barbara

Connors, Christopher J.

Greenstein, Linda R.

Turner, Shirley K.

NJ Assembly:

Barnes, Peter J., III

Benson, Daniel R.

Chivukula, Upendra J.

Cryan, Joseph

Diegnan, Patrick J., Jr.

Gove, DiAnne C.

Gusciora, Reed

Jasey, Mila M.

McKeon, John F.

Riley, Celeste M.

Rumpf, Brian E.

Stender, Linda

Vainieri Huttle, Valerie

Wagner, Connie

Watson Coleman, Bonnie

For more information, check out these news stories from across New Jersey:

Will you let them take your Backyards, Money, Water, and Future?

2012-01-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

Legislation has been introduced (S3156 by Sen. Paul Sarlo and A4335 by Assemblyman Albert Couhtino) that would give us dirty water, higher utility costs, parking lots instead of forests and meadows.

It is moving quickly through the state Senate and Assembly TODAY – January 9th – the LAST day of the NJ Levislative Session, and will be voted on in a few hours!

Your favorite walk in the woods, eagle’s nesting ground, and fishing hole is threatened. This legislation will undermine environmental protection by allowing development in environmentally sensitive areas such as wetlands, endangered species habitat and next to reservoirs. Developers already have access to vast regions of the state where development makes sense, but they want it all and are using the current economic weakness to gain access to our last natural areas.

Specifically, this legislation undercuts a 2008 state environmental rule that protects more than 300,000 acres of the most environmentally sensitive areas left in the state. If passed, those areas will be opened to the kind of large-scale sprawl development that has already severely damaged Barnegat Bay.

These developers also want you to foot the bill of this massive land grab. This bill would allow new developments even in areas where sewage treatment facilities are not capable of handling an increase in sewage waste capacity! Impacts from overloaded sewage facilities – and overdevelopment in general – are borne by the taxpayer, not the developers (who leave town once a project is built!).

Downstream, these bills will cause more coastal and ocean pollution – counter-acting years and years of work to make our bays clean and our beaches pollution-free.

Millions of dollars have already been spent by towns, counties, the State, and the federal government to develop in a sustainable, smart way. From funds to repair stormdrains to wastewater treatment facility upgrades, efforts and taxpayer dollars will be wasted if this bill becomes law.

Please take two quick actions to voice your opposition: make a call today and share this information on Facebook and Twitter urging others to and to add their voices in opposition to this reckless legislation.

Find contact information for your legislators by municipality here - and try emailing them as well, since they'll likely be on the move all day!

Chemical Pollution Increased Nationally and in New Jersey from 2009 to 2010

2012-01-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

The EPA released its 25th annual report, the Toxic Release Inventory, on the reported toxic chemicals released to the environment in 2010 by industrial facilities. Chemical releases also increased by 16 % nationally despite a downward trend over the last decade. In New Jersey, 411 facilities report discharges of chemicals into the air, land, and water. Over 16 million pounds of some 150 chemicals were released in NJ in 2010 – about 3 million pounds more than in 2009. The change was attributed largely to increased wastewater discharges from the DuPont Chambers Works, Conoco Phillips and Paulsboro Refining Co. LLC. New York’s releases were about 22.9 million pounds for both years.

Thanks to ocean champion New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, who authored legislation in 1986 as part of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, this information on pollution is compiled and made available to the public. This information is valuable to manage waste streams and identify whre pollution prevention can be most effective.

Chemical releases have costly and negative public health and environmental impacts – affecting our air and water quality. Air pollutants, such as mercury, can end up our waterways and the ocean and enter marine food webs. Toxins can injure and be deadly to marine life. Poor air and drinking water quality and contamination of shellfish and fishery resources call all impact human health. Chemical releases also can contaminate the seafloor - harming marine life and making sediments that fill in navigational channels and port areas more expensive to dredge and manage. Overall - the public pays the high costs of this pollution.

Although many facilities have pollution control devices, more efforts are clearly needed to reduce chemical pollution form industrial facilities.

For more info, visit: http://goo.gl/xhV37

To view an area fact sheet, visit: http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm

For program overview, visit: http://www.epa.gov/tri/

EPA has a web application for mobile devices called, myRight-To-Know. For any location or address, myRTK maps nearby facilities that report to then Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), as well as large permit holders in EPA's Air, Water or Hazardous Waste programs that are expected to produce, manage or release TRI-reportable chemicals. For myRTK, visit: http://www.epa.gov/tri/myrtk/

Happy Holidays from Clean Ocean Action!

2011-12-23T15:35:00.000-05:00

Water Quality Action Alert

2011-12-22T16:47:00.000-05:00

A pair of bills introduced in both chambers of the New Jersey Legislature would threaten New Jersey's clean water, open spaces, and environmental legislation this holiday season. The bills would undermine proposed Department of Environmental Protection rules that would protect water quality and allow counties to implement environmentally responsible sewage and septic plans.

Here is an excerpt from Clean Ocean Action's letter to members of the New Jersey Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Management regarding the bills:

Wastewater management planning bills before your committee (A.4335 and S. 3156) attack and undermine these robust and well-balanced planning processes. These bills make it too easy to obtain site-specific amendments and will result in environmentally-damaging, uncoordinated sprawl. These bills will result in development of sensitive environmental areas and depletion ofendangered species habitat. These bills will decrease buffers that filter-out pollution and increasenonpoint source pollution.

These bills will also increase ocean discharge volumes of treated wastewater and directly overburden wastewater treatment facilities because of provisions allowing sewer expansion that exceed treatment facility capacity. Overflows to treatment facilities can result in the discharge of partially treated or entirely untreated sewage. The costs of fines and enforcement actions, repairs to overloaded systems, and unwise capacity expansions will be passed on to homeowners, renters, and businesses.

Take Action!

Contact your New Jersey State legislators today to let them know you oppose S. 3156 and A. 4335. Find out who your legislators are and how to contact them here.

Contact Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver to let them know you want them to put a stop to the bills.

Atlantic Ocean Transmission Line

2011-12-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

Holiday "Extension Cord" Proposal Officially Filed

Today, the US Department of Interior (which, somehow, has control over all energy activities in the ocean) released a proposal for granting a “right of way” for the “Atlantic Wind Connection” project to build a hundreds-of-miles-long 7,000 MegaWatt power line from New York to Virginia along the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.

Read the Department’s Press Release Here

According to a federal notice published this morning, the Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management received an application on March 31, 2011, for a license (called a “right of way”) to construct the “Atlantic Wind Connection” project. This project would entail building a total of 790 miles of high-voltage power lines from New York to Virginia at sea.

Ostensibly, this project is being proposed in order to “collect power generated by wind power generation facilities” and send it ashore. As of now, however, there are no wind projects build at sea, and those that are in the development phase generally contain plans to get the energy to the onshore power grids.

Somewhat telling, however, is the admission in the notice that:

“When the wind power generation facilities are not functioning at full capacity, the AWC facilities would facilitate the transmission of conventionally generated electricity between points on the onshore grid.”

So, until offshore wind facilities become entirely operational, this grid will be transmitting power generated from fossil fuel facilities - not anything "green"

Clean Ocean Action is keeping an eye on this project (that seems, on first glance, to be unnecessary) and we plan on submitting comments by the February 21st deadline.

Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas From Clean Ocean Action's Staff

2011-12-19T10:42:00.000-05:00

With the holidays closing in, Clean Ocean Action is sharing a few ocean-friendly ideas for your loved ones this year. Enjoying the holidays with friends and family is made that much better knowing it is done in an environmentally responsible way!

Cut Back on Plastic Wherever Possible!

When choosing toys, games, gifts, etc, pick the ones with the least packaging, choose to wrap the gifts yourself (with re-used newspaper from your recycle bin!), and re-use those giant bags stores give you as garbage bags or food shopping bags (not in that order). Plastic takes several hundred years to degrade – and in the meanwhile it’s choking our oceans, our marine life, and our beaches!

Gift Idea: Reusable Coffee Mugs/Water Bottles

Sometimes explaining to your friends and family why they should have re-usable coffee mugs and water bottles isn't enough. This Christmas you can take the extra step and get one for them! People may not realize how many plastic water bottles and Styrofoam coffee mugs are used every day. Often, after that one-time use, that plastic and Styrofoam end up as ocean pollution. Your friends and family will feel better knowing that their daily trip to the coffee shop won't cause harm to the ocean! Check out COA's re-usable bottles here.

Have a Party for your Friends and Family!
Gifts are great, but so is a pot-luck dinner. Making special meals for your loved ones is a treat not to be missed! Make it even more meaningful by having a donation-raffle: pass around a basket to collect donations, have everyone write down their favorite non-profit organization and drop them in another basket, hat or stocking; shake, stir, mix up the names, and then have someone select one (or two) as the "winning" organization. In the holiday spirit, any size gift matters!

Stories, not Stuff!

Reduce the accumulation of useless material objects by giving a gift of experience. There are plenty of waste-free options for holiday gifts. Gift certificates, tickets for sports games and shows, music lessons, and travel adventures will always be welcome and come without all that gift-wrap. You can also think outside of the box and create a personalized booklet with coupons for getting out of chores, eating out, or staying up late.

Happy Holidays!!

Interested in becoming a Volunteer for Marine Mammal Stranding Center? RSVP today!!!

2011-12-15T12:12:00.000-05:00

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center is looking for volunteers in Northern New Jersey. Clean Ocean Action will be hosting a Stranding Volunteer Training Workshop in Sandy Hook, NJ on Saturday, December 17th.

What is a Stranding Volunteer?

When the MMSC receives a call for a stranded animal we do our best to get to the scene as quickly as possible, but we couldn't do this without the help from our stranding volunteers. Some volunteer responsibilities include; keeping people and pets away from the animal no matter if it is sick or healthy and to stay in constant contact with our Stranding Technicians. In most cases, volunteers will also have to send us a picture of the animal so we can see it's condition. Volunteers will have no direct contact with live animals unless directed by a Stranding Technician. Once a technician arrives, volunteers may be asked to help transport the animal which sometimes includes heavy lifting.

In order to assist us with strandings, you must take this workshop first. If you have already taken a workshop in the past, you are not required to take a second one. Although you are welcome to attend as a refresher course.

Requirements for MMSC stranding volunteers:

-Must be at least 18 years old

-Must live within 15 minutes of the beach, or tributary

-Must own a digital camera, or camera phone

-Must be in good physical condition.

When: Saturday, December 17, 2011

Where: Building 18, Sandy Hook NJ

Time: 12:00-2:30 pm

At the workshop you will learn about the species of marine mammals and sea turtles that MMSC responds to, proper procedures and volunteer do's and don't's, Federal and State laws regarding these protected species, plus much more necessary and useful information.

You will also have the opportunity to purchase MMSC volunteer shirts, ID books, decals, badges, and more.

Please RSVP with Halley Martinez via email (edummsc@aol.com) or phone (609-266-0538) with your full name, phone number, and location.

This workshop has limited availability so please RSVP at your earliest convenience. Thank you!

Shark River Cleanup Coalition calls for Your Support!

2011-12-12T13:44:00.000-05:00

Our friends at the Shark River Cleanup Coalition are calling for your help tomorrow, Tuesday 13th in Neptune City.
Information from the Coalition's action alert tells us that the Neptune City Land Use Board will be addressing a proposed subdivision on Shell Road just off of West Sylvania Avenue. The proposed subdivision has the potential to create negative environmental impacts on the ecosystem of the Shark River Bay. If you want to take a stand for the water quality and wildlife of the Shark River Bay, take action. Here's how:

Tell your Friends and Neighbors!

