Galloway Township Achieves Blue Star Scores Big and Sets Record for Water Quality

On January 19^th, COA awarded Galloway Township, NJ with their Municipal Blue Star Certificate at a ceremony at Town Hall to recognize their efforts to improve water quality. Galloway Township sets a record for achieving the highest score and joins fellow Blue Star Municipalities, Wall Township and Long Beach Township. Since the program was launched in September of 2014, three towns have been awarded the certificate and COA has engaged with over 20 towns to obtain Blue Star Certification.

The Municipal Blue Star program combines the visionary Sustainable Jersey Program with Clean Ocean Action’s focus on water quality protection. The Program encourages communities to promote healthy waters, resilient communities, and environmentally sound practices. To achieve Blue Star Award status, a municipality must target “Blue Star” actions for 50% of their total Sustainable Jersey points.

Galloway Township exceeded the necessary 150 points needed to attain certification by completing 234 points. Examples of the actions that they completed include water conservation education program, i-Tree assessment of municipal trees, and reusable bag education program. In addition to Sustainable Jersey projects, towns are required to choose one of Clean Ocean Action additional actions which are, climate adaption for flooding risk, innovative water quality project, model storm water control ordinance for municipalities, plastic bag fee or ban, or storm water utility support resolution. Galloway Township passed a Stormwater Utility Support Resolution on October 13, 2015.  

Galloway Township has been a pioneer in their region for sustainability work and planning for resilience and it is influencing success in their neighboring towns which ultimately is in the best interest of the watershed and estuary. 

What’s Up with Water in New Jersey?

                People have a complex relationship with water. We swim in it and recreate on it, fish from it and withdraw huge amounts from rivers and coastal waters for industrial use and drinking water. At the same time, we discharge millions of gallons of wastewater right back into those waterways and waterbodies. Continued population and development pressures, coupled with the present and future impacts of climate change, threaten the quality and abundance of this most essential resource. Unfortunately, New Jersey has done a poor job in planning and regulating these issues. As a result, NJ is losing hard won progress and is actively backsliding on water quality protections.

This past year was one of the driest on record for New Jersey, with nearly one-fifth (located mostly in Central and Northeastern) of the state classified in a moderate drought and nearly 90 percent of the state listed as abnormally dry.[1] These low water levels stress ecosystems and drinking water supplies. This ‘trend’ extends back several years, and, with the ever more apparent effects of a warming climate, foreshadows a new normal. As our own NJDEP has stated, “[d]espite a trend toward more precipitation, the Northeast is seeing longer periods without rainfall and longer growing seasons. The result is a drier growing season, especially during the summer months, when temperatures and evapotranspiration are highest. This summer’s drying trend is exacerbated by reduced recharge from spring snowmelt. New Jersey has experienced one severe water-supply drought (2001-2002) and three minor ones (2005, 2006 and 2010) in the last decade.”[2] Even now, the NJDEP Drought Information website shows “a Drought Watch remains in place in the Northeast, Central, and Coastal North Water Supply Regions. . .  Substantial rainfall will be needed over the coming months to restore water supply reserves in preparation for the high-demand season that beings in May.”[3] Yet, NJDEP has neglected the critical tasks of inventorying and managing this precious resource, as the current Water Supply Master Plan (WSMP) is 20 years old and 15 years overdue, despite widespread protest and opposition from elected officials and environmental organizations.[4]

The WSMP inventories the amounts of surface and underground drinking water in the State and compares it to the amounts withdrawn for residents, business, power production, and farming in order to achieve a balance between development, water withdrawals, and environmental health. Overdevelopment and an expanding population creates more impervious surface, which inhibits rainwater from percolating into the ground to recharge aquifers and increases water withdrawals, putting our groundwater resources at risk.[5] Without a master plan in place, New Jersey could face severe water shortages into the future.

Furthermore, building in low lying areas, much of which acts as a buffer to absorb run off and storm surge, should be discouraged due to climate change impacts of sea level rise, extended dry periods (which dry out soil and decrease its ability to absorb rain) followed by heavy rain events, and increased frequency of storm events.[6] Yet, in the past year, New Jersey has amended two essential sets of regulations protecting critical coastal and riparian areas that buffer and protect communities from flood waters and absorb nutrients and pollutants before they reach waterbodies. NJDEP consolidated a patchwork of coastal development regulations and ‘streamlined’ it into what is known as the Coastal Zone Management Rules (CZMR). These changes enable even more development in vulnerable coastal areas through a myriad of measures, including easing the process for getting waterfront building permits and enabling larger upland development in the coastal zone.[7] The Flood Hazard Area Control Act (FHACA) establishes buffer distances for streams and rivers, and addresses how we develop in these riparian and coastal areas. These regulations have also been ‘streamlined, which in effect, removes protective waterway designations, and allows increased and unmonitored development in essential riparian, coastal, and wetland habitat.[8]

NJDEP is also in the process of ‘updating’ its Water Quality Management Planning regulations (WQMP).[9] These rules are required for New Jersey to meet its obligations under the Federal Clean Water Act, and determine, among other things, the cumulative water resource impacts of future development, how to manage and restore existing water quality impairments, and how NJ expects to maintain existing water quality.  However, simply put, NJDEP’s proposed updates to the WQMP are damaging to water quality protection, and allow for increased development and associated water quality impacts from sewers, wastewater treatment plants, and runoff in coastal areas.

