 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
JERSEY COAST ANGLERS ASSOCIATION
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association Late Summer 2000 Newsletter)
The week of
August 6th President Clinton signed an executive order protecting the ocean. During the same week, the Army Corp of Engineers
issued contracts for the dredging and dumping of toxic dredge spoils. The dumpsite is the Mud Dump. The level of hypocrisy, not to mention bad timing,
amazes even those of us who don’t believe any of our elected officials any more. My list of people who are responsible for this
total disregard of public opinion and public safety continues to grow. It is clearly a bipartisan list. At the top, of course, is the current
administration. President Clinton and
Vice-President Gore could stop this. But,
then again, so could Governor Pataki and Governor Whitman.
While they are busy blaming each other in this busy campaign season the
ocean and its inhabitants pay the price. None
of them are willing to admit that they have the power and the responsibility to “JUST
SAY NO.” It is hardly necessary for me
to review for you all the reasons dumping toxic material in the ocean is a bad idea. Nor should it be necessary for me to review the
kind of political double talk that the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers use to justify
this abomination.
What I want to
say is this: at any time President Clinton can “JUST SAY NO” there will be no
dumping of toxic dredge materials in the ocean. At
any time Vice-President Gore who signed the original agreement closing the Mud Dump to
this type of toxic material, could publicly call on the president to “JUST SAY NO.”.
At any time Governor Whitman could use the power of her office to stop this insanity. She could refuse to sign the permits that would
allow any contaminated dredge material from New Jersey headed for the ocean. In effect, she could “JUST SAY NO”. At any time Governor Pataki could put his money
where his mouth is and come up with another solution to the problem of where to discard
the toxic material dredged from New York’s harbors.
In effect, he could “JUST SAY NO.”
We’re still waiting.
Nancy Reagan coined this phrase to suggest that young people should “JUST SAY NO” to drugs. Perhaps we should borrow the idea and “JUST SAY NO” to politicians who allow toxic dumping in the ocean. Don’t be fooled by their rhetoric or their press releases. Each of them is responsible and each of them should share the blame.
Legislative Chairman JCAA & NJSFSC
22 Cruiser Court,Toms River NJ, 08753
732-270-9102 Fax 732-506-6409
Email tfote@jcaa.org
This is only part of comments that
Clean Ocean Action put together for us and other groups on Kill Van Kull Dredging Project. Their complete comments are posted at our web
page.
Clean
Ocean Action (COA) submits these comments on behalf of over 170 organizations, 150,000
citizens, and U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, American Littoral Society, Friends of the
Boardwalk, Jersey Coast Angler’s Association, New Jersey Federation of Sportsmens’
Clubs, and Surfer’s Environmental Alliance. Additional endorsements of these comments
will be submitted as an addendum.
General
Comments:
The
scope of this project is massive. It includes
the dredging and subsequent management of over 7,205,000 tons of muck, clay and rock. The extent of the area is over 13 miles long and
up to a half mile wide. The project is
expected to take over 4 years to complete – but is already behind schedule.
Under
the regulations governing the process of this activity (33 CFR Section 325.3) a Public
Notice must provide the public with “sufficient information concerning the nature of
the activity to generate meaningful comments…”
This standard is not met with the information provided in the Public Notice. On the basis of the following reasons COA
advocates denial of the proposed project:
|
|
|
|
|