Call the Mayors office in Neptune City and let them know how you feel.

Borough of Neptune City

106 West Sylvania Avenue

Neptune City, NJ 07753

Tel. 732-776-7224

Fax. 732-776-8906

Volunteers needed to help spread the word.

If you can help call Jim McNamara at 732-539-2033

The meeting is Tuesday December 13th at 7pm at the Neptune City Land Use Board. For more information on the Shark River Cleanup Coalition visit http://www.sharkriver.org/.

Clean Ocean Action Achieves Highest 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator!

2011-12-01T18:48:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday from Clean Ocean Action!!

First and foremost, exciting news from Charity Navigator ("America's premiere independent charity evaluator") - Clean Ocean Action has achieved the highest rating - 4 Stars - given! After detailed calculations and machinations, Charity Navigator gave COA a score of 65.96 out of 70 - one of the highest ratings of ocean-focused public interest groups in the nation! Read more here: http://goo.gl/ui9gy.

Second, we just wanted to check in with everyone and make sure that our Blog followers had ready access to our other online personas. Feel free to check out these other avenues of interacting with Clean Ocean Action!!

Twitter:

@CleanOcean
Our favorite hashtags, predictably, include: #ocean, #beachsweeps, #marinedebris, #COZ, #NYBight, #BarnegatBay, #NJFertilizer, and others!

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/CleanOcean
"Like" us on facebook and you'll be hit with a wave (but not a big "fill-my-inbox" wave) of information, events announcements, donation options, and links to this blog (when we post new stories)!

Internet:

www.CleanOceanAction.org
Your source for everything Clean and Oceany. We've got links on the homepage to all of our media sites, our donation and gear shops, issues, programs, events, education opportunities, and even a host of pages on COA staff and special campaigns!

Fun, Ocean-Friendly Gifts for you and yours! (Happy Cyber Monday!)

2011-11-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

Check out our new and improved ONLINE STORE. Treat your family and friends to organic cotton totes, stainless-steel water bottles, bandanas, and more while supporting our ocean protection work! Gift memberships are also a great fit for those on your list who have everything. Call Emily at COA's office, 732-872-0111 if you would like to order by phone.

This Thanksgiving Spread the Word, Not the Fertilizer

2011-11-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

With so much to give thanks for this November 24th, Clean Ocean Action is making sure to highlight one of this year's great victories. We are "Spreading the Word, Not the Fertilizer!" Here's a note from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection:

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection reminds everyone that as of November 15, residents cannot apply fertilizer to their lawns until next spring.

Likewise, commercial applicators of fertilizer have until December 1 to complete their customer service cycle of late Fall fertilization.

Fertilizer cannot be applied onto lawns again until March 1st.

New Jersey's Fertilizer Law is a statewide initiative that was established as part of the Governor's 10-point action plan to protect and restore Barnegat Bay. It is one of the most stringent fertilizer laws in the country and is designed to reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus loadings that can drain into New Jersey's surface and groundwater resources.

For more information about the new law and what you can do to help, go to www.nj.gov/dep/healthylawnshealthywater.

To learn more about the Governor's 10-point action plan to protect and restore Barnegat Bay, go to www.barnegatbay.nj.gov.

New Jersey's fertilizer law is just one of many things we have to be thankful for this year, not least of which is the deep blue sea we all enjoy so much. Wishing you and all of your friends and family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Exporting our Energy Future: Could 20% of the Domestic Natural Gas We Use Be Sold Overseas?

2011-11-21T12:25:00.000-05:00

Following up on our Series on Ocean Energy, we now turn to LNG – and the problem of LNG Exports…

In case you missed them, check out the first two parts of this series of posts:

1. Victory for the Atlantic – Obama Cancels Plans to Drill for Oil in the Atlantic Ocean

2. Victory for the Atlantic – The Catch: Obama Will Expedite Seismic Surveys

Last week, while the President was announcing his plans on offshore oil drilling for the next 5 years, the Senate held a hearing on one of the ugliest turns in US energy history – the rapid, unchecked, and unfortunate export of domestically-produced natural gas to overseas markets via LNG tankers and terminals. (watch the webcast replay here)

The way the export of natural gas works is that a company must apply to the Department of Energy for permission to export, and they must say where that LNG would go – to a nation we have a free-trade agreement (“FTA”) with or to one we don’t (we have “FTAs” with about 15 nations).

Right from the outset of the application phase, the current laws on exporting gas are stacked against the average American consumer. If a company applies to the DOE to export gas to a country with which we have a free-trade agreement, the federal government automatically must grant the request. There can be no analysis into whether this might be bad for the public.

If a company applies to export to a nation the US does not have a free-trade agreement with, the DOE must presume that exports are in the best interests of the public, and it’s up to the DOE to “rebut” this presumption if they have a ton of evidence. There does not seem to be a good mechanism to test whether the DOE is performing its due diligence in reviewing this presumption.

Under the harsh lights of a Senate Hearing Room, a Department of Energy representative testified that the federal government DOE is “presently” considering four applications to export domestically produced LNG to nations that the US does not have a free-trade agreement with. A fifth application has already been approved. Taken together, if approved, these export licenses would authorize the export of up to 6.6 Billion cubic feet of domestically-produced gas every day – which, according to the DOE export, “represents 10 percent of total current domestic natural gas daily consumption in the United States.”

To make matters worse, the DOE has already authorized exports from 5 LNG facilities for trade with Free-Trade-Agreement nations, at the same bulk quantity of 6.6 Billion cubic feet per day. (monitor the DOE export/import applications here)

Thus, within a few months (when these four pending applications are approved), the DOE will have allowed the export of up to 20% of our daily US consumption overseas – without having studied whether or not this will affect the price of gas for US consumers, businesses, and industries.

That’s right, according to the testimony from the DOE, “In order to address the potential cumulative impact of a grant of the pending applications, DOE has [just recently!] commissioned two studies…to address the impacts of additional natural gas exports on domestic energy consumption, production, and prices, as well as the cumulative impact on the U.S. economy, including the effect on gross domestic product, jobs creation, and balance of trade, among other factors. We anticipate that these studies will be completed in the first quarter of calendar year 2012.” (see the testimony here)

Put another way, two out of every ten units of gas used in the USA could be diverted to overseas markets soon, and the DOE is just now starting to look to see whether that’s a good thing or not.

It is patently NOT good governance to blindly approve energy export applications without seeing whether it will be detrimental to the US economy. In an era where the goal of becoming energy independent is at the fore of our national psyche, exports should be banned, or at the least questioned thoroughly (and only allowed if a substantial need is shown), not automatically approved.

Instead of using plentiful and cheap gas produced in the US to wean us off of oil, or to help us transition to cleaner energy futures, gas is being sold to the highest bidder (usually European and Asian markets), to the detriment of the US.

Finally, in another ugly tidbit of information, energy experts at the Senate Hearing testified that most of the companies that own our burgeoning “shale gas” reserves are foreign-based corporations. Additionally, these are some of the same companies leading the charge to export our US-produced natural gas. Thus, we have a system in place right now that has allowed foreign companies to come into American backyards, buy land and gas, and get authorizations to export it from the US. And while these companies are pushing for LNG export applications, they admit that it will drive US gas prices higher (see here, toward end).

Clean Ocean Action has been working on LNG issues for years – from imports and import facilities to this export issue. Stay tuned for more information and COA action to stop energy companies from stealing our clean energy future.

Up Next: The US Is Exporting Vast Quantities of Oil Products? Yes we are - and it's driving up gas prices.

Our Annual Report is now available as a pdf!

2011-11-17T16:27:00.000-05:00

Our Annual Report is now available in an electronic format. Take a look and see how much we’ve been able to accomplish and the broad range of work that we do to protect the ocean.

Oh, yes, and an end-of-the-year donation would help us keep up the good work!

Victory for the Atlantic Ocean! (Part 2: the Catch)

2011-11-16T15:26:00.000-05:00

In our last post (which we're still giddy about), we told you of the recent decision by the Obama Administration to NOT Drill for oil off the Atlantic Coast (which he had planned on doing)...

(http://cleanoceanaction.blogspot.com/2011/11/victory-for-atlantic-ocean.html)

Great news, right? Yes. But there's a catch; several actually.

First, the President announced expansions to oil drilling operations in the Gulf and in the Arctic Ocean. According to the Department of Interior: “the Proposed Program includes lease sales in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas,” areas of ocean that many environmental groups in the region warn are poor choices for energy development – there are no nearby marine ports (e.g., there are no oil-spill response or Coast Guard boats), and seasonal and weather conditions exacerbate risks of catastrophe.

Second, the President issued the following statement:

“There remain complex issues relating to potentially conflicting uses, including those of the Department of Defense. As the oil and gas resource potential in the Mid- and South Atlantic planning areas is not well understood, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is moving forward to expeditiously to facilitate resource evaluation in these areas, including conducting a programmatic Environmental Impact Statement relating to seismic surveys in the Atlantic.”

The federal government, therefore, plans on seismically surveying the Atlantic Ocean – sending pulses of sound waves at high decibels over thousands of miles of ocean habitat – in search of the most readily-available oil resources. These activities are tied to significant impacts on marine life, affecting everything from migration patterns of whales to the feeding behavior of fish. To top it all off, these surveys are publicly-funded expeditions that pinpoint resources that, perhaps in 2017, will be given to private companies to develop and sell for profit!

COA Staff Scientist, Dr. Heather Saffert, has been studying the impacts of seismic surveys on marine life and the coastal ecosystem and will be developing robust comments and reviews on the issue.

Clean Ocean Action has been working to keep the Atlantic Ocean seismic-survey-free for years, and will continue to do so. The “Draft” impact assessment of these surveys is expected out in the spring.

Third, and finally, while the President has decided to not drill for oil in the Atlantic, Congress can still overrule this decision. In fact, the House of Representatives has already passed a bill that would do just that.

(a series of bills we talked about here: http://cleanoceanaction.blogspot.com/2011/04/offshore-oil-takes-center-stage-in-bad.html)

This week, the House has two Congressional hearings on these issues, and a few more are expected. Stay tuned to COA for more information...

Victory for the Atlantic Ocean!

2011-11-08T17:49:00.000-05:00

Obama Reverses Course on Offshore Oil Drilling!

This afternoon President Obama issued a 5-year offshore oil drilling plan for 2012-2017, in which he doesn’t allow any Atlantic Ocean oil and gas drilling!

To review, in the final years of the Bush Presidency, and in the initial stages of Obama’s tenure, the Atlantic Ocean was put on the table for offshore oil drilling. Many have bought into Big Oil’s hype that drilling in places like Virginia and potentially the NY/NJ Bight would “decrease the price of gas and make us more energy independent.” Clean Ocean Action proved otherwise – citing the government’s own reports, we spread the word near and far that you could drill every drop of oil in the Atlantic and you would only reduce prices by $0.03 (a fraction of the cost of postage)…in 2030!! These miniscule benefits would take two decades of oil activities off our beaches to have anything to show for it!

Then, as we all know, the BP Deepwater Horizon spill happened…and continued to happen…and continued to happen. Discharging over 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf – forever changing the ecosystem and economy of the region. Despite the spill, President Obama continued insisting we needed to drill in the Atlantic! (read more here)

The House of Representatives went along with the President’s plan; despite the best efforts of 12 of New Jersey’s 13 Representatives, and most Democrats from New York, the House passed a bill that also would open the Atlantic to drilling. (read more here)

On the Senate side, New Jersey Senators Lautenberg and Menendez have been long-time advocates for keeping the Atlantic Ocean oil-free, and introduced multiple bills to curtail Obama’s proposed Atlantic Ocean activities. (read more here)

Governor Christie has, throughout his time in office, continuously opposed oil drilling in New Jersey’s ocean and in nearby parts of the Atlantic that would, if anything went wrong, threaten New Jersey’s coast!