Overall, New Jersey has a holistic and systemic problem. Development in coastal and riparian areas is continuing unabated, even as the public safety, economic, ecosystem, and water quality impacts of this type of development become clear (FHACA, and CZMR). New Jersey continues to use vast amounts of surface and ground water for drinking, industry, and agriculture, even while drought continues to impact our region (WSMP). New Jersey is also failing to safeguard the water quality gains made in the past, and is failing to properly plan for the future impacts of development on these gains (WQMP).

Stream and groundwater withdrawals, wastewater and industrial discharges, and development in coastal and riparian habitat are continuing unrestricted. Poor integration among these regulations and a lack of planning for future population increases and development will stress ecosystems, put human health at risk, and is a dangerous and unsustainable path into an uncertain climate future.

New Jersey’s water protection laws and planning are heading in the wrong direction. Clean water for drinking, swimming, fishing, and agriculture is invaluable.  Clean Ocean Action will continue to fight for clean water, and encourages the public to engage with us to protect this most basic and essential resource. Follow our social media for important updates and action alerts, call or email your elected officials and speak up for water quality and habitat protections, and align your lifestyle and consumption patterns with low impact and environmentally friendly values.

---

[1] http://www.app.com/story/weather/2015/09/10/new-jersey-drought/71959812/

See also http://www.northjersey.com/news/despite-last-week-s-rainfall-much-of-north-jersey-remains-under-moderate-drought-1.1429449

[2] Climate Change in New Jersey: Temperature, Precipitation, Extreme Events and Sea Level, NJDEP, available at http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/trends/pdfs/climate-change.pdf

[3] http://www.nj.gov/dep/drought/status.html

[4] http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/11/19/coalition-hopes-to-pressure-christie-administration-into-releasing-new-water-plan/

[5] According to preliminary research by the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC), more water is being taken out than is being replenished in one of our major aquifers, the Kirkwood-Cohansey in South Jersey. That aquifer, which runs beneath southern Monmouth County and all of Ocean County, supplies drinking water to approximately 3 million of New Jersey’s 9 million residents. 

[6] http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/trends/pdfs/climate-change.pdf

[7] http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/09/07/explainer-patchwork-of-laws-keep-coastal-development-in-check/

[8] http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/06/02/state-proposes-revisions-to-rules-governing-flood-zone-coastal-construction/#

[9] http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices.html

Inaugural Blue Star Award Presented to Wall Township

On Wednesday, August 26^th, Clean Ocean Action awarded the Blue Star certification to Wall Township, NJ, to recognize their effort to improve water quality. Clean Ocean Action’s Municipal Blue Star Program was established in 2014 to encourage towns in coastal regions and beyond to prioritize water quality protection measures, while achieving Sustainable Jersey Certification.

Wall Township achieved 90 of the necessary 75 points to attain the Municipal Blue Star certification. Examples of the actions completed include Community Education & Outreach, Education for Sustainability Programs, and Open Space Plans.  In addition to Sustainable Jersey projects, towns are required to choose one of COA’s additional actions. Wall Township completed the Innovative Water Quality Project action through partnering with Monmouth County in a Wreck Pond Sediment Control Project. This project works to improve water quality within the watershed in an effort to help resolve impairments that contribute to the precautionary closings of the Spring Lake beaches. Additionally, Wall Township afforded its residents with a Clean Water and Lawn Conservation Program that educates the community on promoting better conservation green practices. The development of the Program was made possible by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.    

Wall Township joins Long Beach Township as the second of two inaugural Blue Star towns. Congratulation to our Blue Star inductees!  

Beach Day Shouldn't Turn Into a Sick Day

So far this summer, there have been a reported 62 “beach incidents” involving beach closures and/or contamination advisories due to poor water quality of popular beach areas. In order to combat this issue, Clean Ocean Action joined Senator Menendez and Congressman Pallone in announcing the re-authorization and strengthening of the BEACH Act (Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act).  The law is now over 15 years old and needs to be updated, strengthened, and funded.  US Senator Bob Menendez and Representative Frank Pallone are introducing bi-partisan legislation that will strengthen national water quality standards, require rapid testing methods to be used, and provide states with grants to test water quality, and public notifications when conditions are not safe. Importantly, COA is urging that the law require testing after rainstorms due to the significant pollution in runoff. Whether swimming or recreating on the water, it should not be swim at your own risk. Everyone should be informed about the water quality for their own health and safety. A beach day should not have to turn into a sick day! You can find information on NJ water quality at https://njbeaches.org. Clean Ocean Action checks this site daily, sharing closures and advisories on social media. 

