Surfers We Need Your Help!!!!!!

Complaining is fun in all but...

From my experiences sending emails really never works. If you really want change, as Im sure that anyone who reads this would, then the best course of action is to make it highly public - wether that mean word of mouth, through surfrider chapters, or just by blogging like a kook about it then so be it. If people heard this, especially thoes in the more EC/ liberal mainstream then there would be a S*** storm (no pun intended).

If you want to do something than embarras them into changing, its the only way to go in todays climate.

 

being a ***** just to be a *****, i guess.

to the original poster:
thanks for the heads up. i had no idea. it starts with awareness.

 

I never really understood the thinking that dumping things in the ocean is somehow a good idea... and

 

You might wanna get in contact with Wildlife management , Tourisme Department and If you have and maybe local Fisheries in your area . There is power in Number and public reach is a good tool . also contact you local paper. Townships and Municapalites hate bad publicity . Sometime the pen is mightier than the sword.

 

I'm going to assume you're are not an informed member of Surfrider, or atleast I hope not. The reason I have so much trouble backing almost any environmental activist organization is the sheer amount of mis-information and eggageration towards whatever hot topic is at hand.

I would hope Surfrider explained there will be no "poop". It is treated effluent that the EPA has deemed acceptable thru the clean water act to be discharged IE the environmental regulatory agency of people way more informed of any of us says it's ok. Is it ok? That's subjective. But the truth is the effluent has to be discharged somewhere if any of us wants to live.

Spray irrigation has as many drawbacks as direct discharge. This subject is more a matter of land use and land value. The unfortunate truth is, if any of us want to live or work near the beach.....you have to understand the value of land and development. In my personal opinion this is being blown WAY out of proportion and is simply a subject easily over glorified and agenda pumping.

If we want to tackle a real beast of an issue, research combined sewer / stormwater conveyance typical in any city build before 1900. It flushes more UNTREATED (raw poop, pee, tampons, detergents, anything that goes down your drain) DIRECTLY into the delaware river then the rehoboth facility will treat in discharge by a large margin.

And bash me for being a surfer that doesn't support surfrider, but this is one of many issues that are not only a misuse of resources for the agency, but come out as a blatent agenda pushing overstatement to get the masses rilled up.

 

Have you contacted the local Surfrider chapter. This is the type of stuff they specialize in.
Here is the Delaware Chapter.

 

dumping stuff in the ocean (shakes head) what are we tryin to be like new jersey now? really? really? honestly? i wish we could get someone in these commitees that isn't stupid.dumping sewage in our ocean.... BRILLIANT!!!

 

i hate that this post is what got me to finally sign up. i've lurked for quite a while, but sometimes, you need to make your voice heard.
while your point about storm water run-off is valid, you have to remember that crap is crap, no matter what process it's been through.
there was a time when i'd be pretty blase about this whole deal, but considering that i spent the better part of 2007 out of the water b/c i was sick w/ an e. coli infection that i picked up while surfing in seaside, dumping anything, esp. crap, in the ocean strikes me as a really bad idea. i was lucky that i didn't die from that infection...i spiked a 104.5 fever, couldn't eat, couldn't drink, was hallucinating, pissed blood (i'm talking full-on crimson stream here, not just a vague tinge)...my doctors are pretty certain that i've got some long-term kidney damage out of the deal, so i may need a transplant later in life. luckily, you can survive w/ only one.
sadly, that was not the first time that i had been ill after surfing or swimming in the ocean. when i was a child in the mid-80's, i was a full-on water rat. swimming, surfing, sailing...& any of you who were around south NJ in the 80's remembers what it was like. the ocean looked like chocolate milk. no wonder people were getting sick. if you really want to have your world rocked, check out the "shifting baselines" video on youtube...yea, it's a surfrider PSA, but that doesn't mean that it's propaganda.
i support surfrider even though i disagree whole-heartedly w/ some of their stated positions. but if i can keep even 1 person from experiencing what i did, then i'll side w/ satan on this.

 

You have any links so I can read the WHOLE story so I can make an informed judgment?

 

http://www.capegazette.com/storiescurrent/200807/rehooutfall072508.html

 

I have yet to see anything which points to raw sewage getting dumped. it looks like it is treated water that is the byproduct of the sewage getting removed.

I hope this isn't another case of Surfrider crying wolf (but it sure sounds like it).

 

what disturbed me most about that article in the capegazette is that they said south bethany has had this ocean discharge system for years & it's a bigger operation.my god,that's the break i haunt the most!! especially this past summer.i don't know if the treated water is any better for the ocean than the untreated stuff is,both sound like a bad idea to me.i hope i don't get sick or have skin infections pop up in my future

 

not that good of an article discussing both sides of the issue. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal to me, but I'd like to hear more about the specifics. In either case, they are talking about dumping 50 miles offshore, not near shore. But, need to know more specifics about detriment to the offshore biology.

 

that article (and the experts they quote) seems to support ocean outfall as preferable to land based application. Seems odd that the author couldnt find one scientist with the opposing point of view.

Either way, Isnt it a bigger issue for ocean users and surfers that Rehoboth releases untreated stormwater right into the surf zone?

South Bethany and Ocean City...for over 30 years.

 

I remebering watch a Episode of Dirty Jobs on Discovery channel where they went to a Waste Water Treatment Plant. It showed the Process in filtering the water and making it "useable" agian. After the process is done they say the water is 97% contaminate free and could be drinkable if needed. But really who is gonna drink filtered poo water.

 

yeah,i really don't understand alot of the science involved in that industry,but my common sense tells me that still isn't good. what's happening to our marine ecology in south bethany.are there studies done by DNREC that keeps tabs on that? i hope so,cause i don't want to find out AFTER something has already happened,this happens in our country too much as it is.

 

I believe the outfall drain is less than a mile out in ocean city. Friend actually welded the draining system.

treated effluent can still cause many problems in the ecosystem. The proper removal of nitrogen and phosphorus is essentially, delmarva doesnt need any more nutrient loading from runoff. eutrophication aint fun for anyone. the concentration of organic contaminants can also upset ecosystem balance on the bacterial level, which feed off of organic material. More bacterial = more time being sick for us. Just a few points against effluent.

but, whats the alternative to effluent release into the ocean. might have the least overall impact as compared to terrestrial and aquatic dumping.