Bill to help Barnegat Bay moves out of committee

Thanks to the efforts of the NJ Environmental Federation, coalition partners, our members and supporters, and the leadership of Senator Bob Smith and Assemblyman John McKeon, a package of bills that will ease stress on Barnegat Bay was sent to the floor of the Legislature this morning following a vote by member of the state Senate and Assembly environmental committees.

This is a tremendous victory for Barnegat Bay and New Jersey's waters. One measure, S-1410, would require post-construction restoration of soil similar to the area. A second proposal, S-1411/A-2290, would help reduce the use of phosphate and nitrogen-based fertilizers, the biggest sources of pollution for New Jersey's waterways. The remaining measures, S-1815/A-2577 and S-1856/A-2606, would help control storm water runoff and pollution.

Committee Votes: All Democratic committee members voted yes, Republican Senator Bateman voted Yes, and 3 Republican members abstained.

S-1411/A-2290, first-in-the-nation statewide legislation, will help save Barnegat Bay, which is under serious threat from pollution caused from the misuse and overuse of phosphate and nitrogen-based fertilizers. Fertilizer runoff is literally sucking the life out of Barnegat Bay, leading to eutrophication (i.e. excessive nitrogen buildup, which depletes oxygen in the water, causes algal blooms, disrupts marine ecoystems from the ground up, and leads to a proliferation of jellyfish)

As part of our efforts to ensure passage of this legislation, the NJ Environmental Federation attended a press conference with coalition partners in Lavalette and testified at the Assembly and Senate Environment Committee hearing. In just the past two weeks alone, NJ Environmental Federation community organizers have been talking to thousands of families on a daily basis about Barnegat Bay, generating almost 7,000 letters, phone calls, and emails into legislative leaders.

NJEF Community Organizer Kenra Ulrich, standing alongside coalition partners and Assemblyman McKeon, speaks about the impact of pollution on Barnegat Bay at a press event in Lavalette on August 10th.

Jenny Vickers, NJEF Communications Coordinator, alongside NJEF Community Organizers Britney Gilliland and Noah Brooks, hold up signs while bill sponsor Assemblyman McKeon addresses the crowd.

NJ Senate and Assembly Poised to Act

Now we need Governor Chris Christie and our state Senate and Assembly leaders to take swift action to ensure this bill becomes law!

Contact the following leaders below today!

• Senate President Sweeney: 35 Kings Highway, Suite 400, West Deptford, NJ 08086. Phone: (856) 251-9801. Email: sensweeney@njleg.org
• Assembly Speaker Oliver: 35-33 Halsted St, Suite 202, East Orange, NJ 07018. Phone: (973) 395-1166. Email: aswoliver@njleg.org
• Governor Christie: PO Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625. Phone: 609-292-6000. Email the Governor.

Sample Message: My name is _________ from (city). I am very pleased that the fertilizer bill to protect Barnegat Bay from nitrogen and phosphorus pollution (S1411/A2290) passed out of committee. I am asking that you take swift action to ensure this bill becomes law. The health of Barnegat Bay and New Jersey's waters depends on your leadership. Thank you for your consideration.

Barnegat Bay News

• Support Grows for Bay Cleanup, Asbury Park Press, August 10, 2010
• Barnegat Bay Under Stress, Asbury Park Series by Todd Bates and Kirk Moore
• N.J. environmentalists push state for immediate action to clean up Barnegat Bay, Asbury Park Press, June 26, 2010
• Final Barnegat Bay stakeholder meeting finds many culprits but few easy cures, Press of Atlantic City, June 26, 2010
• Fertilizer commendations on horizon, Asbury Park Press, May 27 2010
• Barnegat Bay study a DEP priority, says agency's new leader, Asbury Park Press, Mar 3 2010

Barnegat Bay Facts*:

• Barnegat Bay covers 75 square miles, making it the largest coastal bay in New Jersey, up to four miles wide and about 42 miles long. The estuary gets freshwater flows from an adjoining watershed of 660 square miles that covers most of Ocean County and extends into southern and western Monmouth County.

  

• The bay's annual economic impact to the region was estimated at $3.3 billion in 2007.
• The federal EPA has spent up to $1 million a year for the last 15 years to fund scientific studies, public education and grants for  local conservation projects through the Barnegat Bay partnership. Yet, an EPA spokesman has said that "additional actions are needed to fully restore and protect the Bay."
• More than 30 percent of the bay watershed has been paved and built over to accomodate population. The less open space, the higher the stress on the bay. 
• Clams declined by two-thirds from the late 1980s to 2001 in the bay's southern end, while native eel-grass beds throughout the bay have shrunk by 60 percent since the 1970s.
• Some 1.4 million pounds of nitrogen compounds--enough to fill 70,000 20-pound bags of fertilizer--flow into the bay every year, causing massive algae blooms--which over time can kill almost everything else in the bay. Two-thirds of the nitrogen comes from an increasingly urban landscape, according to a December analysis by the U.S.G.S.
• Stormwater drains in the bay are in disrepair and no longer can do their jobs at keeping tainted water from reaching the bay. Polluted storm water, which carries everything from fertilizer residue to animal waste up to 60 miles downstream, flows freely into the bay with each heavy rain. Woodlands and natural stream banks that once purified fresh water flowing to the bay have fallen to new and old construction.