Inaugural Blue Star Award Presented to Long Beach Township

Clean Ocean Action’s Municipal Blue Star Program was established in 2014 to encourage towns in coastal regions and beyond to prioritize water quality protection measures, while achieving Sustainable Jersey Certification. The Sustainable Jersey program is an action and point-based certification for municipalities in New Jersey that want to go green, reduce costs, and take steps to improve their quality of life over the long term. These two programs encourage communities to promote healthy waters, resilient communities, and environmentally sound practices.

On Friday, July 24^th, Clean Ocean Action awarded the first of two inaugural Clean Ocean Action Municipal Blue Star Certifications to Long Beach Township, NJ, to recognize their effort to improve water quality. Long Beach Township has been a pioneer in their region for sustainability work and planning for resiliency. They are influencing success in their neighboring towns, which ultimately is in the best interest of the watershed and estuary.

Long Beach Township achieved 140 of the necessary 75 points to attain the Municipal Blue Star certification. Examples of the actions that they completed include Community Education & Outreach, Education for Sustainability Programs, Rain Garden Installation, and Recycling Education & Enforcement. In addition to Sustainable Jersey projects, towns are required to choose one of COA’s additional actions. Long Beach Township completed the Climate Adaptation: Flooding Risk action. Outcomes from this project include infrastructure upgrades for water and sewer piping, as well as finalized plans to rebuild all pump stations above base flood levels to avoid storm damage and shut downs.

COA will be awarding Wall Township, the second of the two inaugural towns, in a ceremony on Wednesday, August 26^th at 7:30pm at the Municipal Building. Congratulation to our Blue Star inductees!

When You Protect Water, You Protect What You Love

Water quality and clean water in New York and New Jersey is an issue that COA has worked to protect and improve on since 1985. For the past eight years, COA has been able to make an impact on global water resources through our partnership with Aveda. Every April, participating Aveda salons, spas, institutes, and retail center raise funds and awareness for clean water at the local and global level.

Since 1999, Aveda has raised over $38 million globally and $32 million for clean water projects worldwide. These funds help support programs such as water quality projects, COA’s education programs, coastal cleanups such as the Beach Sweeps, and much more. Aveda also partners with Global Greengrants Fund to provide grants for community-based water projects in more than 40 countries. Help make a difference and support clean water initiatives by visiting a participating salon near you, attending an event, or making a donation.

Join us at an Earth Month Event or Celebration near you:

April 13^th- Global Cut-a-thon

April 18^th- Clean Water Awareness Event at Rizzieri at Moorestown Mall, NJ

April 22^nd- Aveda & Purpose.com Panel on Sustainability with key speakers from sustainable design, education, corporate, and non-profit sectors.

April 25^th- Beach Sweeps

-          Spruce Salon will be at Spring Lake Heights

-          Linsdy Casey Salon will be at Ocean City, NJ

-          Aveda at Short Hills Mall will be at Toney Brook, NJ

April 26^th- Cut-a-Thon at Euphoria Hair Salon, Hopewell Junction, NY

May 4^th- Cony Island Clean Up hosted by Parlor Salon

Month-long Aveda Events

-          Massages for Clean Water

-          Stress-Fix Relaxation Treatments at all Experience Centers

-          Aveda Cherry Hill Mall, Cherry Hill, NJ

-          Crowdrise Fundraising for a Cause

-          Aveda Columbus Circle will host yoga classes Every Sunday at 9am for a $10 donation.

-          Raffles and fundraising campaigns held at individual stores

COA Raises Questions on Environmental and Development Impacts of Proposed Ocean Outfall for Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant at Public Hearings

The State of New York announced on April 23 that three public hearings would be held on Long Island in May to gather information and input from scientists, engineers, local government representatives, environmental groups, and the public on how to improve coastal resiliency and wastewater infrastructure on Long Island.  

One of the most controversial issues presently up for discussion is the proposed construction of an ocean outfall pipe at the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant, located in Nassau County.  In addition to relocating the outfall from the Western Bays to the ocean, the current proposal includes conversion of two smaller treatment plants in the area to pumping stations, which would send their wastewater to Bay Park for ultimate ocean discharge.  

COA delivered the following oral comments during the third of the three meetings, held on May 28 at the Suffolk County Community College:

Good afternoon.  Thank you to the panel for inviting the public here today to offer their comments.  My name is Cassandra Ornell and I work as staff scientist for Clean Ocean Action, a non-profit organization.  Clean Ocean Action’s mission is to improve the marine water quality off the New York and New Jersey coasts.  We’ve been working to clean up these shared waters for over 30 years now.

I’d like to share some thoughts on the proposed ocean outfall for the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant today.  From what I’ve heard and read, it seems like we are in agreement that the Western Bays are suffering – we’ve seen this problem time and again here on Long Island as well as in New Jersey, as John Weber from Surfrider discussed.  These problems are caused by an excess of nutrient loads entering the waters, which is oftentimes linked to excessive development.

This is a problem that certainly deserves our attention, and we support the upgrading of the Bay Park Plant to tertiary treatment and denitrification of the effluent.

However, the call for an ocean outfall pipe concerns us, for several reasons.

1) The Bay Park plant currently discharges 58 million gallons per day, with a capacity of 70 million gallons per day.  What ecological impacts will relocating this source of freshwater input to the Bays have on Bay salinity and ecosystem functioning?