Based on the outrageous disaster in the Gulf, and the then-ongoing plan to continue pushing ocean oil drilling to deeper canyons and into oceans like the Atlantic, 2010 saw the first “Hands Across the Sand” worldwide rally for no more oil drilling. In Asbury Park, NJ, the Clean Ocean Action- and Surfrider-sponsored event brought over 1300 people to the beach to hold hands in solidarity against drilling.

Thanks to the “Hands” event, your voices, with many others across nation, convinced President Obama to reversed course.

According to the Department of Interior fact sheet issued today, the 2012-2017 oil drilling plan for our oceans “does not include lease sales in the Atlantic region” primarily because of “the current lack of infrastructure to support oil and gas exploration and development, as well as spill preparedness and response” – essentially there is no oil in the Atlantic, so the region isn’t equipped to respond if something went wrong.

Tuesday was a good day for the Atlantic Ocean!

Clean Ocean Action will keep working with other public interest groups and state and federal government agencies to ensure that, in 2017, the Atlantic Ocean stays closed to oil drilling!

Take Back your Unused and Old Drugs on Saturday October 29, 2011!

2011-10-27T12:50:00.000-04:00

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is hosting its third National Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at many local law enforcement offices and other locations across the country. Proper and safe disposal of medicine can help prevent: misuse and poisoning of children and pets as well as drug pollution from entering rivers, lakes and the ocean and harming aquatic life. Don’t flush drugs down the toilet or the drain, as drugs can pass through wastewater treatment plants and enter waterways. To find a collection site near you, click here. The national number to call for the nearest National Take Back Initiative location is: 1-800-882-9539. If you can’t make it Saturday, click here to read about how to protect our waters and ocean by disposing of medicines properly.

King Tide Photo Contests in New Jersey and New York on October 27

2011-10-12T13:21:00.001-04:00

On Thursday October 27, 2011, a king tide, an extra high tide, will impact the coastal region of New York and New Jersey. King tides happen twice a year when the Earth, moon, and sun align, maximizing the gravitational forces that produce tides. The name “king tides” is more common in the Pacific where these tides can be formidable creating big surf and strong rip currents.

Environmental planners in our region, concerned about sea level rise, are requesting photos of the event in the Hudson River Estuary region and in Barnegat Bay as a preview of what average high tide levels will likely be 20 - 30 years from now. Photos will help raise awareness of sea level rise predictions and provide valuable information to coastal policymakers.

For comparison with the king tide, photos are requested during a normal high tide, such as on Oct 19^th or 20^th and then midday on October 27^th during the king tide at the same location. The time of high tides can be determined by looking at the following websites and choosing the gage site closest to your chosen location:

New York sites and New Jersey sites

Two photos of the exact same location in the Hudson River Estuary or Barnegat Bay region are needed and can be submitted to the National Estuary Program hosting the contest. Submit your 2 photos, along with the time, date, photographer name, geographic location (GPS coordinates if possible), orientation of photo (direction facing when taking it) and a caption or any other relevant information about the site to either the Hudson Estuary Program or the Barnegat Bay Partnership.

For Hudson River Estuary photos:

- Email them to habitat@harborestuary.org by November 4^th

For Barnegat Bay photos:

- Upload them to the Flickr™ group page

- Or email them to Karen Walzer at the partnership at kwalzer@ocean.edu

The Barnegat Bay Program is offering a prize! All photos submitted will automatically be entered into a contest, with the grand prize a pontoon boat tour of the bay, guided by a professional naturalist, for the winning photographer and 10 to 15 guests in spring 2012. Two runners-up will each receive a Barnegat Bay Partnership gift bag.

Additional information can be found at the Barnegat Bay Partnership website or for the Hudson Estuary Program instructions or here.

Big Week-Bigger Weekend!

2011-10-07T16:06:00.000-04:00

This week was a big one here at Clean Ocean Action, but the weekend will be bigger!

Over the past few days, COA has had meetings with Congressmen and Senate Staffers on ocean pollution prevention issues, been busy attending (sometimes remotely) seminars and colloquia on stormwater, ocean policy, environmental law, and other coastally-related issues, and we’ve also managed to clean our office kitchen!

The top story of the week, though, was on Thursday. A tip of the hat to COA’s Education Coordinator Tavia Danch and the success of the 23rd Annual Fall Student Summit! Highlighted in a story in the Asbury Park Press entitled “Fall Summit teaches students about beach stewardship” (http://goo.gl/vXAmL), the Summit saw over 325 middle school students visit Island Beach State Park for a day of ocean and coastal education!

Students came from 13 schools across Mercer, Ocean, Camden, and Monmouth Counties. Late each summer, COA sends out invitations to every school in the state, asking for interest in spending a day with us at the beach – and we’ve had constantly increasing levels of involvement and interest from across the state. In the Spring, COA hosts its Monmouth County Student Summit for middle schoolers from Monmouth and more northerly counties. The Spring event is a two-day summit, drawing almost 600 students total.

These two summits wouldn’t be successful without the help and expertise of high school volunteers from Ocean County’s Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) and Monmouth’s Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST). This week’s Fall Summit went off without a hitch thanks to over 50 MATES students that taught a dozen lab stations and led almost as many field trips through the dunes and marshes!

If your school is looking to spend a great day on the beach with COA next year, send a note to Tavia Danch and she will get you information.

This week’s events were BIG, but the weekend will be Bigger!

Saturday:

- COA Staff will be at the Rumson/Fair Haven High School’s Environmental Festival, in Rumson, NJ to help RFH students get the word out about actions that can be taken in your home, yard, and neighborhood for a cleaner ocean! Read about some of the over RFH Fall Festival happenings here!

- All day Saturday, COA will be at the Asbury Park BeerFest (click here for ticketing info) – a one-day, two-session celebration of New Jersey’s finest craft and historical brews. COA, along with Best Day Foundation, will be sharing parts of the proceeds of the event (thanks!!!), so make sure to stop by our tables when you’re at the festival (and drive safely!).

Saturday & Sunday

- COA volunteers will also be at the North American Sea Glass Festival at the Ocean Place Resort in Long Branch supporting the work of local artists and activists interested in a more pristine ocean environment!

Wall Township Environmental Summit

2011-09-29T12:25:00.000-04:00

This past Monday night, the Wall Township Environmental Advisory Committee hosted their 7^th Annual(!) Environmental Summit giving the public the opportunity to engage their elected officials on any and all pressing environmental issues. Legislators from New Jersey’s 11^th Legislative District, Senator Sean Kean and Assemblyman David Rible were on hand to address the concerns of many local residents who came out to have their voices heard. Clean Ocean Action was pleased to be among those concerned voices.

Sen. Kean raised the issue the recent legislative redistricting that has just taken place in New Jersey. The new Legislative map puts both Sen. Kean and Assm. Rible in what will be the new 30^th District. Both Kean and Rible will be running for the General Assembly seats while the 30^th’s existing Senator Robert Singer will be running for the Senate seat. To find out what district your town will now fall into click here.

One of the first issues raised by the public concerned the flooding of Wreck Pond. Residents wanted to make it clear that the flooding occurs after every big rainfall and not just after the “100 Year Storm.” Residents were well aware that Wall’s watershed drains into Wreck Pond and the burden of the pond’s clean up should not fall on just Spring Lake, but multiple municipalities as well as the State. A representative from the Environmental Commission of Spring Lake suggested that Natural Resource Damage funding be looked into as both Kean and Rible cited funding as the major hurdle for Wreck Pond’s rehabilitation. Hurricane Irene has created a sense of urgency with the legislators and their constituents many of whom are still cleaning up their basements and homes in the wake of the hurricane’s flooding. Sen. Kean assured the group that every possible funding opportunity for Wreck Pond will be looked at. Additionally, Assm. Rible cited his collaboration with Congressman Chris Smith, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Mayor’s office to continue working on this “action item.”

The need for dredging of Shark River was another central theme of the night. Lifelong residents who have seen Shark River’s best days stood up to warn the elected officials and the public that if action isn’t taken soon, the river could become a “lifeless polluted mud flat”. Members of the public expressed their frustration with State money going to less important projects than the dredging of the river. Senator Kean said that the issue had been taken to the highest levels of the administration and the DEP, but did mention a lack of outcry from the public on the issue. Assm. Rible said that while dredging plans have looked great on paper in the past, the problem lies in finding usable dredging sites.

With the rehabilitation of Wreck Pond and Shark River dredging taking up much of the discussion, there was still room for residents to stress the importance of wind and solar energy, their concerns about pesticides and herbicides being used in public places, and their opposition to offshore drilling for oil and natural gas.

Clean Ocean Action had the chance to thank Sen. Kean and Assm. Rible for their leadership and support of recent critical legislation that takes steps to keep our waterways clean as well as ask for 3 point plan on what they are doing to protect the ocean. Kean not only mentioned that he had preceded the Governor in his opposition to Liquefied Natural Gas, but declared that he would always be an ally of COA in preventing ocean pollution.

All in all the night was a success allowing the public to engage their elected officials on issues that matter to them – which is what democracy is all about!

Oceans Quo-ceans

2011-09-28T13:51:00.000-04:00

A Clean Ocean Action guide to some amazing quotes about big blue.

We here at Clean Ocean Action thought it about time we shared some of our inspiration (to save the oceans) on our blog! Enjoy:

If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me….Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it? Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, upon suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver, deliberate whether to buy him a coat, which he sadly needed, or invest his money in a pedestrian trip to Rockaway Beach? Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.

~ Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Every drop in the ocean counts.

~ Yoko Ono, Artist

How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.

~ Arthur C. Clarke, Scientist & Writer

I hope for your help to explore and protect the wild ocean in ways that will restore the health and, in so doing, secure hope for humankind. Health to the ocean means health for us.

~ Sylvia Earle, Ocean Hero

It is of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line, though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the ocean.

~ John Locke, Thinker

Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

~ John F. Kennedy, President

No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.

~ Charles Kettering, Inventor

Roll on, deep and dark blue ocean, roll. Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. Man marks the earth with ruin, but his control stops with the shore.

~ Lord Byron, Poet

Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.

~ Steven Wright, Comedian

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

~ Mother Teresa

Yummy: Yumi

2011-09-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

Yummy. Yumi. Two similar sounding words that belong next to one another.

Are you looking for something different? Something to spice up your evening? Yumi has you covered with their Neo-Asian Experience. Influenced by the cuisine from southeast Asia, Chef Shuenn takes pride in his kitchen and demands a great deal from his classically trained sushi chefs.

Chef Shuenn offers up a number of classic dishes and a few that give nod to his surrounding: we're partial to the Sandy Hook!

Each year, Yumi graciously donates a few of their signature dishes to Sunset at Sandy Hook, providing guests with the finest of sushi and worldly flavors.

Yumi, translated, means "most beautiful." We couldn't think of a more appropriate name--it is truly a representation of their cuisine.

You can find hours of operation and full menu on their website, and check out their cuisine at Sunset at Sandy Hook.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICECREAM!

2011-09-19T20:49:00.000-04:00

Last year, someone handed me one of the best ice cream cones I'd ever had. Perched atop a simple sugar cone was the best dip of pumpkin ice cream I'd ever had. It was then and there, I was hooked...and we are certain you will be too.

