how clean is your beach??

Interesting.....here in LBNY this has been a big topic concerning our waters. Stinks!

http://surfridercli.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnbRzbs39HU&feature=player_embedded

 

Thank you for starting an appropriate thread for this important discussion, Matt.

Like all beaches along stretches of overdeveloped coastline, New Jersey beaches struggle with environmental issues. Water quality changes rapidly from day to day, and even from tide to tide and beach to beach. But runoff carrying non-point source pollution is the biggest issue, by far. The more parking lots, roads, rooftops... surfaces that shed water rather than allow it to infiltrate and percolate... the greater threat to local water quality. Here in New Jersey, where overdevelopment is rampant, that means when it rains heavily, there can be issues at some beaches, particularly those that border known contaminated lakes that flow directly into the ocean. This is no secret, the damage was done a long time ago, and it is all but irreversible. But that is not to say that "nothing can be done." Better planning, better urban engineering, higher water quality standards, better monitoring, and a more comprehensive approach to environmental management can help improve water quality, in spite of the mistakes that were made in the past. So now, rather than prevention, we have to deal with mitigation. And the only threat to mitigation is our willingness to INVEST... in terms of time, effort, and money... in corrective measures. We can construct stormwater retention reservoirs to reduce runoff and improve groundwater recharge. We can treat stormwater rather than simply channeling it into existing waterways and beaches. We can regulate waste management better, and improve enforcement of existing laws. And we can start RIGHT NOW, IN OUR OWN LOCAL COMMUNITIES. If there are ordinances on the books, demand that they are enforced. Show up at environmental committee meetings and find out what's going on in town. Become active in your community, because what happens in your town directly effects what happens in the water at your local lineup.

 

Pretty good stuff,Nice work Hyperflex.

 

Lets face it New Jersey's ocean is filthy. I don't care what the EPA says when they say its safe. They cannot be trusted, it is in their interest to sway the results because can you imagine what would happen to the Jersey shore if they let the cat out of the hat. You think the economy is hurting the beach towns now. Can you imagine what would happen if they told the public that you shouldn't go in the ocean. Rents would drop like a bomb . It would have devastating impact on the local economy and the entire state of New Jersey (A.k.a the Garbage state). I know all you local Jersey surf rats love it but the water quality is a crime. The sewage plant on 45th street in Ocean City has been outdated for years. It in no way can handle the amount of **** that comes into in July. Yup it gets dumped out through a huge pipe about a mile off the beach. I remember when they were building it there was a break next to the temporary pipe. I am sorry if I insult you guys but its reality. Remember now trust your Government they never lie.

 

My friends wife is a nurse in Atlantic Co. She said cases of MERSA are way up especially with people who have regular contact with the water. She advises staying out of the water if you have an open cut or sore. Mersa can kill you !

 

So your personal experience at a beach with a sewage plant outfall equates to all the beaches in NJ being filthy? Have you surfed here recently? Yes, there were beach closings last year, 124 to be exact. And yes, NJ beaches were filthy in the 80's due to lax environmental regulations. But 20 years of regulation and cleanup have worked to turn the tides, literally. NRDC ranked NJ 14th out of 30 states for 09' (I will give a slight nod to NC for being 7th ), and while that may leave room for improvement we are definitely not the bottom of the barrel. If I was a conspiracy theorist maybe I would buy into your notion that the government lies to us...But the reality is that NJ's biggest economic boon comes from summer tourism dollars, and DEP and local governments recognize that. That is why there is extensive testing and monitoring in place, precautionary measures to close the beaches when necessary and not put the sheeple at risk. If our beaches were so filthy wouldn't there be more cases of illness or reports of illegal dumping in the news. The majority of the closings are from heavy weather events when the stormwater and sewerage system becomes overloaded and flushes essentially every paved surface (and what's on it) in the area. Due to the increase in volume many local treatment system can handle the overload and untreated waste ends up being discharged. Again, I'm not saying more could be done for improvement but I don't think you should trash the entire state based on your experience surfing near a sewer outfall pipe. I've surfed NJ for 20 years now and never had any serious issues other than the occasional litter, but show me a densely populated area where that doesn't happen. Maybe I am biased because I love our beaches so much, but I think if the beaches were as dirty as you make them out to be
because we would hear a lot more about (news stories, more beach closings, surfer feedback), and the jersey beach attendance numbers would be in the toilet (2009 was an all time high as far as tourism dollar take)....Not trying to hate, just my two cents.

But maybe some other NJ surfers/spongers have a different opinion...

 

All conspiracy theories, hearsay, and exaggerations aside... Wastewater treatment (sewage treatment) is a necessity, and the facility in Ocean City does discharge treated effluent about a mile off the beach. That's why shellfishing is prohibited in the area around the discharge point. However, areas that are monitored regularly adjacent to that area are open for fishing, either seasonally or year-round, and the both the state and independent monitoring of those waters and the quality of and health of the fishery is ongoing. I am aware of one episode of raw sewage being dumped into the ocean from that facility, and it wasn't in July. Still... this is inexcusable! Any wastewater treatment facility should be designed to handle the capacity of a storm without overflowing into a storm drain, which is what happened at that time. There is no reason for such an "accident," but we need to be aware that there is always a chance that it can occur. ANYWHERE. Urbanized areas of North Carolina are no exception. Sewage spills occur in some areas (Wilmington and Wrightsville) more regularly than we'd like to see. Fortunately, the Outer Banks does not have these problems.