2) On the ocean side – have studies of localized ecological and physical impacts to the marine environment in the area of the proposed ocean outfall pipe been done?  Where will the currents take this effluent?  How will localized salinity changes impact the marine ecosystem?  What species or habitat types are present in this area?

3) Freshwater is already very scarce on Long Island – we are depleting our aquifer and saltwater intrusion is a major concern.  Given this backdrop of freshwater scarcity and aquifer depletion, I have two questions:

                a) What will be done to ensure the expansion of the plant will not increase sprawl and further aquifer depletion?

                b) How can we reasonably throw away over 50 million gallons of highly treated freshwater daily?  Once freshwater is discharged to the ocean, there is no getting it back.

This proposed destruction of invaluable freshwater resources is a huge waste.  Not to mention the estimated $690 million dollars it would cost – just to build a long pipe out to the ocean.

As such, Clean Ocean Action would like to voice our support for recycling of the treated effluent from the Bay Park plant.  I urge the County, State, and Federal agencies to fully explore all options for water recycling, including aquifer recharge, potable and non-potable reuse, and surface water and freshwater wetland recharge.  These alternatives should be evaluated now, before moving forward with a decision on the ocean outfall pipe.  

Instead of pushing our problems out to sea, let’s spend those nearly 700 million dollars on a green, sustainable solution that employs efficient use and reuse of our freshwater resources.  Long Island is at a critical juncture now, and has the chance to choose a more sustainable path and serve as a model for other communities. 

  

As the discussion continues, it is essential that we all recognize this as a dilemma.  While an ocean outfall may be preferred by some, ocean dumping is nothing to celebrate.  The rally cry for an ocean outfall should be tempered with the reminder that many of us have long worked to keep harmful pollution out of the New York bight.  Though cleaner than in the past, this little pocket of the ocean is suffering too - it's downstream of the most densely populated region in the US, at the receiving end of billions of gallons of wastewater, and is weakened by the adverse effects of climate change. 

The Governor’s office will host a fourth meeting in June (date and location TBD) to announce their recommendations for improvement of wastewater and septic system issues on the island.  For more information on meetings held to date, how to submit your own comments, and the schedule for the final meeting in the series, click here.

Don’t Rock the Salt!

This season, Clean Ocean Action is offering tips on how to green your holiday. Here is the eighth of twelve in COA's '12 Days of Green Giving' series.

By: Sean Dixon, Coastal Policy Attorney

Picture this (or look outside) – it’s cold, dark, and snowing.  Maybe it is also sleeting, or both.  Now, imagine you have to head out to work, or welcome some friends over for dinner.  The road are icy and your sidewalk treacherous.  What’s your solution? Spread some salt! Call the salt trucks! Melt that ice and say hello to easy driving and safe steps.  Right?

Wrong.

The way rock salt for melting ice works is that the salts themselves reduce the melting point of water – so instead of 32 degrees, water around the salt crystals will melt at a lower temperature (like 25 degrees).  If it’s -20 degrees, well, then you probably don’t want to go out anyways, and your normal rock salt won’t work.  During the summer, in most parts of the urban landscape, over-use of fertilizers can be what leads to significant local water quality problems.  Fertilizers can also be bad for your soil and for your pets.  Rock salt is the winter version of fertilizer, and can cause a host of problems:

First, rock salt is bad for your pets.  

The crystals can get ingested (they stick to paws, fur to be eaten later indoors, or eaten while in the ice and snow) and can lead to burned skin (apparently, the crystals can reach over 150 degrees!).  It’s also bad for other wild animals – in natural ecosystems, salt is a rare commodity and deposits of salt, called “salt licks,” are the coffee shops of the animal world.  Road salt in many places can attract animals to roadways, endangering both the wildlife and drivers.

Second, it can be really bad for drinking water and water quality.  

According to a Stormwater journal article, the New York City watershed (from which all NYC’ers get their tap water), there are “approximately 6,000 mi. of paved roadways in the watersheds, where road-salt application ranges from 37 to 298 tons/lane-mi./yr.”  That’s upwards of 300 tons per mile per lane deposited through the watershed!  The USEPA warns that salt in drinking water can impair water quality to the point where it’s dangerous for aquatic life, corrodes drinking water infrastructure, and endangers human health. 

In 2010, in New Jersey, a Times of Trenton article that “Road salt already has caused problems in some drinking-water supplies in Bergen and Morris counties.  Mahwah stopped using one of its 12 municipal wells years ago because of a high sodium content officials believe came from road salt dumped on Route 17.” According to the article, the state DEP thinks that “up to 60 percent of road salt infiltrates ground water.”

Third, it’s bad for soils.  

In some cases, soils have been tested at double the levels considered too high for normal bacteria functions.  Without healthy bacteria, soils become dirt, dust, and then run off into waters – losses for agriculture, parks, habitat, and downstream water quality.  Salt in soils is also bad for plants – inhibiting long-term growth, causes chlorine toxicity in leaves, and creates micro-drought conditions.

Fourth, it’s really bad for our infrastructure.  