Gracie and the Dudes (and Sadie too!) is owned and operated by Brian and Michelle McMullin, both of whom have an undying commitment to great product, service and ensuring that Gracie, Sadie, the dudes, and your kids all have the highest quality treats possible.

Nestled in the heart of of Sea Bright, NJ, their quaint shop offers a host of homemade icecreams, sorbets and deserts sure to put a smile on even the biggest kids face. From hard ice cream (which we learned, should be served soft), to soft serve yogurt, sorbet, hot fudge, carmel, to waffle cones--they make it all in house on a daily basis. They even make what goes into the ice cream--from the brownies, to the biscotti. You'll be hard pressed to find another ice cream store that does this---and we are certain you'll taste the difference.

Brian and Michelle have graciously donated to Sunset at Sandy Hook for a number of years--each year, leaving us guessing what delightful treat they'll have in store for us. We're looking forward to what sweet treats we'll be tasting this year--are you?

You can learn more about Gracie and the Dudes on their website; and taste the goodness Friday night, at Sunset at Sandy Hook.

Booskerdoo

2011-09-14T17:06:00.000-04:00

Booskerdoo.

Wondering what that means? We were too.

Nestled in the heart of Monmouth Beach is an unassuming micro coffee roastery that offers much more than your average cup-o-joe. Rather, the inviting shop serves up a healthy dose of coffee, brewed at its flavor peak, and a lesson in all things coffee related. Trust us when we tell you that you’ll never look at coffee the same way again.

The new-kid to Monmouth County, Bookserdoo opened in April of 2011 and is locally owned and operated by the dynamic couple; James and Amelia Caverly. While the shop might be new to the area, Amelia’s family is from the shore and the couple has been visiting for years. “We’d visit for the weekend, and when Sunday would roll around, we’d reluctantly pack our bags. We found ourselves not wanting to leave,” said James. “A micro roasting company was always in the works, this just felt like the right place.”

Booskerdoo prides itself on offering the finest coffee’s and brining a unique coffee experience to each one of us. They specialize in maintaining freshness throughout the brewing process and you can sip assured that you’re beans will never be stale—all coffee at Booskerdoo is roasted in-house, in the past seven days.

Don’t have time to swing by the shop? Don’t fret, they’ve got you covered. You can pick up their beans at Sickles market, No Joe’s Café, and the Bungalow Hotel in Long Branch. But they don’t stop there; you can also order their beans online—or sign up for their subscription plan, where you receive regular deliveries of fresh roasted coffee to your door—at wholesale prices. (We’re raising our cup to that!)

As if offering a strong espresso on our way to the ‘hook wasn’t enough, Booskerdoo has generously donated their coffee to our signature fall fundraiser, Sunset at Sandy Hook. “It’s not enough to have great coffee, it’s imperative that we are also great community members as well. Booskerdoo thrived our first summer—our business relies on a clean, vibrant coastal community and we are committed to protecting it. We are thrilled to participate in Sunset at Sandy Hook and look forward to a great evening with new friends,” concluded James.

You can learn more about Booskerdoo on their website: http://www.booskerdoo.com/ and enjoy their roast at the 13^th Annual Sunset at Sandy Hook on September 23^rd.

We learned that Booskerdoo is synonymous with good coffee—and we’re certain you will too.

Volunteers Speak: Sunset Is An Event Not To Be Missed!

2011-09-13T09:52:00.000-04:00

Sunset at Sandy Hook is quickly approaching! September 23rd is right around the corner and tickets are still available. Here's what Ann Gilmartin, a COA volunteer had to say about the fall fundraiser:

"I have been attending COA's Sunset event for many years - it is such an enjoyable night at a perfect location - the Seagull's Nest on Sandy Hook.

Many of the shore’s best restaurants provide their signature dishes. There is dancing to great bands, fun auctions, and catching up with many good friends from the area- all while supporting a great organization like Clean Ocean Action!

I thought so highly of this COA event that I joined the Sunset committee few years back. It's an excellent way to become more connected to your community and it is great to see so many of our local businesses helping us out!"

It's easy to reserve your plate.

You can purchase tickets online (it's fast and secure!) and also pick a sponsorship package on the website!

Post Irene Check-In & Fall Fun Starts!

2011-09-02T15:02:00.000-04:00

In the wake of Hurricane/Storm/Disaster Irene, Clean Ocean Action hopes everyone is safe and secure as the power companies work to restore service to the tens of thousands still without power (including some COA staff!) and as crews work to clear debris, drain water, and restore roads throughout the region!

Here at COA, we’re working on figuring out just what the long-term damage of Irene will be to the oceans and coasts. We’re already seeing epic trash heaps on the beaches here at Sandy Hook (don’t worry - we’ll clean it all up at the Fall Beach Sweeps on October 22nd!). COA is also monitoring beach water quality testing up and down the coastline, stormwater infrastructure repair needs, and a few other problems cropping up.

If you have photos or stories of how Irene impacted your ocean and shore area, please send them our way online at our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/cleanocean) or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/cleanocean)!

We’ll continue to keep everyone informed about the effect of this rainy, rainy August on the oceans.

For the weekend, we hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend, the last big summer weekend. The weather looks nice across the NY/NJ Bight from Montauk to Cape May, and hopefully the sun stays out through Monday!

Once Fall “begins” (unofficially, after Labor Day), we have great things in store for our COA community:

Sunset at Sandy Hook

- Join the COA team for food, fun, and festivities at the Seagull’s Nest on Sandy Hook on September 23rd as we celebrate another year of ocean pollution prevention and coastal advocacy! Get tickets here, and see the Facebook event page here!

Fall Beach Sweeps

- We’re going to be out by the thousands again this fall on October 22nd to clean up beaches at over 65 sites across New Jersey! Beach Clean Ups are a great way to get your family and friends outside on what (we hope) will be a beautiful fall morning, making our beaches ready for the winter! More info on our Fall Beach Sweeps here!

Beach Closures: Monday August 22, 2011

2011-08-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

Headed to the beach?

The following are closed:

OCEAN BEACH CLOSINGS: Brown and York Avenue beaches in Spring Lake and the Terrace and Beacon Blvd. beaches in Sea Girt are closed today as a precaution due to rainfall and the resulting stormwater discharge from Wreck Pond.

RIVER/BAY BEACH CLOSING: L Street river beach in Belmar and the Shark River Beach and Yacht Club in Neptune are closed today as a precaution due to rainfall and the resulting stormwater discharge.

All other lifeguarded beaches are open today.

For more information, visit:

http://njbeaches.org/qpcr_online_reporting_spreadsheet.pdf )

Algal Bloom in NY/NJ Bight: Help Needed!

2011-08-19T16:17:00.000-04:00

A huge algal bloom, indicated by the green color in the ocean water, was observed on August 17, 2011 in this True Color Satellite Image. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System, MARACOOS, has posted this image and additional information and data on its website, click here. The bloom covered much of the New York/New Jersey Bight which extends from Montauk, NY (the tip of Long Island) to Cape May, NJ.

The bloom consists of tiny algae, called phytoplankton, that contain the pigment, chlorophyll-a, which is measured in the satellite images. MARACOOS webpage shows an image of the Bight area on July 1 under more normal conditions for this time of year. The bloom initially began in mid-July along the middle to southern part of the Jersey Shore. Winds from the southwest blowing northeast became dominant from July 23-30 driving surface waters toward the ocean and causing water to upwell along the NJ coast. Nutrient-rich, cold waters from the ocean bottom rises during upwelling, fueling algal growth and blooms. These waters combine with coastal surface waters that are also nutrient rich due to the Hudson River outflow and coastal runoff.

In the summer, southwesterly winds and the associated occasional coastal upwelling is normal along certain specific areas of the Jersey shore. However, these blooms usually affect an area within about 9 - 12 miles (15-20 km) from shore, whereas the algal bloom this August extends to over 62 miles (100 km) into the ocean.

As the algae in the bloom die, they settle to the seafloor and decay using up oxygen. Reductions in dissolved oxygen to 4-5 mg/L have been observed by one of the autonomous underwater vehicles (Gliders) that have been deployed by Rutgers University to sample and monitor the Bight. Updates on glider data can be found here. Levels below the water quality of standard of 5 mg/L can stress and harm fish and other aquatic organisms. Clean Ocean Action (COA) has previously advocated for a glider to be used along the NJ coast by NJDEP and EPA and it is great to see that this effort has been funded, especially given this massive bloom event.

In addition to the upwelling process, another coastal oceanographic process off the northern part of the Jersey Shore has developed over the last week apparently in response to the extensive rain over the weekend in the New York/New Jersey region that resulted in high volumes of runoff and combined sewer overflows in the metropolitan area that discharge into the Hudson River Estuary. The bloom activity in the northern part of the Jersey Shore appears to be related to coastal runoff and the plume, the outflow, of the Hudson River.

COA is requesting the help of divers, fishermen, and boaters in the area to look for tell-tale signs of low dissolved oxygen and document their locations. Fishermen and boaters should be looking for fish floating on the surface or in their nets. Divers should look for lobsters, crabs and fish that usually hide in crevices, but are now in the open and lethargic. Also, divers should look for fish that are located higher on the wrecks and/or breathing with difficulty. If divers know how to use dissolved oxygen kits, they should take samples. COA is also asking government agencies to sample and monitor the bloom and its impacts.

What's your favorite way to Share the Shore?

2011-08-18T15:37:00.000-04:00

What is your favorite way to

Share the Shore?

Gliding through another summer effortlessly, content in knowing that the more days spent at the beach with nothing better to do but watch the waves lap at the shore, we bask in the notion that these are the best days well spent relaxing idle without purpose…..

The reality of summer for most of us is much faster paced, as we fill our days with out-of-doors activities, in a mad dash to enjoy the best weather of the year while we can get it. And among our diverse array of favorite summer time activities a common focus emerges, as many of the things we love to do revolve in and around the beach, the ocean, and along our coastal waterways. We enjoy taking part in all things coastal and have our favorite spots to swim, fish, surf, kayak, sail, and so on… Some even secret shhh! There is nothing better than getting together with friends, family, and loved ones to celebrate the vibrancy of summer while partaking in our favorite shore activity.

So maybe it goes without saying that while we are all united in a common focus to enjoy our beaches, oceans, and waterways, that we also have the best intentions to help keep these areas we care about healthy and accessible.

Two local organizations that have been working on this exact mission are right in our own back yards, with offices out on Sandy Hook – Clean Ocean Action and The American Littoral Society. And while the individual focus of each is slightly different, the intention is the same; keeping the places we hold dear healthy and accessible through community involvement, conservation and education efforts.

Clean Ocean action is now in its 27^th year of pursuing its goal to improve water quality of the marine waters off the NY/NJ coast. Yeah!

And the American Littoral Society will celebrate its 50^th year on August 20^th of promoting the study and conservation of marine life and habitat, protecting the coast from harm, and empowering others to do the same.

We can continue to celebrate the summer season in our like mindedness of common intention with a number of great upcoming events from these two stellar ocean advocacy factions. So go ahead and choose your favorite way to express your love, admiration, and respect for the shore and all things coastal.

