For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
New Jersey currently has one beach closed due to high levels of bacteria and three more closed temporarily, according to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. These are the 5th Avenue bay beach in Seaside Park, Beachwood Beach West, Windward Beach in Brick Township, and Reese Ave in Lavallette Borough.
“With Labor Day approaching, the 5th Ave beach in Seaside is closed along with three other beaches. This is because of New Jersey’s failure to clean up and deal with stormwater. The Murphy Administration has not fixed any of Christie’s rollbacks that allow for overdevelopment and stormwater pollution. DEP needs to fix how we deal with chronic pollution, runoff from fertilizers and septics, and leaky sewer pipes,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Barnegat Bay is becoming the state’s biggest stormwater detention basin. Sprawl and overdevelopment is directly killing our coast, but the State of NJ doesn’t even want to test for the problems, let alone fix them.”
Raw and partially treated sewage is an ecological and public health disaster. Raw sewage is an extreme health hazard containing all kinds of pathogens including everything from E-coli to salmonella to Enterococci, even meningitis. Direct contact with this sewage water can lead to serious health problems from earaches to digestive problems or worse. With floodwaters going into towns, homes, or basements this could be a serious health concern.
“The problem with our beaches is only going to get worse with climate change. More flooding, more rain, and warmer temperatures will lead to more and more beaches being impacted. Unless New Jersey acts, one day we will not have the Shore we love. As temperatures rise and water infrastructure gets older, we’ll see more closed beaches. Warmer temperatures mean more algae blooms and lower oxygen levels, which can create dead zones. We’ll also see more algal blooms closing our lakes and affecting our bays as climate impacts increase,” said Jeff Tittel. “The state needs to take action now on dealing with septic and stormwater management and strengthening standards that limit fertilizer, pollution, and more. We also need more funding to restore wetlands and natural systems, and to retrofit stormwater systems in existing developments.”
Beaches in Brick Township have been closed due to jellyfish overpopulation and beaches in Brielle, Spring Lake and Lake Como are closed when it rains. There have been numerous fish kills in the Raritan Bay within the last decade. Brown tide outbreaks are occurring along the northern coast. Dissolved oxygen levels are dropping due to high levels of nutrients from stormwater, resulting in algae blooms. New Jersey already has 22 lakes with high levels of harmful algal blooms this summer. It will only get worse as summers get warmer.
“New Jersey needs to create a comprehensive approach to the shore that includes mitigation of climate change, adaptation for sea-level rise, and restoration of natural systems. We need to be updating our water infrastructure, fixing old leaky sewer pipes, and stormwater runoff. We need to be dealing with climate impacts and reducing greenhouse gases. We also should be buying out properties in flood-prone areas, and rebuilding in a more sustainable manner including pulling back from the shore where we can,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We need real action from the administration to protect our bays and coast. Without real action, the Jersey Shore that belongs to all of us will keep being closed.“