ANGELA DELLI SANTI | AP
LAVALLETTE, N.J. (AP) — A marine scientist has sounded the alarm over the worsening health of Barnegat Bay, one of New Jersey's most used recreational waterways and the source of $3 billion in annual tourist dollars.
Michael Kennish of the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers told lawmakers Monday that the bay is in danger of dying from unchecked runoff. The pollution sources include broken stormwater basins and too much fertilizer flowing into the bay. The pollution, which decreases oxygen levels in the water, causes algae blooms and habitat loss.
Kennish, who co-authored a just-finished, multiyear study of the bay, said the waterway needs urgent attention. The study, considered a definitive assessment of the bay's ecosystems, found worsening conditions in all parts of the waterway, not just the most heavily populated northern portion.
"This study paints a rather bleak picture of the ecological health of the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Estuary," Kennish told members of the Senate and Assembly Environmental committees, which held a joint hearing in Lavallette.
The bay area covers more than 42 miles of shoreline from the Point Pleasant Canal in the north to Little Egg Harbor Inlet in the south and is protected from the open ocean by a system of barrier beaches, wetlands and dunes.
"This bay needs help now," said Sen. Bob Smith, a Middlesex County Democrat who heads the Senate panel.
The Democrat-led Legislature passed legislation requiring changes to fertilizer composition that are designed to slow the release of chemicals into the bay, but Smith said more aggressive steps to stem nitrogen and phosphorous runoff have been blocked by the Christie administration.
The governor conditionally vetoed a bill that would have created stormwater utilities, allowing a central repository for funds dedicated to repairing malfunctioning storm basins. Kennish said just 10 stormwater basins out of 2,700 are being repaired as part of a pilot project; Republican Gov. Chris Christie said the issue needed more study.
Smith called the slow pace of basin repairs "a disaster," and said more money needs to be devoted to the project. He said as much as $100 million would be needed over the next decade or two.
Environmentalists also want the state to move forward with a pollution control mechanism known as TMDL — or Total Maximum Daily Load — which would allow the state's environmental regulators to monitor and control the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous flowing into the bay.
The Department of Environmental Protection did not immediately return a message for comment Monday.
Also Monday, the legislators heard testimony on the effects of plastic bags and other floatables on the state's water bodies and sea life.
They were told the lack of plastic bag recycling programs and incentives exacerbate the problem and place greater stresses on the state's landfills.
Barnegat Bay in New Jersey