American Littoral Society celebrates 50 years of ‘Share the Shore’. This Saturday, August 20th will be the day to celebrate all things coastal with American Littoral Society by participating in their "Share the Shore" event. This event is actually numerous micro-events that are participant created from Montauk to Delaware Bay. Visit the Share the Shore website and register for this free event by creating an event of your own or joining in one already created. American Littoral Society is looking to create a virtual tour of the shore where event participants e-mail in their pictures and video of their activities to sharetheshore@hotmail.com. Prizes will be awarded for best photo and best ‘Share the Shore’ banner. For details visit the Share the Shore website at www.ShareTheShore.net. How do you like to Share the Shore?

Clean Ocean Action celebrates Sunset at Sandy Hook, join us for Clean Ocean Action's Sunset at Sandy Hook on September 23, 2011 from 6:00-10:00pm at the Sea Gull's Nest Deck Restaurant, Sandy Hook, NJ
Enjoy live music by The Thom White Band and Art Servilla, The Green Earth Troubadour. Take a chance on exciting raffles and participate in our Sunset silent auction. Treat your tastebuds to specialty fare by over twenty of the shore area's best restaurants and caterers along with drinks from our beachy bar of beer and wine. For more information and ticket sales visit www.cleanoceanaction.org.

Safe To Swim?

2011-08-15T15:24:00.000-04:00

Headed to the beach? Here's what you should know.

OCEAN BEACH CLOSINGS:

Brown and York Avenue beaches in Spring Lake and the Terrace and Beacon Blvd. beaches in Sea Girt are closed today as a precaution due to rainfall and the resulting stormwater discharge from Wreck Pond.

RIVER/BAY BEACH CLOSINGS:

L Street River beach in Belmar and the Shark River Beach and Yacht Club in Neptune are closed today as a precaution due to rainfall and the resulting stormwater discharge

Test results from most beaches will not be available until tomorrow.

Health advisories have been posted for 3 of the 4 beaches tested in Ocean County where the rapid test which provides same day results is being used as part of a pilot program. Windward Beach in Brick, Avon Road in Pine Beach, Beachwood Beach West in Beachwood all had exceeded the health threshold using the new test method. Angelsea in Ocean Gate had one sample above and one below this level and was stated as having an undetermined result. Confirmation samples using the traditional method will be available tomorrow.

You can find the most up-to-date information on beach closings here: http://njbeaches.org/

Clean Beaches, Healthy Swimmers

2011-08-15T10:22:00.000-04:00

Clean Ocean Action’s notes on healthy summer swimming on the Shore

Recently, news outlets have been reporting on the adequacy and timeliness of beach water quality monitoring – the vital service funded by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection to close beaches if unsafe levels of bacterial contamination are detected. Read one such story here.

Basically, the way the program works is that NJ County and State water scientists head to the beaches every Monday morning and take a water sample. Testing on that sample takes up to 24 hours. If the sample shows that there is too much bacteria in the water, two things happen: first, an advisory is issued at the beach that warns people of the issue, and second, another sample of water is taken.

After the second sample is collected, which is generally Tuesday afternoon, the DEP closes the beach (again, up to 24 hours later) and takes daily (or more) samples until the bacteria level falls back into compliance.

The EPA and the DEP are working on a 3-hour test method (instead of 24 hours) in order to get advisories and closures to swimmers as quickly as possible. Clean Ocean Action is working with our NJ Congressmen and Senators to get a law passed in Congress to mandate that this quick-test method be implemented nation-wide, and that there is enough funding to keep our beachgoers safe.

In some of the most egregious cases, the DEP and the counties will work to track the source of the bacteria. Sometimes, however, the source is well-known: rainfall overtaxes our aging infrastructure and sewage leaks from pipes, stormwater systems, and back estuaries.

Last year, due to an unusually dry summer locally, New Jersey’s shores were the second most bacteria-free beaches in the nation – behind only New Hampshire (with its whopping 13 miles of beaches).

This year, there have been a few instances of beach closures, mainly in Ocean and Monmouth County. If you want to track these closures, and see first-hand the test results for your favorite beach, click here:

Monmouth County (by day), (by week)

Ocean County (by week)

Atlantic County (by week)

Cape May County (by week)

NJDEP’s Clean Beaches Website

If you’re in a rush to get to the beach and don’t have the internet, give 1 (800) 648-SAND a call and the same information (on which beaches, if any, are closed) will be on the automated machine you hear…

Got notice?

2011-08-12T14:01:00.000-04:00

NJ Department of Environmental Protection launches a new email-alert system to get notified of any newly proposed rules, in real time!

If you’re like us here at Clean Ocean Action, you have more emails in your inbox every morning than grains of sand on a COA Beach Sweeps-cleaned beach (October 22nd, stay tuned!).

If you’d like to get a few more, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has a new feature that provides the internet-savvy public with extra-immediate access to newly proposed rules. We’ve signed up here at COA and we promise that there are only a few actions on this list per week, so you don’t need to worry about being overloaded…

According to a NJDEP email blast about the new program:

“NJDEP publishes between 15 and 25 proposals of rulemaking each year, but now you don't need to wait for the New Jersey Register, search through the newspaper Legal Notices, or go to the NJDEP website to look for them. Instead, you can receive notice by email!”

To sign up for this email list, head to: www.nj.gov/dep/rules/subscribe.html and enter your email address.

While COA is happy that the NJDEP set up an innovative feature for disseminating information, COA and other environmental groups are working to ensure that email communication doesn’t become the sole media through which the DEP communicates issues to the interested public.

Click. Vote. It's THAT easy!

2011-08-03T13:55:00.000-04:00

Hey friends, we hate to be a pest, but we REALLY need your help! Clean Ocean Action is in the running to recieve a $5,000 donation from United Teletech--but it's all based on votes from YOU!

You can make a difference in just 3 easy steps:

1. Click Here.
2. Vote for Clean Ocean Action (you don't have to
     leave your email, but you can if you want more
     info!)
3. Share/Like/Forward/Re-Tweet to all your
    friends.

If EVERYONE we knew took just a few minutes to vote & share, we are confident we'll end up on top.

Click now and vote!

Support the Ocean at Sunset at Sandy Hook

2011-07-26T09:47:00.000-04:00

Would your business benefit from being recognized as an environmental leader in the community? Do you want your product to be in the hands of environmental leaders, clean ocean supporters and ocean enthusiasts? Do you want to show your employees you appreciate them by inviting them to enjoy food from over 20 of the Jersey Shore’s best restaurants all with a sunset that can’t be beat?

If YES, then join us as a 2011 Sunset at Sandy Hook sponsor!

Thanks to the generous support of friends like you, Clean Ocean Action kicks off fall with Sunset at Sandy Hook, a benefit event that raises important funds for our ocean protection work. We are gearing up for our festivities and invite you to join us for this special evening for the ocean.

Sunset at Sandy Hook, will be held on Friday, September 23, 2011 at the Sea Gulls Nest on Sandy Hook. Guests will enjoy dinner from 6-9pm, followed by dessert and dancing into the night. Festivities include catered fare by over 20 local businesses, a bar of beer and wine, spectacular auction packages, and live cocktail music by Art Servilla, The Green Earth Troubadour and music for dancing by the Thom White Band.

Your thoughtful participation as a sponsor would help to ensure that our fundraising efforts take off on a wave of success. The breakdown of sponsorship opportunities is below.

“Sunsational” Event Sponsor ($10,000)

Logo on signage at event entrance and all “Sunset Bars”

Company representative invited to address guests at event

Full-color logo on back cover of program

Company statement in media release and in event program

15 complimentary tickets with reserved seating

Logo and link on email invite sent to 4,000 Clean Ocean Action supporters

Sea fare Sponsor ($5,000)

Logo on signage at “Sunset Seafood and Raw Bar”

Full-color logo in event program

Company statement in media release

Ten complimentary tickets with reserved seating

Logo and link on email invite sent to 4,000 Clean Ocean Action supporters

Entertainment Sponsor ($2,500)

Logo on signage at Entertainment Tent

Logo in event program

Name in media release

Six complimentary tickets

Logo on email invite sent to 4,000 Clean Ocean Action supporters

Sweet Sea Sponsor ($1,000)

Logo on salt water taffy table, providing a sweet treat for guests

Name in event program

Name in media release

Four complimentary tickets with reserved seating

Logo on email invite sent to 4,000 Clean Ocean Action supporters

Contact Emily at (732) 872-0111 or email to participate.

Offshore Wind Projects in New Jersey: Full Breeze Ahead!

2011-07-21T16:05:00.000-04:00

Offshore Wind Projects in New Jersey: Full Breeze Ahead!

..and Offshore Energy: 101

Recently, the federal government announced plans to lease 418 square nautical miles (over 354,000 acres) of New Jersey’s oceans for offshore wind energy facilities, and there was significant interest from the wind industry for those sites. All told, 11 companies expressed official interest in bidding for the opportunity to build offshore wind turbines in New Jersey’s federal waters. The proposed projects range from 300 megawatts (MW) to 3,000 MW.

If the entire 418 square nautical mile area is developed, the federal government estimates that up to 7 companies would be given the opportunity to build wind facilities in New Jersey, and the Governor of the State anticipates that this would bring new opportunities to over 500 businesses in the state. Read the Governor’s Press Statement on the Proposals Here

This process got underway in February when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announced that it was going to move forward in developing Mid-Atlantic Ocean “Wind Energy Areas” in New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Clean Ocean Action (COA), and others, submitted comments on this plan and has been involved in the preliminary federal, state, and local discussions on offshore wind for a while. Last week, in mid-July, BOEMRE issued a notice that they were proceeding with an “Environmental Assessment” for the area and hoped to finalize plans for wind facility installations as quickly as possible.

Understandably, the ins and outs of federal ocean energy resources are complicated issues. Briefly, here’s the situation:

- While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the “oceans” agency, it is only truly concerned with managing fisheries, handling the weather and ocean-borne-commerce, and studying and protecting marine biodiversity

- The Department of Interior, an agency best known for its sub-agencies that run public lands like parks and forests, contains the “Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement” – or BOEMRE. This agency used to be called the “Minerals Management Service” before the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster (that spilled 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico – a spill that is still being cleaned up today)

- BOEMRE is in charge of, under the Energy Policy Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act with issuing leases for oil, gas, and renewable energy activities on the “Outer Continental Shelf”

o “Outer Continental Shelf” – the area of land that is at least 3 nautical miles out to sea, and extending, in most cases, to 200 nautical miles out to sea. This is the US’s federal ocean waters.

o “Leasing” – because the ocean is federal property, the US government doesn’t sell it to companies like BP or Exxon to develop for oil or other energy - it leases ocean areas to them. Generally, leases are for short durations (5 years). The Energy Policy Act of 2005 broadened this authority to include leases for renewables like wind.

- The process that goes into approving leases generally follow a multi-stage plan: first the agency looks to see where leases should be, then they ask for interest and do environmental reviews, then finally, the agency holds a lease sale.

o “Environmental Reviews” – under the National Environmental Policy Act, agencies must look at environmental impacts from major federal actions (like leasing ocean areas) in order to be as informed as possible when making a decision.

o “Lease Sale” – is where competitive bidding occurs if there are many interested parties in a certain ocean area. Sometimes, money is collected in the “sale” which can go to the state bordering the leased area or the federal government.

Here in New Jersey, BOEMRE is conducting its environmental review of the offshore Wind Energy Area. The agency recently released an “Environmental Assessment” and hopes to avoid developing an “Environmental Impact Statement” – which could take many more years to complete. Read the entire assessment (which includes a discussion of the impacts to other states besides New Jersey) HERE.

Clean Ocean Action is staying on top of the environmental assessment process, and will also continue to review the baseline data underlying the government’s decisions to put the largest open-bidding wind area in the nation squarely off the coast of New Jersey. Check back here on the COA blog for updates on offshore wind development and other ocean energy issues!

