Lacey Township - Members of the State Assembly and Senate Enviornmental Committee heard testimony from dozens of concerned enviornmentalists and residents of Ocean County on the health of the Barnegat Bay.
And the findings were absolutely startling. For the past 10 years, the bay has seen a large amount of degradtion thanks to overdevelopment, pollution and stormwater runoff. High levels of nitrogen from lawn fertilizers are also causing major issues for the entire ecosystem. Essex County Assemblyman John McKeon, who chairs the Assembly Environment Committee, says they're not taking this lightly and they are working to find a way to ban certain fertalizers and are pushing people to use more organic products.
But Jeff Titel of the Sierra Club says talk is cheap. He feels the event was nothing more than a dog and pony show and actions speak louder than words. Titel says "we've been talking about Barnegat Bay for the past ten years and nothing has changed - no actions have been taking. He feels it's up to the lawmakers in this state to take decisive action and actually "do something other than flapping their gums."
John Watson of the Department of Enviornmental Protection says they're well aware of the situation and the goal of Thursday's meeting is to map out a definitive plan. He says "the Bay is a significant part of tourism and we can't just watch a billion dollar industry go down the tubes."
The Barnegat Bay encompasses all the land and water in Ocean County and parts of Monmouth County including 42 miles of shoreline. Spanning 38 municipalities, it includes fresh water from nine streams and rivers that flow into the Bay. It stretches as far as Barrier islands to the east and Plumsted Township to the west and is bound by Point Pleasant Canal in the north and Little Egg Harbor to the south.
Witnesses at the hearing testified that more than fifty percent of the contamination of the Bay's waters is from fertilizer runoff. Rain laced with chemicals from cars and factories and groundwater contamination from development are also factors.
Some of the recommended measures to slow down the contamination include:
- directing storm water runoff into groundwater systems to improve filtration
- using slow-release fertilizer to limit nitrogen emissions
- limit the use of fertilizers during the winter and before rains
- setting total maximum daily loads of fertilizers
And the findings were absolutely startling. For the past 10 years, the bay has seen a large amount of degradtion thanks to overdevelopment, pollution and stormwater runoff. High levels of nitrogen from lawn fertilizers are also causing major issues for the entire ecosystem. Essex County Assemblyman John McKeon, who chairs the Assembly Environment Committee, says they're not taking this lightly and they are working to find a way to ban certain fertalizers and are pushing people to use more organic products.But Jeff Titel of the Sierra Club says talk is cheap. He feels the event was nothing more than a dog and pony show and actions speak louder than words. Titel says "we've been talking about Barnegat Bay for the past ten years and nothing has changed - no actions have been taking. He feels it's up to the lawmakers in this state to take decisive action and actually "do something other than flapping their gums."
John Watson of the Department of Enviornmental Protection says they're well aware of the situation and the goal of Thursday's meeting is to map out a definitive plan. He says "the Bay is a significant part of tourism and we can't just watch a billion dollar industry go down the tubes."
The Barnegat Bay encompasses all the land and water in Ocean County and parts of Monmouth County including 42 miles of shoreline. Spanning 38 municipalities, it includes fresh water from nine streams and rivers that flow into the Bay. It stretches as far as Barrier islands to the east and Plumsted Township to the west and is bound by Point Pleasant Canal in the north and Little Egg Harbor to the south.
Witnesses at the hearing testified that more than fifty percent of the contamination of the Bay's waters is from fertilizer runoff. Rain laced with chemicals from cars and factories and groundwater contamination from development are also factors.
Some of the recommended measures to slow down the contamination include:
- directing storm water runoff into groundwater systems to improve filtration
- using slow-release fertilizer to limit nitrogen emissions
- limit the use of fertilizers during the winter and before rains
- setting total maximum daily loads of fertilizers
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