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Shrewsbury River dredge spoils put o Monmouth Beach

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The pics on nj dot com are disturbing.

 

Here is the article.

 

MONMOUTH BEACH — A federal project to dredge the Shrewsbury River and use the spoils to build dunes in Monmouth Beach has some residents concerned about the safety of the black sludge being pumped through the pipe.

 

Monmouth Beach Mayor Susan Howard and officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers insist the 50,000 cubic yards of sand being dredged from the river’s channels is tested and is considered safe, but some who’ve seen the black water pouring out of the pipe daily aren’t convinced.

 

William Bauder, a Highlands resident, said he went swimming in the ocean north of the outflow on Sept. 4 and he left the water with a burning taste in his mouth.

 

The taste lasted at least another day, he said.

 

Monmouth Beach resident Alan Salowe said he didn’t go into the water the day after Labor Day because the ocean near the outfall pipe was gray.

 

“Tuesday after Labor Day the ocean turned into a darker gray, more thick sludge, so that no one went into the water,” Salowe said.

He and another borough resident, Tina Grasso, said they also saw a lot of garbage in the area.

 

Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said he has received no reports of complaints about the quality of the ocean water in Monmouth Beach.

 

Dave Henry, health officer for Monmouth County Regional Health Department, which covers 21 communities in Monmouth County including Monmouth Beach, hasn’t received any complaints about the water and hasn’t been given any specific advisories about it.

 

 

The DEP tests the ocean water weekly for bacteria levels, but that monitoring only occurs between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

 

Henry said bacterial testing would not detect any metals in the water.

 

“It’s not something that’s routinely done,” Henry said.

 

A representative from the Army Corps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Howard said the areas being dredged in the river, shallow channels created by decades of shoaling and Hurricane Sandy, were tested for toxicity and only uncontaminated sand is being pumped onto the beach.

 

“They’re only pumping what is allowed,” she said.

“A significant amount of testing is going on. They’re very careful.”

 

She said no resident had reported any issues with the ocean water.

 

In a letter to the 1,200 residents who registered to receive borough emails., Howard explained the need for dunes after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and touted the environmental and educational benefits it would bring. But the letter didn’t mention anything about testing and the safety of the sand.

 

“Restoration of the dune system along the ocean will help absorb and dissipate the ocean’s wave energy during future storms, and will be constructed to provide nesting habitat for endangered species including piping plovers, least terns, and black skimmers,” the letter said.

 

But Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said the material being pumped onto the beach is half sand and half water and the system is designed to have the water run off into the ocean with most of the sand staying behind on the beach. He said testing doesn’t necessarily ensure dirty sand won’t get on the beach.

 

"Pumping dredge spoils onto beaches is DEP run amok . There is oil, Sandy debris , dirt and other materials being dumped on our beaches and into our waters,” Tittel said. “It is a failed policy based on political expedience that hurts the environment. This about saving money not about what is right for hour beaches, our oceans or tourism."

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By MaryAnn Spoto | The Star-Ledger

on July 18, 2014 at 7:05 AM, updated July 18, 2014 at 7:18 AM

 

 

MONMOUTH BEACH — Its beachfront still a work in progress after Hurricane Sandy, Monmouth Beach plans to use material dredged from the Shrewsbury River to rebuild a portion of its dunes.

 

The dredge work – the first in that section of the river in more than two decades – is one of three federal projects scheduled to start after Labor Day to make the river more navigable while giving the borough more protection from future storms, borough officials said.

 

The federal work, which officials say has been long overdue, also includes repairs to the rock sea wall damaged during Sandy.

 

“It’s very exciting. We’ve been working for years on the dredge issues,” Mayor Susan Howard said. “They were looking for someone who would accept (the sand) and we jumped on it.”

 

She said it’s been more than 25 years since the channels have been dredged. Howard said this was one of the top complaints she heard when she first came to office nine years ago.

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month awarded a nearly $1.8 million contract to H&L Contracting LLC to dredge channels of the Shrewsbury River of 60,000 cubic yards of sand, according to Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.).

 

The project involves installing a hydraulic dredge under Route 36 and over the borough’s sea wall to pipe the dredged materials onto the beach for dunes, he said.

 

Howard said that before being placed on the beach, the material will be tested to make sure there are no contaminants.

 

“What we can accept is clean sand,” she said.

 

Sand will be pumped onto the beach starting at about a quarter-mile north of Seacrest Road and continue south as necessary, Pallone said.

 

The first contract pays for the dredging. The borough obtained a second federal grant of another nearly $1.8 million to create about 6,400 feet of dunes along its 1.5 miles of beach, Howard and Pallone said.

 

Sandy destroyed the dunes on the beach and although the borough has tried to start building new ones, the efforts have been very slow, Howard said. The sand from the river won’t restore the dunes to their original 6-to-10 feet height, so it will be placed on the beach strategically, she said.

 

In the third project, Monmouth Beach will share with neighboring Sea Bright a $2.98 million appropriation from the federal Sandy aid package to repair the 15-foot-high sea wall.

 

Monmouth Beach engineer Bonnie Heard said Sandy knocked boulders loose in several sections of the wall, which also needs to be “grouted” with concrete.

 

HERE IS YOUR PROBLEM, MORE PORK PAYOUTS... GET PAID TO PUMP DIRTY RIVER MUD ON A BEACH NEAR YOU

(*member formerly known as 'JohnB.')

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The pics on nj dot com are disturbing.

 

 

William Bauder, a Highlands resident, said he went swimming in the ocean north of the outflow on Sept. 4 and he left the water with a burning taste in his mouth.

 

The taste lasted at least another day, he said.

 

"

 

I cant believe he went back and tasted it again ;)

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Aside from some temporary stink and discoloration, I don't see anything that bad about it? That sludge/stench is just the natural decay that you get in lots of tidal areas or any area with no major "flow". Its the metals and chemical contaminants that I'd be worried about, which were supposedly tested for.

feeling uncreative today
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If the residents are that worried, maybe they import high quality sand to suit their good tastes. WITH THEIR OWN F**KING MONEY.

I'm fed up with this waste of tax dollars. If you're worried about flooding, move to higher grounds you f**king idiots.

 

Or what he said...

feeling uncreative today
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“Restoration of the dune system along the ocean will help absorb and dissipate the ocean’s wave energy during future storms, and will be constructed to provide nesting habitat for endangered species including piping plovers, least terns, and black skimmers,” the letter said.


Well, if it's going to help the piping plovers!:mad:


Has anyone ever seen one of these birds, I'm mean not in a fox's mouth?


I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

 

 

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That stuff smells so bad like sewage mixed with sulfur.

 

That’s because it is anaerobic. Any substrate from the below the first couple feet of a body or water will have those characteristics. It is bacteria doing its job breaking down organic matter. The only danger it presents is placing additional chemical and/or Biological Oxygen Demand on the area immediately adjacent to the discharge.

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