Save Money and the Ocean

2011-07-15T13:37:00.000-04:00

Our friends at United Teletech Financial – a long-time supporter of the Beach Sweeps – are running a program that could save you money and make some money for Clean Ocean Action. If they can save customers $1,000,000 in interest payments – which would be a good thing, and they’re determined to do it – they will donate $5,000 each to two charities based on your vote. Go to http://jerseysaves.org/ where you can vote for Clean Ocean Action (or one of four other charities who already get more support than we do). Leaving your email address is optional, but if you would like more information on United Teletech’s interest saving program, by all means, sign up.

(and if you’d like to send us a donation the old fashion way, you can always write us a check)

C.O.A.S.T Campaign Kick Off

2011-06-27T15:49:00.000-04:00

It's almost the holiday weekend, which means the C.O.A.S.T program is about to kick off! The first tables will be in Sea Bright this Saturday and Sunday at Ship Ahoy Beach Club, Surfrider Beach Club, and Chapel Beach Club. Stop by to speak to fellow ocean supporters, sign a petition supporting the Clean Ocean Zone, and learn more about what’s going on in the Atlantic!

Clean Ocean Action’s summer Clean Ocean Action Shore Tips (COAST) is an annual awareness campaign facilitating citizen-to-citizen communication and awareness among beachgoers about current ocean issues. Information tables will be staffed on beaches throughout Monmouth and Ocean Counties, and at the Asbury Park Film Screening Series!

This Friday, July 1, is the kickoff press conference for the summer 2011 COAST campaign. We will be speaking about the theme of this year’s campaign, the Clean Ocean Zone and the fight to prevent offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast. Details have yet to be finalized, so you'll want to make sure you're "liking" us on facebook and "following" us on twitter to stay informed.

For more information about volunteering at a COAST table (we’d love to have you!), please contact Anna Shaw, COAST Coordinator.

BYOBC! Bring your own Beach Chair

2011-06-24T13:37:00.000-04:00

Every Thursday night starting on July 7^th, the Asbury Park Film Initiative will be showing fun free family movies on the beach in Asbury Park near Langosta Lounge. And your favorite organization (that is Clean Ocean Action, of course) will be out on the beach too, talking with all of you about the latest gossip with the ocean. Come see us out there or sign up to staff the table. It’s a great opportunity to get to know us in a fun and casual way and to find out what you can do to help the ocean. Below is the schedule of movies.

Thursday, July 7
8:30pm
GHOSTBUSTERS

Thursday, July 14
8:30pm
PRETY IN PINK

Thursday, July 21
8:20pm
WIZARD OF OZ

Thursday, July 28
8:15pm
SHINE A LIGHT

Thursday, August 4
8:10pm
THE GOONIES

Thursday, August 11
8:00pm
NATIONAL VELVET

Thursday, August 18
7:50pm
GNOMEO AND JULIET

Thursday, August 25
7:40pm
OCEANS

Download and Donate!

2011-06-23T10:53:00.000-04:00

Looking for some great new summer tunes to rock on the boardwalk? Well, it's your lucky day!

Clean Ocean Action is thrilled to announce that we have joined with Medeski Martin & Wood and Patagonia to bring you music that will help fill your iPod, but also your mind with peace--because when a fan, activist or customer purchases “Back and Forth” for $.99 via the Patagonia Music Collective, net proceeds will directly go to Clean Ocean Action in the artist’s name.

The tracks will be available at www.patagonia.com/music, through a dedicated iPhone^® app and a web widget player on participating artist’s websites.

Showing your support has never been easier--you're litterally one click away from a fresh new beat and a cleaner ocean.

Surfs Up! It's International Surfing Day!

2011-06-20T12:04:00.000-04:00

Surfs up!

For those of you who aren't playing hooky from work today and already on the beach, we thought you should know that today is International Surfing Day! Surfers, beginner and advanced, are hitting the oceans across the world today in celebration of a truly amazing sport.

What are you waiting for? Grab your wetsuit and wax--you should be walking on water already.

New to the sport? Not sure how to fit in? Not to worry--we've got you covered. We ran across this funny dictionary of lingo to help you fit in on the shore.

We might sneak away over lunch to enjoy some waves near the Hook--but we'd love you to weigh in today as well! Where are you on your board today? We'd love to see your pictures. Post them, or email us.

Happy Surfing Day!

Beach-bound this weekend?

2011-06-17T12:33:00.000-04:00

Headed to the beach this weekend? Here are a few tips to help you enjoy the weekend, while also being mindful of the enviorment.

Leave only footprints in the sand. Use garbage and recycling receptacles or bring home what you bring to the beach (carry in, carry out).
Bring a bucket to the beach to build sandcastles and at the end of the day collect litter for trash or to recycle.
The beach is not an ashtray. Cigarette filters are not biodegradable and can be lethal when eaten by birds and fish that mistake them for food. Use an ashtray, bucket, or even your pocket.
Carpool, walk, bike, or use mass transit to the beach. Cars are a leading source of air and water pollution. Turn off your car if idling for more than 30 seconds; this will conserve fuel, save money, and reduce pollution.
Scoop the poop! Bring a bag or newspaper to clean up after your pets (it’s the law). Flush the waste (not the bag or newspaper) down the toilet or place in the trashcan.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Reduce your consumption of single-use disposable plastics such as bags, water bottles, and straws. Invest in re-usable containers. Consider purchasing used items by visiting yard sales, thrift shops, craigslist.com, and ebay.com. Find out about local recycling programs and recycle properly. Buy reusable or recyclable products.
Watercrafts should not be operated in shallow areas. Operate in deeper water where you are less likely to disturb habitat. Obey “fragile area” and “slow no wake” signs. Refer to COA’s “Tips for Personal Watercraft.”
Watch what you’re dune. Dunes and grasses protect inland areas from wind and wave action and help preserve the shore. Dunes provide habitat for birds and animals.
Critter encounter. The shore is home to thousands of creatures. Observe them from a distance. If you see an animal entangled, injured, or in danger, contact a lifeguard, local health department, or wildlife rehabilitator.
Don't go overboard. Never discharge wastes overboard. If you have an installed toilet in your boat, use the nearest pump out facility. If you own a portable toilet, empty it at home or at a shore side dump station.

Blue Drinks with COA Crew

2011-06-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

If it's ok with you, we'd like to set up a monthly date night.

Don't get us wrong, we LOVE our fundaisers and special events, but sometimes we feel as if we don't get to socialize with all you fabulous ocean wavemakers often enough. We thought it'd be really great, if we could just get together, casually a bit more often.

On June 30, we will be hosting our first casual "meetup" at the Clam Hut in Atlantic Highlands. This isn't a fundraiser, there's no cost. There's no hook. Just a bunch of ocean-advocates sharing a few drinks, enjoying live music and chatting about the issues that are important to them.

You can come and go as you please, but we'll be holding it down from 5:30-8ish.

Can't make this meetup? Not to worry, we said MONTHLY. Be on the lookout for more dates/locations. You can stay in touch with our meetups by joining our meetup group here.

Hope to see you soon!

National Ocean Council’s “Ocean Policy Listening Sessions”

2011-06-15T10:43:00.000-04:00

Attention Clean Ocean Action Wavemakers!

The new National Ocean Policy, declared by President Obama in his Executive Order on the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes, created the new National Ocean Council (NOC). The NOC, and the ocean policy experts from many federal agencies, will be holding a “listening session” in New Jersey to hear from people throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region on how the federal government should be managing the oceans.

This Mid-Atlantic Ocean Listening Session is a great chance to learn about what the National Ocean Policy means for our ocean, what the NOC plans on doing to advance this Policy, and how you can stay involved. The event will be held at Monmouth University, in Long Branch, NJ, from 10am – 5pm. More details on an agenda will be available soon.

The Listening Session will focus on 9 Strategic Action Plans developed for each of these areas of ocean policy:

1. Ecosystem-Based Management – (managing the oceans holistically)

2. Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning – (integrating all ocean uses to minimize conflicts)

3. Inform Decisions and Improve Understanding – (improving the state of our ocean sciences)

4. Coordinate and Support – (improving collaboration between federal, state, local, tribal groups)

5. Resiliency and Adaptation to Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

6. Regional Ecosystem Protection and Restoration – (make conservation of habitats a priority)

7. Wat er Quality and Sustainable Practices on Land – (takes Ocean Policy onto land)

8. Changing Conditions in the Arctic

9. Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Observations, Mapping, and Infrastructure – (coordinate and expand the many different ocean information gathering sources)

The National Ocean Policy Background

According to the White House’s Oceans Portal (www.whitehouse.gov/oceans), the National Ocean Policy (NOP) “aims to improve the coordination of ocean and coastal management efforts at all levels of government, restore the health of these resources, enhance the ocean and coastal economies, and promote sustainable uses and access.”

Unlike many other federal initiatives, the NOP isn’t a new law or regulation – it is, at the most basic level, a plan for increasing coordination and collaboration between programs, offices, and departments that impact the oceans.

The NOP is, and always was intended to be, a long-term project. The initial stages of the process (where we are now) involve simply reaching out to the public, talking to the people, cities, counties, and states of the coastal region, and forming regional teams of experts to map out the who, what, and where of the oceans.

The National Ocean Council

The NOC, made up of many of the President’s lead advisors, agency administrators, and some Cabinet Secretaries and Undersecretaries, has a mission to “to provide sustained, high-level, and coordinated attention to ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes issues and to focus on actions to advance the National [Ocean] Policy.”

Importantly for our region, the NOC will “facilitate the regional development and implementation of” plans by empowering a “Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Council” (made up of federal, state, tribal, and a few other representatives from Virginia to New York) to analyze the Mid-Atlantic’s ocean economy, ecology, and future and to prepare marine spatial plans that would, ideally, coordinate all ocean and coastal uses (boating, fishing, energy development, etc) in a way that minimizes conflict between users.

Clean Ocean Action has submitted comments on the proposed Strategic Action Plans, and on the National Ocean Policy itself, and will be at the Mid-Atlantic Listening Session at Monmouth University on June 30th.

For our Clean Ocean Action “NOP Listening Session” event page on Facebook, click here

Calling All Artists! Donate your work to a great cause!

2011-06-14T09:45:00.000-04:00

Calling all artists!

We are looking for artwork for our annual Sunset at Sandy Hook (Friday, Sept 23) event promotion. Each year for our Sunset at Sandy Hook event, we use local artists' work to promote the event in all sorts of outreach: save-the-date cards, invitations and posters, as well as digital media: website, email blasts, facebook, twitter and many online event postings.

Would you be interested in donating artwork to be used for this purpose? If it is a painting, a high-res digital copy will work well too. Credit will be given to the artist each time the image is used throughout the summer and at the event. We are looking for sunset beach or bay (with limited or no people included) themed art.

Interested? Email the image by June 20th for consideration.

What are you doing for the C.O.A.S.T?

2011-06-13T12:33:00.000-04:00

Welcome to a new C.O.A.S.T. season!

As a refresher: The Clean Ocean Action Shore Tips (COAST) campaign is held every summer to raise awareness of ocean pollution issues along the New Jersey shore. Interactive information tables are set up on beaches and beach clubs in Monmouth and Ocean counties every weekend from July to mid-August. In addition to our usual beach sites, we will host tables at the Asbury Park Film Initiative Beach Screening Series every Thursday in July and August. These tables will be staffed by COA volunteers, new and old! Our volunteers use this time to contribute to the effort to clean our oceans, as well as learn about current environmental issues.

