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Trenton Times / Friday, March 17, 2000
by J.B. Kasper
If you have been following some of our recent columns in this
paper, you are well aware of the double edged sword of ocean
dumping and ocean strip mining that are threatening our coast
lines. Make no bones about it, both of these issues are a serious
threat to the ocean environment and the fisheries along the
Jersey Coast. Here is an update on both issues and some of the
developments that have occurred in the last week or so.
Sand Mining
On Saturday I attended the public hearing on the proposed ocean
mining of sand off the New Jersey coast at the Ocean One
Conference Center in Long Branch. To say it was a completely
different meeting from that which took place in Bradley Beach on
Monday, February, 28th would be the understatement of the new
millennium. This past Saturday's meeting in no way resembled the
farce that the Department of the Interior held on the 28th. It
was held in a spacious meeting hall, started on time, was run in
an orderly fashion and everyone got to speak whether they were
for or against the proposed mining.
It was no coincidence that meeting was run by Congressman Frank Pallone, who has been in the forefront of the fight to stop both
the ocean mining and ocean dumping. In fact, it is the second
time that he has had to conduct public meetings on these issues
after government agencies have failed in their responsibility to
the public to hear both sides of these very important and
disputed issues. (A second meeting was held after longshoremen
from Newark disrupted and forced a shut down of a public meeting on the ocean
dumping issue at Forth Monmouth hosted by the Army Corps of Engineers in January.)
Not only was the meeting run differently, the outcome was also
very different. Unlike the first hearing where Amboy Aggregates
got there early and packed the small hall with their supporters,
forcing the opposition to stay outside and not be heard, there
was plenty of room for both sides, and foes of the strip mining
outnumbered those who favored the mining better than four to one. Representatives of the Mineral Mining Division of the Department
of the Interior heard a wide ranges of concerns voiced by a diverse cross section of people who live in the communities that
would be affected by the mining.
Here are some of the concerns that were voiced at the meeting.
Several representatives of diving organizations stated that the
ocean bottom in the area to be mined is a major habitat for
lobsters, clams, scallops and other bottom living creatures that
are harvested by the divers. A spokesmen for the surf clamming
industry said that 80 percent of all surf calms along the
Atlantic coast come from the waters off the Jersey coast and the
sand mining project would devastate that industry. A
representative of the Belford Seafood Co-op stated that they
opposed the mining because the waters to be mined are principal
fishing grounds for them.
One of the main concerns was that wrecks and other structures
that hold fish in the areas would be destroyed. Although
representatives of the mining industry said this would not
happen, several representatives of different organizations cited
a couple of wrecks that were destroyed or damaged by sand mining operations while pumping sand for beach replenishment projects.
In addition, concerns were voiced that since there are no
standards for the sand mining, there is too much room for abuse.
The amount of freshwater that would be needed to wash the sand
once it has been dredged up was also a concern that was heard at
the meeting. Since the sand washing would require large amounts
of freshwater, several people demanded to know where the water
would come from and how it would be handled after the sand
filtering process. After the formal part of the hearing, representatives of the Department of the Interior, Amboy Aggregates, organizations
opposing the mining and Congressman Pallone answered questions from the public.
Ocean Dumping
News on the ocean dumping front took a down turn when the U.S
Army Corps of Engineers issued permits to the Castle Astoria
Terminals and the Brooklyn Marine Terminal of New York to dump dredge material off the New Jersey coast. More than 80 residents
from south Jersey met in Strathmere, Upper Township and a meeting was held by the Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Club
to voice concerns on the ocean dumping. Representative Frank A. LoBiondo, (Rep.- 2nd district) said "the plan to dump dredge
spoils from New York at a site, known as the Mud Dump, six miles off Sandy Hook would have devastating effects on both the
environment, the food chain, and the many industries that rely on clean water, such as tourism and fishing. This is a hideous form
of pollution that won't be visible to the eye".
Anthony Totah of Clean Ocean Action said "New Jersey developed alternatives, but New York doesn't want to pay to use them." He
said the dredge material is so toxic there are more than 20 restraints on when and how it can be dumped. Those restraints
will not permit the dumping until October. This means New Jersey
residents have until October to stop the dumping.
Despite all the opposition to the ocean dumping from the public,
the efforts of Congressman Pallone and Representative Saxon,
Representative LoBiondo and other New Jersey politicians and an
agreement by vice-president Al Gore to stop the dumping, the Army Corps of Engineers is going to allow the dumping. Why has
Governor Whitman remained silent on this issue? Why hasn't the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection opposed the
dumping? This issue is far from over. Currently law makers are exploring other ways of stopping the dumping. Clean Ocean Action has a
petition on the internet, as well as other information on the ocean dumping. You can reach them at
www.cleanoceanaction.org
You can reach us with your fishing or hunting reports, comments
or questions by fax at (215) 295-0902; by E-Mail at
J.B.Kasper@worldnet.att.net; or by mail at :
J.B. Kasper c/o The Times, 500 Perry St., Trenton, NJ 08605.
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