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by Cindy Zipf
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association January 1994 Newsletter)
Amboy Aggregates has applied for a permit from he Army Corp of Engineers (COE) to mine the sand from Sandy Hook and Swash Channels. Up to 15 million tons of sand and shoal will be stripped away from the bay bottom. The COE has published the Public Notice with an original deadline of January 3, 1994, for comments. However, thanks for the JCAA clubs that requested an extension, the COE agreed to extend the deadline to January 18, 1994. Obviously, that is still not enough time!
Although Amboy Aggregates (AA) is applying for the permit, it is actually three permits in one. AA wants the sand, Weeks Stevedoring and another company will do the dredging. AA says the material is needed for capping at the Mud Dump, construction purposes and beach nourishment. These "needed uses" were not documented or proven in the application. Potential impacts to the marine system were barely mentioned.
The COE permit will also depend on AA's ability to get several permits from the State of New Jersey. They include: A NJ CAFRA permit (a public hearing is required), a water quality certificate and a tidelands grant from the Tidelands Council. The state does have some incentive to grant the permits. AA will have to buy the sand from the state and this money will go into the state treasury for schools and other uses.
Alarmingly, strip-mining the Lower Bay for sand is picking up speed at an explosive pace. Several other permit requests are pending such as the NY East Bank project and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock project to dredge Ambrose Channel to a depth of 85 feet. The potential effects are severe. The habitat will be destroyed and what is left of the bay's natural marine ecosystem will be further compromised. Currents and other hydrologic flow patterns will be disrupted and strip-mining may also re suspend some long buried pollutants that would be better left buried.
ACTION: Write to the COE as close to the January 18 deadline as possible (club members, do it as soon as you get the newsletter). Request an additional extension of the comment period. Explain that a 15 day extension is not good enough, since your club only meets once a month and you do not have a copy of the Public Notice. Request a public hearing and most important an Environmental Impact Study be done for each application, and for the combined effects of all planned or possible projects. Write to: Joe Seebode, Chief, Regulatory Branch, NY District ACOE, 26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY 10278.
Write our new governor, too! Tell her your concerns. Recall that most of the permits required are from New Jersey, but also keep in mind the state stands to benefit ($$$) from he sale of the sand. We must convince the state that we stand to lose much more if these projects move forward. Write: Governor Christine Todd-Whitman, State House, Trenton, NJ 08625