The 22^nd annual C.O.A.S.T. campaign hopes to raise awareness and support for the Clean Ocean Zone Bill. The mid-Atlantic coast is currently being bombarded by seismic exploration and proposals to open our shores for industrial drilling. Now more than ever, it is important to support the Clean Ocean Zone to lock in protection from oil and gas drilling and pollution. We hope to see lots of COA volunteers and supporters on the beaches this summer! Together we can achieve a cleaner ocean!

COA will host two Volunteer Information Sessions in June (see dates below) for new and seasoned C.O.A.S.T. volunteers. At these evening gatherings, pizza will be served while our volunteers get to know each other and learn about this year’s campaign.

Volunteer Information Sessions:

June 22
Sea Bright Public Library
7:00 p.m.

June 23
Jenkinson's Aquarium
7:00 p.m
Please RSVP for these sessions via email. (Just send us your name and how many will be attending.)

You're in the know, with COA.

2011-06-10T11:00:00.000-04:00

If you're anything like us, you are itching to find fun things to keep busy during these summer months. You're probably googling away, in seach of family events, fun evenings with girlfriends and probably a good surfing instruction along the Jersey Shore.

Never fear! Clean Ocean Action is here to help!

Over the next several months, there will be a number of opportunities for you to get out, enjoy an adult beverage, attend a book signing, fine-tune your sun salutation and learn to surf--all while doing it for a great cause, COA!

Check out the list of upcoming events:

Girls Night Out Book Signing ~ Thursday, June 16, 2011, 7:30pm, River Road Books, Fair Haven, NJ. Meet Mary Kay Andrews and pick up a new beach book, Summer Rental, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to COA. Cocktails and nibbles will be served.

Imaginocean Benefit Show ~ Wednesday, July 20, 2011 (TBD- Week of July 18) – details to be confirmed

Summa Love Surfing and Yoga Surf Camp ~ Sunday, August 13, 2011, 1:00-3:00pm,

Phillips Avenue, Deal, NJ

. Join us for a surfing clinic to benefit COA.

Yoga Mala ~ Sunday, - September 18 , 4pm - 8pm, Sea Bright Public Beach, NJ (Municipal building in the case of rain) Global Mala Jersey Shore will bring together 100+ yogis on the Sea Bright Beach to hold a yoga marathon! Each yogi will complete 108 sun salutations. Donations will be collected in order to participate.

Sunset at Sandy Hook ~ Friday, September 23, 6-10pm, Sea Gull’s Nest Deck Restaurant, Sandy Hook, NJ. Enjoy live music, fabulous restaurants all while helping raise important funds for our ocean protection work. Tickets $100 per person.

Stay Connected. Stay Informed.

Our Family Beach Ball was a blast for all!!

2011-06-09T11:09:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all who made this event possible! Our Family Beach Ball took place on May 22 at Ship Ahoy Beach Club in Sea Bright, New Jersey. Three hundred guests came out to celebrate the ocean and the forthcoming summer season with reggae music and great food and drink. Cindy Zipf was on hand with Representative Frank Pallone to update the group on Clean Ocean Action’s efforts to enact permanent protections for the New York/New Jersey Bight—19,000 square miles of ocean from Montauk, New York, to Cape May, New Jersey. With new and renewed sponsorships, this year’s Beach Ball has raised more than $48,000 for Clean Ocean Action’s work.

The photos here are generously donated by Clean Ocean Action supporter, Bob Lisiesky of Robert Roman Studios and COA Board Member, Patsy Guttenplan.

Check out Beach Ball photos here: http://www.pbase.com/redoak22/beach_ball_2011, password: studios

Its Getting Hot and the Ocean is Rising

2011-06-09T09:32:00.000-04:00

Rutgers University recently held a conference to inform people on climate change and predicted sea level rise for the 21ist century on the global scale and for the New Jersey shore. The presentations and news stories covering the event are now posted here. Sean, our Coastal Policy attorney, spoke on the policy panel. Many local high schools students were there.

A lot of the discussion was familiar - both global temperatures and sea levels are rising. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that absorb heat are making the earth warmer. Global temperature increased by 1-1.5° F over the last century and is predicted to rise even more over the next 100 years.

Temperature changes can alter the climate by shifting weather patterns (rainfall, number of storms, heat waves, etc.) and other processes. Some areas will get hotter, other areas on the planet will be potentially cooler and rainier, and these changes can vary greatly from one year to the next. These changes will impact food crops and production, human health (heat waves, spread of disease), the health of forests, wildlife, and marine life, air and water quality, and coastal communities. For example in New York City, the number of heat waves will increase – the high heat days will be even greater if we continue to have high greenhouse gas emission - impacting people’s health, especially the elderly.

Increased temperatures will cause melting of glaciers and polar ice caps as well the expansion of seawater which contributes to rising sea levels. Sea level has been rising globally. The amount of rise that happens each year has increased recently. Global sea levels are projected to rise by 2.4 feet by 2100.

In New Jersey, some low lying coastal areas experience regular flooding already and much of the coast will be even more vulnerable in the future due to rising seas. In addition to the global sea level rise, our coast is slowly sinking as well both regionally and locally – which explains why the sea level is predicted to be higher along our coast. Sea level is predicted to rise by about 1 foot by 2050 and by 3 feet by 2100 in New Jersey. This will intensify beach erosion, marshland loss, and coastal flooding during high tides and storms.

We need to be prepared for these predicted changes going forward and use this knowledge to inform our state’s and coastal town’s policies and regulations and the public. Although progress is beginning, more efforts are clearly necessary.

Join the COAlition!

2011-06-08T12:18:00.000-04:00

Clean Ocean Action is a collaborative group made up of organizations, businesses, citizens, and educators. Since our beginnings in 1984, it has been with the energy, time, talent, experience, and support of the COAlition partners that we have been able to end ocean dumping, expand the Beach Sweeps, educate citizens, and contribute to meaningful water quality legislation, including the new fertilizer law to protect our waterways from excessive nitrogen pollution. Our latest victory – defeating 3 proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import projects off NJ’s coast – was truly an example of our coalition network at work and we couldn’t have done it without your help.

Despite our hard-won victories, the ocean remains threatened by harmful and polluting activities and continues to suffer from significant amounts of pollution. When you join our COAlition, you will help continue to investigate sources of pollution and identify and advocate for solutions. With the momentum from the LNG victories, COA will be continuing to push for the passage of the “New Jersey/ New York Clean Ocean Zone Act” (COZ) which is federal and bi-state legislation that will lock-in progress in ocean protection.

In joining as a Participating Organization, your group will be informed of issues and engaged in actions to proactively protect the ocean. For a complete list of benefits and commitments, email citizens@cleanoceanaction.org or call 732-872-0111. Together, we can continue to improve and protect the ocean!

Celebrate World Oceans Day 2011

2011-06-08T10:52:00.000-04:00

Are you wearing blue? If not, you should be! Why?

Because it's World Oceans Day!

The world's oceans--which account for about 70 percent of the Earth's surface, are facing diverse challenges ranging from depleted fishery resources to he impacts of climate change, to ocean industrialization.

As we kick of this summer season, full of shore and ocean-centered activities, we are well aware of the wondrous gift we have in the big blue--and are committed to doing whatever it takes to protect it. Are you?

What are you doing today to protect Big Blue? Tell us in a comment below!

You never know, there might be something in it for you!

Constituents from New York/New Jersey push for Clean Ocean Zone Legislation

2011-06-07T11:01:00.000-04:00

Happy June!

Here at Clean Ocean Action, our staff has spent hundreds of hours on trains, planes, and in automobiles traversing the nation to fight for a clean ocean. As such, our May blog posts were few and far between (though not lacking in quality!) … now that it is a new month, a new season (we seemed to skip the nice part of summer), and a new tide, we are back! Look for frequent updates on a multitude of summertime campaigns and events.

Last week, as part of the Blue Vision Summit (http://www.bluefront.org/), COA joined constiuents from New York and New Jersey on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, meeting with many elected officials, their legislative directors, and their environmental staff to raise support for the Clean Ocean Zone (the “COZ”). Notably, COA crew had great meetings with Representatives Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2nd), Leonard Lance (NJ-7th), and the offices of all four Senators from NY and NJ.

All told, we had a great time meeting with almost 20 different offices, and we were met with much enthusiasm for the COZ! Aside from COA staff in DC, we could never have been successful without the help of some of our region’s ocean champions, including: Marie Levine, Sheila Dean, Marc Dimov, Jeffrey Hoffberger, Anne Doubilet, Margo Pellegrino, Roland Lewis, Wendy Benchley, Kristen McArdle, Kathy Lacey, Jane Bloom, and Mike Misner.

The Clean Ocean Zone legislation, which these champions were fighting for in DC last week and thousands of other champions have fought for over the years, is a grass-roots-written bill which would restore, protect, and preserve the natural, chemical, physical, and biological integrity, and the economic potentialities, of the New York/New Jersey Bight through the official federal designation and establishment of the New Jersey/New York “Clean Ocean Zone.” The Bill will also limit or prohibit damaging industrial activities within the Bight – activities like sand mining, oil drilling, and toxic mud dumping. The COZ bill protects our local marine ecosystem for the benefit of the fishermen, businesses, surfers, boaters, swimmers, marine mammals, fish, and birds within the NY/NJ Bight.

For more information on the Clean Ocean Zone legislation, visit our website.

Again, stay tuned for more Clean Ocean Action updates throughout the summer, and stop by our Sandy Hook National Recreation Area office to say hello if you come to the Jersey Shore for vacation!

Style For a Cause: Judith Ripka gives 10% to Clean Ocean Action

2011-05-18T08:59:00.000-04:00

Judith Ripka has impeccable taste in both jewelry and nonprofit organizations. That is why she has collaborated with Clean Ocean Action to give back!

This week, during the Judith Ripka Sample Sale, if you mention Clean Ocean Action, 10% of your total purchase price will be donated back to Clean Ocean Action!

Style for a cause, now that’s something we love.

State Of The Bay

2011-05-16T22:07:00.000-04:00

The health of Barnegat Bay continues to decline, according to the recently released the State of the Bay Report 2011. The report assessed the status and trends of 19 environmental indicators from 2005-2009. Many indicators show below average to degraded conditions, and 11 had negative trends.

Excessive nitrogen loading from everyday activities such as vehicle emissions, land disturbance and alteration, septic systems, fertilizer use, etc., have resulted in a number of problems in the bay. The nitrogen fuels harmful algal blooms and macroalgal blooms. These blooms have negative effects on the habitat of the bay, resulting in low dissolved oxygen conditions and loss of seagrass.

The watershed of Barnegat Bay continues to get developed, and although there have been efforts to protect land areas, more is needed.

There are efforts underway to address some of the multiple problems that are affecting the bay, and the Governor’s 10 point plan is moving forward. There is also a Metedeconk River Watershed Protection and Restoration Plan in a development.

In addition to this great work, many citizens have committed to becoming Barnegat Bay Buddies and are making daily choices, from carpooling to conserving water to not using fertilizer, that reduce impacts to the bay. Click here to learn more about the Bay Buddy program. (Even if you don’t live in the bay watershed, these suggested actions can help reduce pollution to coastal waters and improve water quality.)

For more information, you can call the COA offices.