Most people from wintry areas know that salt is bad for your car (corroding the undercarriage), but it’s also really bad for concrete and pavement.  Basically, the way it works is that your melted ice becomes really, really salty water – and that salty water (at the microscopic scale) enters micro-holes in concrete (concrete is full of these mini-holes, called pores).  Once inside the concrete, that salty water re-freezes (usually at night when temperatures drop).  Frozen salt water expands and creates salt particles – both of which are bad for your sidewalk, causing pits and cracks.

According to an August 2010 USEPA factsheet, over 15 million tons of rock salt are spread on our pavement, sidewalks, and parking lots each year.  What’s to be done?

Fortunately, there are a few solutions, though as one blog puts it, “you probably won’t like to hear” the best solution…shovel more!

Ideally, the best solutions are simple: shovel snow off your driveway so that it doesn't melt and freeze into dangerous ice, don’t use rock salt (or any salt), and put boots on your pets if you’re walking on other people’s sidewalks where there is rock salt.  This keeps your pets, your soils, your drinking water, you, and your concrete happy and healthy! 

To avoid slipping, you can use cat litter, sand, or sawdust to coat your icy pavement, or build your walkways out of gravel or rocks – avoiding the problem altogether.

Finally, one amazingly cool (or warm?) solution is also an energy efficiency one: use excess heat from power plants or geothermal heat to melt snow and ice! 

Heated sidewalks and driveways are all the rage in many colder cities and towns. In Holland, Ohio, in 1988, the city’s leaders (with a substantial private donation) converted all of their downtown’s public walkways to heated-sidewalks by piping hot water from the nearby power plant through pipes under the pavement.  The call this the “snowmelt” system, and claim it can melt 1 inch of snow per hour at 15-20 degrees F.  This is hot water that would have to be cooled anyways, so the town gets an added benefit!  Over 120 miles of tubes keep the sidewalks walkable all winter long.  Homes and small businesses can do this too – and can tie it into geothermal systems to use the ground’s natural warmth to keep the surfaces ice-free!

NRDC "Testing the Waters" Report Released: How Does Your Beach Rank?

Today, the NRDC published their 23^rd annual beachwater quality report. The report analyzes water quality and number of beach closings and swimming advisories at 3,000 US beach locations. Closing and swimming advisories are caused from polluted water and threat of contamination. Stormwater runoff and sewage are sources of contamination.  The NRDC also rates the 200 most popular beaches based on water quality, testing practices, and public notifications over the last five years. No NY/NJ beaches received a perfect rating; however, 14 did receive 4:5 stars. Two of NY/NJ beaches were within the top 11 beaches that violated standards.

Each of the 30 states evaluated for this report were ranked according to the number of water quality samples violating the EPA’s federal standards. The lowest ranked state has the fewest violations. Based on data for 2012, NY is ranked 22^nd and NJ is ranked 7^th. Last year, NY and NJ had 1,871 closing and advisory days. Violations per county were evaluated for each state: Monroe County, NY and Ocean County, NJ had the most violations.

One strategy to reduce water contamination is green infrastructure, which reduces stormwater. New York has already finalized a plan for green infrastructure projects and we hope New Jersey will do the same.  

Click here to read the press release. 

Groups File Notice of Intent to Sue EPA for Failure to Protect Beachgoers from Water Pollution

Press contact: Sean Dixon, Clean Ocean Action 732-872-0111, Policy@CleanOceanAction.org

                        Tina Posterli, Riverkeeper 516-526-9371, tposterli@riverkeeper.org

                        Matt King, Heal the Bay, 310-451-1500 ext. 137, mking@healthebay.org

                        Blair Fitzgibbon, Waterkeeper Alliance, 202-503-6141, Blair@fitzgibbonmedia.com

EPA’s new water quality criteria fail to protect human health as required by the BEACH Act.
NEW YORK, N.Y. (June 20, 2013) – The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to meet its legal responsibility to adopt water quality criteria that address the health threat posed by pollution at U.S. beaches, according to a notice of intent to sue filed by a coalition of local and national organizations concerned about beach water quality. The groups are Clean Ocean Action, Hackensack Riverkeeper, Heal the Bay, Natural Resources Defense Council, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance.

“Too many of America’s beaches are sick – and they’re passing on their illnesses to families across the country,” said Steve Fleischli, Water Program Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “But EPA is not doing its job to help make sure we are safe when our families head to the beach.”

More than 180 million people visit coastal and Great Lakes beaches every year, and swimming and surfing are favorite pastimes in the United States. But beach closings due to hazardous contamination remain near all-time highs. In 2011, there were over 23,000 beach closing and health advisory days across the country. More than two-thirds of the closing and advisory days were prompted by dangerously high bacteria levels, indicating the presence of human or animal waste. The underlying culprits are generally improperly treated sewage, animal manure and contaminated stormwater runoff, which have a highly deleterious effect on water quality.

