For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
A state grant-funded program to address harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Echo Lake is seeing positive results. The program, which was awarded $475,000, is described as a 36-month project to prevent HABs in reservoirs serving the Pequannock Water Treatment Plant. It is being conducted by the City of Newark Department of Water and Sewer Utilities and uses ultrasonic devices to disrupt the photosynthesis of bacteria. The ultrasonic buoys reduced the cyanobacteria count by 50% within the first month.
“Instead of coming up with a plan to clean up our lakes, DEP’s program is just more noise. They are using technology from sound waves to try to break up the algae. Meanwhile, our lakes are in a crisis and it is only getting worse without real action. Without addressing stormwater runoff, nutrient pollution from fertilizers, leaky septic systems, and warming water temperatures, our lakes will continue to be affected,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.“Using ultrasonic buoys in Echo Lake to disrupt the growth of HABs is a short-term way of dealing with the algae. It just breaks up the growth, but it will keep coming back because of the nutrients and warm water. This is like taking painkillers to deal with a toothache instead of going to the dentist.”
New Jersey currently has 42 lakes that are either closed or under advisory, according to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. There are currently 4 lakes that are at a red ’warning’ level, including Spruce Run Reservoir, which means that public beaches are closed and no primary or secondary contact recreation is allowed. There are 24 lakes at an orange ‘advisory’ level, which means that public beaches are closed, and 14 lakes at a blue ‘watch level’.
“It is now the middle of fall, and we still have more lakes being impacted by HABs. There are now 42 lakes closed or under advisory, up from 40 lakes a few weeks ago. Spruce Run Reservoir is now at a red ‘warning’ level, which means that the algae levels are still increasing even though it is the middle of October,” said Tittel. “Six of our major drinking water sources have been impacted by HABs, including Manasquan Reservoir, Pompton Lake, Greenwood Lake, Lake Hopatcong, Spruce Run Reservoir, and Haldeon Reservoir. These are all part of water supply systems that supply water for over 6 million people.”
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.'
“DEP is using sound waves instead of sound science to clean up our lakes. They got rid of programs to help clean up our lakes, and have failed to move forward on new programs to deal with the algae blooms. They still haven’t released the money for Greenwood Lake, and the state actually raided $2 million to address the budget shortage this summer. What’s worse is that they have actually weakened the standards for harmful algae blooms with their new color-coded system. 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,” said Tittel. “At blue ‘watch’, algae levels are over 20,000 which can be lethal to dogs and cause earaches 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.”
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.”