Responding to President Obama's Call to Expedite Drilling Plans in the Atlantic Ocean

2011-05-14T09:40:00.000-04:00

Responding to President Obama’s Call to Expedite Drilling Plans in the Atlantic Ocean

This morning, in his weekly radio address (you can watch it here), President Obama laid out his plan for reducing gas prices at the pump. The plan includes a call to expedite offshore pre-drilling activities in Mid-Atlantic Ocean as a solution to expensive gasoline. The Mid-Atlantic region begins just off Cape May, New Jersey, and due to the direction of the Gulf Stream, the New Jersey and New York region is directly in harms way of the impacts from activities.

"To suggest expediting drilling plans in the Mid Atlantic as a means to reduce prices at the pump is a sham. The President ignores federal documents and facts regarding oil supply and prices. His plan misleads Americans into believing that expediting drilling off our shores today will lead to savings at the pump tomorrow, which is simply not true."

"The facts are clear. According to federal energy analyses, immediately extracting all oil from the entire Atlantic Ocean would provide a possible 208 days of supply (based on 2009 U.S. oil consumption levels). The Obama Administration’s own studies prove that the savings at the pump from all offshore drilling will reduce prices at the pump by a tiny 3 cents…20 years from now.

"We’re not buying what President Obama is selling—it’s appalling and not grounded in fact. There are more effective and immediate steps to lowering gas prices such as conservation and reducing exports of domestic petroleum products."

"We who care about the environmental and economic future of this region will not stand by and be a victim to this Administration’s sham of a plan."

New Jersey Delegation Regains Their United Voice and Vote for the Ocean!

2011-05-12T16:03:00.000-04:00

Ocean defenders say “NO” to

offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean

Yesterday, the Congressional delegation of New Jersey voted nearly unanimously in bi-partisan support for the ocean and against Big Oil’s attack on the Atlantic. However, despite New Jersey’s strong opposition, the bill, which mandates that at least one-half of the Atlantic Ocean be opened for drilling, and reckless exploration, passed by a margin of 243 – 179.

New Jersey Republicans LoBiondo (R-2nd), Runyan (R-3rd), Smith (R-4th), Lance (R-7th), and Frelinghuysen (R-11th) joined with New Jersey Democrats in voting against this bill that could bring seismic surveys and exploratory wells to New Jersey’s waters and the greater Mid-Atlantic Ocean as soon as 2012.

The New Jersey delegation remembered their sandy-roots and the importance of coastal tourism, and fishing, to their constituents. They know the importance of clean beaches and water, and they stood up to Big Oil and the ‘Drill Baby Drill’ propaganda. We are very proud of our delegation for today’s leadership.

Over the past week, Congress moved a trilogy of bills, all which passed the House of Representatives:

· H.R. 1229: “Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act,” (a.k.a. “No Legal Review or Oversight of Big Oil Act”) a bill that imposes rushed, arbitrary permitting deadlines and would prevent application of key public-interest and environmental laws by putting up roadblocks to judicial and administrative review of drilling decisions.

· H.R. 1230: “Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act,” (a.k.a. “Mandate Drilling Off Virginia’s Coast, Immediately, No Matter What Act”) a bill that specifically targets several areas, including “Sale 220” (an area within 75 miles of the New Jersey Shore), for immediate drilling approval, with no new environmental review or public input.

· H.R. 1231: “Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act,” (a.k.a. “Lease At Least Half Of The Atlantic Ocean Now Act”) a bill that mandates that all oceans, from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Arctic be opened to drilling, and that at least half of those ocean areas be leased immediately if certain conditions are met – conditions that ARE met here in the Atlantic Ocean.

New Jersey Congressmen from both sides of the aisle, along with U.S. Senators Lautenberg and Menendez, and Governor Chris Christie, are united in representing the interests of their coastal constituents, the coastal economy, and the marine ecosystem. We are only discouraged that despite New Jersey’s near-unanimous show of bi-partisanship, these bills were passed. We hope that the Senate will reject these bills and work toward a clean energy future.

We salute our Republican and Democrat Representatives who crossed the aisle and came together to vote for their constituents and the ocean. While too many in Washington are stuck in the gridlock of partisanship, New Jersey is a beacon for bi-partisan support for doing what is right.

New Jersey Pride Abounds in Beach Sweep Efforts

2011-05-12T15:41:00.000-04:00

To those who would suggest that only New Jersey beaches have a litter problem, take a good look around any beach, city, or town. Litter is a bane the world over. To those who would rather stick their head in the sand and ignore the problem, what good comes from that? Marine Debris is a serious problem especially for marine animals that can be harmed by entanglement or ingestion of plastics; it can also render beaches a disgrace. Here in Jersey we take pride in our beaches and defend our waters tenaciously.

Last weekend, thousands of citizens, flocked to Jersey beaches and volunteered for Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweeps. The small and the tall scoured the sand of harmful and ugly debris that had washed ashore and accumulated over the long winter or was left behind by the careless or clueless. These hearty souls also recorded what they found and created a legacy of evidence that is used to reduce litter. Last year’s events took over 471,321 pieces of trash off our beaches. These noble acts of Jersey Pride by the Beach Sweepers improve our beaches as a way to give back to the ocean that provides them such joy and bounty. They are also testament to the power of the people to help solve problems and keep the real Jersey Shore a natural and economic treasure. We salute them and send waves of thanks. Be Jersey proud and step up. Make your beach or neighborhood a litter free zone.

Cindy Zipf

Executive Director

Ocean Acidification

2011-05-11T10:33:00.000-04:00

Extracting, transporting, and burning fossil fuels have resulted in numerous environmental and public health problems and the present-day global Fossil Fuel Crisis. Fossil fuels (oil, gasoline, natural gas, and coal) pollute our water, food, and air. Carbon dioxide, which is released to air when these fuels are burned, contributes to climate change and the warming of the global ocean. People are also becoming increasingly aware of the other “evil twin” of climate change: ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification is the chemical process in which the pH (a measure of acidity) of seawater is lowered (meaning it becomes more acidic).

Ocean waters draw down carbon dioxide from the air, and since the beginning of the last century have drawn down around 50% of the carbon dioxide humans have emitted into the atmosphere. This “sink” of carbon dioxide unbalances the chemical equilibrium in the ocean which causes a chemical reaction cascade and a decrease in the pH level. So far, the pH of the ocean has dropped from 8.2 to 8.1; because of the pH scale is logarithmic, this 0.1 pH decrease actually means that the oceans have become 30% more acidic!

If current trends in emitting carbon dioxide to the atmosphere continue, predictions show a drop in pH to 7.8 by 2100.

The pH of the ocean affects marine organisms in many ways:

A recent report by Oceana summarizes some of these effects, detailing how acidity impacts organisms like corals, shellfish, and plankton at the base of the marine food web – primarily, these are the animals and plants which build their shells and skeletons out of calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate, a chemical used by these base-of-the-food-web animals for shells (and also used by many fish species during their larval stages), is significantly impacted by both increased levels of carbon dioxide as well as lower pH levels. With too much carbon dioxide, calcium carbonate isn’t readily available in for animals to use, and at low pH levels, calcium carbonate dissolves.

Ocean pH also affects physiology (basic life processes: breathing, breakdown of food for energy, etc) of marine life. Fish species have a harder time reproducing, shellfish have a harder time growing and attaching to rocks, and marine mammals are deafened by ocean noises (today’s ocean, because of the increased acidity, transmits sound waves 70% farther than 50 years ago).

Within decades, the changing pH of the ocean could have severe effects on ocean food webs, biodiversity, and fisheries. The April, 2011 issue of National Geographic includes an article on ocean acidification that examines the sea near an island off Italy to gain insight into the effects of high carbon dioxide levels on the marine environment.

Did Long Time Ocean Defenders Jump Ship? Citizen Action Needed!

2011-05-07T08:30:00.000-04:00

CONGRESS DELIVERS SWIFT OILY KICK TO THE OCEAN

Did Long Time Ocean Defenders Jump Ship?

On Cinco de Mayo (May 5), Congress ignored the importance of coastal tourism, fishing, and the lessons of the BP Oil disaster by passing a bill that will force the federal government to sell ocean areas within 75 miles of the New Jersey coast for drilling within one year or no later than June 2012. While this defeat to our ocean is serious, a greater defeat was how the New Jersey delegation voted.

For the first time in recent memory, the New Jersey delegation split on party lines against protecting our ocean, with the Republicans voting to allow drilling within 75 miles from the Jersey coast. We are stunned; this is a bitter loss for New Jersey’s longtime, bi-partisan unity for the ocean and must not stand.

Many of you urged the Congressional delegations of New York and New Jersey to oppose this bill (and two others slated for final votes next week), and to stand together in their opposition of offshore drilling policies that threaten the ocean, coastal economies, and the NY/NJ Clean Ocean Zone. The bill similarly forces the sale of many tracts of ocean in the Gulf of Mexico. Along the Atlantic Coast, two Republicans (Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida-18th) and Walter Jones (NC-3rd)) voted to protect the ocean from dangerous and unnecessary oil and gas drilling, while five Democrats voted with Big Oil (Representatives Barrow and Bishop of Georgia, McIntyre and Shuler of North Carolina, and Owens of New York).

The House of Representatives heard debate and passed H.R. 1230:

· H.R. 1230: “Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act,” (a.k.a. “Mandate Drilling Off Virginia’s Coast, Immediately, No Matter What Act”) a bill that specifically targets several areas, including “Sale 220” (an area within 75 miles of the New Jersey Shore), for immediate drilling approval, with no new environmental review or public input.

Many congressional officials, citizens, and the media seem under a spell of ignorance or amnesia perpetuated by Big Oil that drilling off our coast will reduce prices at the pump—it’s a lie. If Congress really wants to lower oil prices, why don’t they prohibit the ever-escalating exporting of US produced petroleum products? Right before passing H.R. 1230, Congress rejected an amendment that would have prohibited the export of any oil and gas produced in these areas.

This vote endangers our robust coastal economies and healthy ocean ecosystems. Moreover, the support for this bill is based on the false premise that offshore drilling will lead to immediate relief in the price at the pump.

It’s not over. Next week, the House will debate and vote on bills that would weaken oversight of drilling activities and opens all areas of the Atlantic ocean for drilling.

· H.R. 1229: “Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act,” (a.k.a. “No Legal Review or Oversight of Big Oil Act”) a bill that imposes rushed, arbitrary permitting deadlines and would prevent application of key public-interest and environmental laws by putting up roadblocks to judicial and administrative review of drilling decisions.

· H.R. 1231: “Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act,” (a.k.a. “Lease At Least Half Of All Our Oceans and Put All Of The Atlantic On the Table Act”) a bill that uses agency reports generated under the last administration (that have since been proven to be inaccurate and out-of-date estimates of the recoverability of oil and gas in the Atlantic) to open the Atlantic Ocean to oil and gas exploration and production activities.

We urge you to call elected officials in our region who voted against the ocean and urge them to come back as leaders of ocean protection:

Here are the list of long-time New Jersey’s ocean defenders who voted to open an area off Virginia’s coast to oil drilling by June 2012, putting our shore at risk.

You can call the main Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121 and ask for any office. HELP BRING OUR OCEAN DEFENDERS BACK! PLEASE CALL:

Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11)

Frank LoBiondo (R-2)

Jon Runyan (R-3)

Chris Smith (R-4)

Leonard Lance (R-7)

Members of the New York Delegation that also voted against the ocean:

Grimm, Michael (R-13)

Hayworth, Nan (R-19)

Gibson, Chris (R-20)

Owens, Bill (D-23)

Hanna, Richard (R-24)

Buerkle, Ann Marie (R-25)

Reed, Tom (R-29)