This pollution poses a significant threat to public health. Pathogens in contaminated waters can cause a wide range of diseases – including gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis, and respiratory illness. However, despite these risks, EPA’s latest actions fail to protect people who choose to recreate in coastal waters. EPA has estimated that up to 3.5 million people become ill annually from contact with either overflow of overburdened sewage treatment plants during storm events, leakage from faulty infrastructure, or inappropriate sewage treatment.

“A day at the beach should never make someone sick,” said Kirsten James, Science and Policy Director for Water Quality at Heal the Bay. “EPA missed a major opportunity and a legal mandate to upgrade its recreational water quality criteria to better protect the public from the dangers of polluted water at U.S. beaches. This must be corrected.”

In 2000, Congress enacted the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act), requiring EPA to modernize criteria for water quality that would protect beach users from illnesses caused by pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria. EPA updated these criteria in 2012. However, EPA’s 2012 criteria are inadequate and fail to protect public health in several ways:

• EPA’s criteria fail to protect against single day exposures to pathogens. 
• EPA now allows water quality samples to exceed contamination levels EPA has determined are unsafe up to 10% of the time without triggering a violation. This approach could mask a serious pollution problem and expose families to an unnecessary risk of illness from recreating in local waterways.
• EPA’s new criteria also fail to address the risk of non-gastrointestinal illnesses – such as rash and ear infections – that result from recreating in contaminated waters. The agency concluded that addressing stomach illnesses would adequately protect the public from other types of ailments.
• EPA’s criteria permit a level of risk that would result in 36 of every 1000 beachgoers becoming ill with vomiting, nausea, or stomachaches. This level of risk is unacceptably high.

“Swimmers deserve to know that their favorite beach is clean on the day they're using it. It doesn't matter to them one bit what the average water quality was a month ago,” said Captain Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper. “New Jersey discharges 23 billion gallons of sewage per year from permitted sewer overflows. Sometimes our waters are clean, sometimes they are dangerous; we are not safe unless we know which is true on a daily basis.”

“The New York-New Jersey Harbor has seen both increasing recreational use and increasing impacts from disease causing pollution,” said Deborah A. Mans, the NY/NJ Baykeeper. “We need EPA to let people know when the water is safe and to punish polluters when it is not. A monthly standard just does not protect public health.”

“EPA’s criteria is doubly flawed because it not only assumes that is acceptable for 36 of every 1000 people to contract gastro-intestinal illness by recreating in contaminated water, an unacceptably high number; it also ignores the proven risk of other health impacts, from rashes to eye and ear infections that routinely plague swimmers in our waterways,” said Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River Program Director for Riverkeeper. “People recreating in the Hudson River must be protected with strict standards, utilizing the best science to truly protect public health rather than the EPA’s status quo.”

“Science-based criteria for pathogens in recreational waters are the cornerstone of the Clean Water Act’s protections against widespread pollution by animal manure and human sewage and are essential to protecting people that swim and fish in our nation’s waterways from pathogenic illness,” said Kelly Foster, Senior Attorney for Waterkeeper Alliance. “EPA has adopted criteria that do not protect the public from disease when swimming and fishing, make it more difficult to reduce or eliminate pathogens from our recreational waters, and do not adequately inform the public about the risk they face when deciding to go to the beach. Without adequate recreational criteria, the Clean Water Act simply cannot function to adequately protect us from disease when swimming at our nation’s beaches and recreational waters.”

“The beaches, boardwalks, and bays of the nation drive billion-dollar coastal economies,” said Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action, “having clean, safe beaches where parents, children, tourists, locals, surfers, and fishermen can enjoy a day at the beach without a day at the doctor’s is the keystone condition for these clean coastal economies. The EPA has failed in its duty to protect beachgoers using the best science, and has failed to develop a system that warns the public of health risks before they happen – not several days or weeks later.”

###

Clean Ocean Action is a coalition-based non-profit organization working to improve and protect the water quality of the marine waters off the New Jersey and New York coasts. Follow us @CleanOcean or online through www.CleanOceanAction.org

Hackensack Riverkeeper is a non-profit corporation organized to provide representation for the living resources of the Hackensack River. Hackensack Riverkeeper runs boat tours and operates a paddling center on the Hackensack River in the Meadowlands, and has its offices in Hackensack New Jersey. Captain Bill Sheehan founded Hackensack Riverkeeper fifteen years ago. www.hackensackriverkeeper.org

Heal the Bay is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Santa Monica Bay and all southern California coastal waters and watersheds. Progress toward the mission is achieved by effectively combining the use of science, advocacy, community outreach, and public education to create positive environmental change. For over two decades, Heal the Bay has been effective in cleaning up polluted waterbodies, including freshwater and coastal waters, to better protect the health of the public and aquatic life throughout the Los Angeles region. www.healthebay.org

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Livingston, Montana, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

NY/NJ Baykeeper is a non-profit corporation working to protect, preserve, and restore the ecological integrity and productivity of the New York/ New Jersey Bay. Baykeeper conducts restoration programs, especially oyster restoration, in both New York and New Jersey waters, works to acquire land for preservation and advocates for clean water throughout its coverage area – extending from Sandy Hook, New Jersey through Jamaica Bay Queens. Debbie Mans is the NY/NJ Baykeeper. http://nynjbaykeeper.org/

