CLEAN OCEAN ACTION REPORT
GOVERNOR WHITMAN KEEPS HER PLEDGE !
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association February 1995 Newsletter)
On Feb. 1, 1995, Governor Whitman endorsed the report released by the Dredge Material Management Team, chaired by Assemblyman Steve Corodemus, outlining a short-term dredge material management plan for sediments in Port Newark. The plan calls for immediate alternatives to ocean dumping of contaminated sediments including permit prioritization (dredging first in areas that need it the most), upland disposal, onsite disposal, and dredging volume reduction. This would take care of immediate dredging needs. Then two years from now a newly constructed pit in Newark Bay would take care of even more dredging needs. But some government bureaucrats are opposed to the plan, support instead, continued dumping of contaminated sediments in the ocean, or in existing borrow pits in Lower New York Bay.
Design
FACT: The new Newark Bay Pit has sheer clay walls and a bedrock bottom, and is designed specifically for contaminated sediments from the area.
FACT: The ocean Mud Dump site is 80 years old, and was never designed to hold contaminated sediments.
FACT: Existing Lower Bay pits are actually shallow, sandy depressions left over from sand mining and were never designed to hold contaminated sediments.
Safety
FACT: Using the new Newark Bay pit will isolate contaminants from the food chain.
FACT: Using the ocean Mud Dump site spreads contaminants throughout the ocean..
FACT: Using existing Lower Bay pits will destroy the habitat of commercially important finfish and shellfish.
Costs
FACT: Dumping dredge spoils in the new Newark Bay pit will cost $120 million ($10 per ton).
FACT: Dumping dredge spoils in the ocean Mud Dump site costs over $500 million ($36 per ton).
FACT: Dumping dredge spoils in existing Lower Bay pits is currently not allowed by New York State.
Environmental Protection
FACT: Dumping of contaminated dredge spoils in the new Newark Bay pit will result in a cleaner bay.
FACT: Dumping of contaminated sediments in the ocean Mud Dump site will result in a dirtier ocean.
FACT: Dumping of contaminated sediments in existing Lower Bay pits will result in a dirtier bay.
Support
FACT: Dumping of contaminated sediments in the new Newark Bay pit is supported by Gov. Whitman, fishing groups, environmental organizations, the City of Newark, and the Dredged Materials Management Team.
FACT: Dumping of contaminated sediments in the ocean Mud Dump site is opposed by Gov. Whitman, the Dredged Materials Management Team, fishing groups, and environmental organizations.
FACT: Dumping of contaminated sediments in existing Lower Bay pits ( which are in New York waters) is opposed by the State of New York, the Boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn, and virtually every fishing and environmental organization in the area.
MORE FACTS !! The governor's plan will protect the Port of New Jersey, the Newark Bay estuary, the ocean, the shipping industry, and the tourism industry. It will not in any way shut down the port. The Dredged Materials Management Team was a broad-based group of shipping, labor, and environmental interests, and represents the best management plan for all involved.
For more information please contact:
CLEAN OCEAN ACTION - 908-872-0111
or
ASSEMBLYMAN STEVE CORODEMUS.