For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
New Jersey currently has 31 lakes with high levels of harmful algal blooms that are either closed or under advisory. Two lakes are at a red ‘warning’ level. Nineteen lakes are at an orange ‘advisory’ level, which means that public beaches are closed and confirmed cell counts exceed 80k cells/mL. Nine lakes are at a blue ‘watch’ level, which means that public bathing beaches are open even though cell counts are between 20k and 80k cells/mL.
“Every week, DEP just watches more and more lakes get impacted with high levels of algae blooms. Instead of taking action, they just keep adding more color-coded advisories and closing more lakes. There are now 31 lakes that are closed or under advisory, up from 24 last week, and it is still early. DEP rolled back standards with their multicolored tool and held a PR event about their HABs response instead of coming up with funding and a plan to clean up our lakes. Their response is more about spin than about cleaning up our lakes. All of these lakes would have been closed under the old system and standards,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This failure to act will lead to more and more lakes being impacted, especially with the combination of hot summer weather and thunderstorms that we have been seeing. We could end up seeing over 50 lakes closed again with a hot September.”
The two lakes at a red ‘warning’ level are: Driscoll Pond and Hopkins Pond. The lakes at an orange ‘advisory’ level are: Amico Island Pond, Branch Brook Park Lake, Delaware Lake, Dramasei Park Lake, Greenwich Lake, Greenwood Lake, Lake Virginia - Birchfield, Mountain Lake, Rosedale Lake, Spruce Run Reservoir, Sunset Lake - Asbury, Sunset Lake - Bridgewater, Lake Hopatcong, Burlington Island Lake, Ramapo River, Passaic River, Woodcliff Reservoir, Avis Millpond, and Daretown Lake. The nine lakes at a blue ‘watch’ level are: Kirkwood Lake, Pemberton Lake, Musconetcong Lake, Swartswood Lake, Lake Sarah - Birchfield, Lake Neepaulin, Cozy Lake, Memorial Lake, and Slabtown Lake.
“This summer has been one of the hottest and wettest, and our lakes are seeing the impacts. Seven new lakes have tested for high algae levels in one week alone, including Avis Millpond and Daretown Lake in Salem County. Many of our major drinking water sources have been impacted by HABs, including Greenwood Lake, Pompton Lake, Spruce Run Reservoir, and Lake Hopatcong. Now, Woodcliff Reservoir is closed as well. All in all, these different lakes are part of water supply systems that supply water for about 6 million people,” said Tittel. “Our parks are filled to capacity every weekend, including swimming areas. Now, we’re losing these recreation areas for swimming and boating because of DEP’s failure to deal with the issue and cleanup our lakes.”
DEP’s new warning index that they released earlier this year has six ‘HAB Alert Levels’ depending on the levels of algae. ‘None’ has no reported HAB present, ‘Watch’ is for levels between 20k - 40k cells/mL, ‘Alert’ is between 40k - 80k cells/mL, ‘Advisory’ is for levels above 80k cells/mL. The ‘Warning’ and ‘Danger’ categories are HABs that are producing high levels of toxins. Public beaches are open for ‘None’, ‘Watch’, and ‘Alert’.
“Instead of cleaning up our lakes and strengthening standards for harmful algae blooms, DEP actually weakened the standards. They came out with a warning system as a way to actually roll back the standards without telling the public. They used to have a protective standard. Now they are letting people swim at their own risk until levels are twice the health-based standard and people can still use the lake until levels are 4 times the standard. At blue ‘watch’, algae levels are over 20,000 which can be lethal to dogs and cause ear aches and other ailments to people. Now, you can ‘watch’ the algae get worse as you swim and you may end up getting sick from it,” said Jeff Tittel. “This is a game they’re playing, using colors instead of actually cleaning up our lakes. We already know when the color system is - it’s blue-green algae and people should be turning red because of DEP’s failure to take action over the past year.”
In order to effectively deal with harmful algal blooms, NJ DEP needs to establish stream buffers and enforce real Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) standards. They need to strengthen rules on stormwater management and bring back Septic Management Districts. They also need to restore the state’s Lake Management Program. Out of the money set aside for dealing with HABs, the state is raiding $2 million to address the current budget shortage.
“New Jersey has still failed to move forward on any major initiatives to clean up our lakes and coast, whether it is TMDLs, stormwater management, or restoration funding. We need tougher stormwater management to limit phosphorus coming from animals and septic and the use of lawn fertilizers containing nitrogen. We also need to fix aging infrastructure and reduce nutrients from failed septics, leaky sewers and combined sewer overflows. DEP needs to get rid of Christie’s rollbacks and put together a Lake Management Plan and Watershed Protection Plan. They should also be using nonstructural systems like restoring wetlands and stream corridors, installing green and blue roofs, and using rain gardens and wet ponds,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “DEP needs to take strong action to protect our lakes and their watersheds, otherwise our lakes could end up dying.”