Riverkeeper is a membership-based, non-profit group dedicated to defending the Hudson River and its tributaries and protecting the drinking water supply of New York City and Hudson Valley residents. Through enforcement, grassroots advocacy and policy initiatives Riverkeeper has helped to establish globally recognized standards for waterway and watershed protection, and serves as the model for the growing Waterkeeper movement that includes nearly 200 Keeper programs across the country and around the globe. For more information please go to www.riverkeeper.org

Waterkeeper Alliance is an international alliance of water advocates working to patrol and protect rivers, streams, and coastlines around the world. Waterkeeper Alliance represents the interests of over 200 member watershed organizations providing a way for communities to stand up for their right to clean water. Visit us at http://www.waterkeeper.org and follow us on Twitter @Waterkeeper.

Volunteers Find the Wild, the Wacky and the Weird During Beach Sweeps

Clean Ocean Action 2012 Annual
Beach Sweeps Report Released

A Citizen Call to Action for April 27, 2013

Photo Credit: Joe Sapia

Clean Ocean Action (COA) released the 2012 Beach Sweeps Report today, highlighting the Dirty Dozen, Roster of the Ridiculous, and the totals for over 90 items of marine debris collected by volunteers last year.  To view the Beach Sweeps Report online, click here.  

In 2012, 6,926 volunteers collected, tallied, and removed over 350,000 pieces of debris from NJ’s shoreline during Clean Ocean Action’s 27^th Annual Beach Sweeps.  The majority of the debris removed was disposable plastics—items designed to be used once and thrown away.  Plastic, including foam, represents 82.7% of the total waste found.  It is clear: disposable plastic items continue to litter beaches, threaten marine life, and impact water quality. 

The Beach Sweeps has become New Jersey’s largest environmental event with thousands of citizens combing nearly all 127 miles ocean coastline and bay beaches.  The spring event coincides with Earth Month to provide citizens with an educational, hands-on, meaningful, rewarding activity to make a real difference.

During these 28 years, over 100,000 citizens have collected over 5 million items, tabulated data, and created a legacy of information that is used to fight for better anti-litter programs and educate people about the harms caused by marine debris to the economy and wildlife.

The majority of the debris removed was disposable plastics including:

• 49,362 cigarette filters
• 22,308 straws and stirrers
• 38,349 caps and lids

Odd items collected, contributing to the "Roster of the Ridiculous" are:

• Earmuffs
• Hairclip with fake hair
• False eyelashes
• Shopping cart
• Fortune cookie
• Stuffed horse
• Magic wand
• Vampire teeth
• Ant trap
• Boomerang
• Brake shoes
• Baby shark toy
• Message in a bottle
• Wicker sofa
• Christmas lights
• Stove burner

Call to Action 2013

Want to be a part of Beach Sweeps? Clean Ocean Action (COA) invites citizens and organizations to participate in the 28th Annual Spring Beach Sweeps on Saturday, April 27, 2013 at over 60 sites along the Jersey Shore. 

To view the Beach Sweeps Report online visit, www.cleanoceanaction.org. For a complete list of site locations and details, please visit www.cleanoceanaction.org.

All volunteers must register through www.cleanoceanaction.org.  Volunteers should bring gloves, dress for the weather, apply sunscreen, and wear closed-toed, hard-soled shoes.

Consider Taking your Beach Sweeping to the Next Level

Collect donations for your volunteer efforts and raise funds for COA's ocean protection work.  Raise $100 and receive Clean Ocean Action's popular ChicoBag made from recycled plastic bottles.  Teams can join the effort at http://www.crowdrise.com/BeachSweeps. 

The State of Coastal Lakes in NJ

In mid-February, COA staff attended the Coastal Lakes Summit: Moving to a Healthier and More Resilient Future at Monmouth University.  The Summit was organized by the Urban Coast Institute (UCI).  UCI held its first Coastal Lakes Summit in 2008.

About the Summit

The purpose of the 2013 Summit was to bring together natural resource managers and engineers, municipal officials, representatives of civic groups, community organizations, federal and state agency representatives, and local coastal and watershed management groups to indentify post-Sandy recovery and restoration priorities for the coastal lakes of NJ and to implement lake restoration plans.   

About Coastal Lakes

Deal Lake Photo Credit: Etsy

New Jersey has over 20 coastal lakes!  The coastal lakes, throughout Monmouth and Ocean County, provide local freshwater resources, offer important recreational and aesthetic amenities, and most historically were estuaries.  Many of these lakes used to have a connection to the ocean, before intense man-made development altered the landscape.

Deal Lake is the largest coastal lake in New Jersey; other well-known lakes include Lake Takanesse, Spring Lake, Wreck Pond, Stockon Lake, Little Silver Lake and Twilight Lake.

Sadly over time, these lakes have become merely regional stormwater basins, collecting untreated and unmanaged stormwater runoff generated by the surrounding communities.  What were historically estuaries have become impoundments for excessive algae growth and nutrient loading.

Impact of Superstorm Sandy

While nutrient loading has been an issue within the NJ coastal lakes for quite some time, Superstorm Sandy has presented new issues:

·         Physical Impacts

o   Filling

o   Erosion

o   Shoreline failure

·         Structural Impacts

o   Failed or damaged weir/flume/dam

o   Storm sewer lines filled with sand and debris

·         Environmental Impacts

o   Water quality: contaminants, bacteria, nutrients, sediment

o   Debris: upland wreckage, boats, trees, other submerged material

Fish and Wildlife Issues

Since the coastal lakes were historically estuaries, many of the species needed a delicate balance of fresh and salt water and open exchange with the ocean to survive.  Anadromous fish, like New Jersey’s River Herring, are born in fresh water, spend most of their life in the ocean and then return to fresh water to spawn.  On the other hand, catadromous fish, like the American Eel, live in fresh water and enters salt water to spawn.  Both types of fish need an open exchange between the salt water ocean and the fresh water lake to migrate and spawn properly. 

Over time, human population booms and over-development have closed these lakes off to the ocean, to prevent flooding (among other issues), but also causing declines in fish populations.  The River Herring is now a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act to be upgraded from a “Species of Concern” to Threatened or Endangered. 

Solutions

To help with stormwater runoff and to return the coastal lakes from impoundments back to estuaries, Summit attendees thought to plant native species around the lakes, create maritime forests (ocean coastal wooded habitats found on higher ground than dune areas), restore riparian corridors, preserve habitat for migratory birds, scrutinize the source of sand for beach replenishment projects, re-establish dunes, and preserve open space.  Creating soft shorelines, is also a good solution for two reasons.  One is so that nesting shorebirds have invertebrates to eat, and to improve water quality.  Soft shorelines filter pollutants out from stormwater runoff.

It is perhaps most important to have a project as a model that can be used to educate the public and local elected officials about the responsibility that comes living near a coastal lake.  The maritime forest project in Ocean Grove/Bradley Beach at Fletcher Lake can serve as a model for citizens to visualize the benefits of preserving the coastal lakes and restoring them to estuaries for generations to come. 

Water Monitoring and Barnegat Bay

NJ Water Monitoring Council Meeting Focuses on Barnegat Bay

Barnegat Bay, photo credit: NY Times Richard Perry

In early February, COA participated in a NJ Water Monitoring Council meeting that was hosted by the Barnegat Bay Partnership.  The goal of the NJ Water Monitoring Council was “to promote and facilitate the coordination, collaboration and communication of scientifically sound, ambient water quality and quantity information to support effective environmental management.”  About 100 people attended. 

DEP highlighted the Governor’s 10 point plan for the Bay which included developing nutrient loading targets to direct restoration efforts and to conduct more research to fill gaps in data.  DEP has been monitoring the Bay more intensively from the summer of 2011 and will continue to do so through the summer of 2013.

The northern part of the Bay has the highest loadings of nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediments – which are linked to the intense development in this region.  The Toms River, which drains the largest basin of the watershed, is the largest source of nutrient loadings. 

Nitrogen pollution comes from land disturbance, increased erosion, fertilizer use, burning fossil fuels and its fallout from the air, and increased hardened surfaces such as pavement and roofs that prevent rain, and nitrogen from getting absorbed into the land and plants.   Coastal waters may become even more susceptible to nutrient pollution as coastal waters warm in response to climate change.

Too many nutrients in the Bay has resulted in the excessive growth of harmful algae blooms, such as brown tide, and macroalgae which can lower dissolved oxygen levels in localized areas and degrade seafloor habitats.     Both of these can contribute to the loss of sea grass that has been documented in Bay.  The composition of the microalgal community, and associated food quality for other sea life, may also be affected by nutrient levels.

Although some shellfish can thrive under high microalgae levels, shellfish are negatively impacted by brown tide blooms, decreased food quality, and excessive macro algae such as sea lettuce.  Young clams are also very sensitive to certain types of chemical pollution, such as oil and gas from cars and boats. 

As part of the 10 Point Plan, nutrient water quality standards were adopted for marine waters.  DEP now needs to evaluate the Bay under these standards.  DEP will be taking a comprehensive approach to looking at the nutrient loading problems in Barnegat Bay, including the impacts of Superstorm Sandy.  For example, sand and debris associated with the storm surge and breeches have covered seagrass beds and wetlands areas.  Localized contamination may also have occurred from fuel tanks, cars, fertilizer and other household chemicals. The official determination of whether the Bay fails to meet the state nutrient water quality standard is important for requiring action to be taken to reduce nutrient loadings.

In light of Superstorm Sandy, the need for understanding the sources of the bay’s problems and action to reduce these impacts is more important than ever.  Implementation of the Barnegat Bay Partnership’s strategic plan is critical and can serve as a guide for recovery efforts.  The Special Area Management Plan that was part of the Governor’s 10 Point Plan should be made a priority and be part of the recovery process.  In addition, more enforcement of and stronger stormwater regulations are still needed.  Greater awareness and efforts by the public to decrease the use of fossil fuels and to reduce rain and fertilizer runoff as well as soil loss and erosion would be beneficial to the Bay.