But this is not the main problem. As I've stated before... NON-POINT pollution is the major threat to New Jersey beaches in terms of water quality. Chemicals, bacteria, trash, and nutrients are the main culprits. People interested should DO THEIR RESEARCH and GET INVOLVED. Because fixing the problem begins with being informed. From there, we should begin to address the issue with our own behaviors, our own homes and lawns, our own pets... then begin to reach out to our communities, counties and states.

This is a serious matter. We need an intelligent, informed, and motivated citizenry, active in their communities and committed to CHANGE if we have any hope of making progress. Slinging insults does nothing but de-motivate people by giving them the false impression that "nothing can be done." The truth is, ANYTHING can be done.

 

LBCrew nice work and post, very proactive for the future. It appears as though you would like to do something instead of complain or move away like a coward, or an avonsurfer.

Avonsurfer, of course the water is dirty. It's 2011, the air is dirty, the ozone is depleting and N. Korea's got mad soldiers. If you dont like it, off yourself and save room on these threads cuz all your doing is being disrespectful. We know our waters dirty, but we love surfing and those of us who aren't weak body's like yourself, dont get sick everytime someone sneezes. You recently stated that you dont surf in temps under 52 degrees, why? does your vagina begin to hurt. I bet you got booted out of some line-ups and a Benny f**ked your girlfriend, now your sore at the whole state. Get over it, You gotta be tough to survive in NJ and even tougher to be a surfer from here, obviously you couldnt cut it. Change your username, NC deserves better.

Recycled Surfer, thanks for the info, but doing alot of things w/ an open sore or cut can kill you, like Fu#$%ng, but that doesnt stop avonsurfers boyfriend from plowing him!

And before you get all cyber tough on me and start running your mouth like you've been doing, I surf from Deal to Seaside whenever there's swell, Im stunningly handsome and answer to the name Dan or Utah. I got a sleeve on my right arm dedicated to my fellow soldiers who didnt come back home w/ me and a tattoo of your mom on my other arm (shes wonderful). I would be happy to discuss water quality w/ you anytime.

 

Yeah, water quality in OC MD is pretty darn good. The chesapeake bay, because of those exact points is in serious trouble. It has been since I was born in 1980. Now they even have snakehead fish and sh** killing fish populations.,..

But my beach is at the end of a rivermouth that gets plauged by sewage spills a couple times per year. It is terrible, but luckily fecal contaminent levels drop very quickly, about 72 hours to safe levels even when there is a 100 million gallon+ spill..... So, i always avoid it.

Went to the ER 8 years ago from surfing the jetty by it after a heavy rain. I had a serious infection... so i never play with that...

2 miles down the road, there is the SD city sewage plant, and they dump raw sewage 4 miles offshore a few times per year due to malfunction... But that is the trade off with living in a city. You have to do something... Just be aware of it. avoid it.

 

My beach is clean

 

Ka-Boom...

 

bro...
i gather u dont live here nemore

don't u live in cali?

 

are you saying oc md water quality is poor? Statistically, MD beaches had a high rating i thought. Deleware was like #1. As far as I knew, the chesapeake had all the problems, not OC. I was told that there are a few sewage pipes in OC MD, but they have emergency shutoff plans that dont include release the raw material out in the ocean. We had this discussion last year on a different thread and the guys who still live in OC were saying that those things didnt cause problems.

 

word bro
i dunno
i don't usually get sick
except for when i'm in barrels
U KNO WUT I MEAN
HAHA

 

These baby seals the other day told me about how bad the water quality is in nj. I didn't think anything of it until i seen this post. Then my japanese friend stabbed them with a harpoon and ate them.

 

Matt... yea, that was bad back then. Word was the Mob was involved in a lot of the illegal dumping. Then it started to happen again back in the late 90's, with medical waste showing up on the beaches. Never found out where it came from, but one summer I was running a surf camp for kids and we found about a half dozen of them over about a week's time. Unfortunately, I found one with my foot. Had to get liver enzyme tests once a month for about 6 months, along with a few other shots, "just in case." I actually saved the needle and still have it today.

 

They isolated the medical waste spills to barges docked in Staten Island. Due to the currents etc, New Jersey got it the worst. If you wiki the incident, it states how the economny across the jersey shore basically shut down for 2 straight years, and that most of the beaches did in fact have run ins with needles. Everything from HIV to Hepetitis was found in some of the waste...

To Matt's question about why neighboring states werent affected. I guess we just got lucky. The ocean and coastal current has an abrupt change in flow over the delware bay, so luckily after the tip of south jersey, there were no traces of the medical waste. The current must have helped out and shot most of the stuff out east.

But I do recall, back in 88-89 (I think it was), for 2 straight years, in OC MD, my mom and dad made me and my brother and sister wear "water shoes" at the beach all spring and summer long. I remember my parents telling me about "Dirty Needles" up in Jersey, and how it was only a matter of time before they showed up in Delmarva.

But again, I do not recall ever hearing about any physical evidence of the needles or waste down in DE/MD, although the entire community was prepared for the worst...

So that means that the DE current took it out to sea, or the DE and MD local government did a fantastic job of cleaning up the area and covering up the story. It wasnt covered up really, but the fact that nothing was found in Delmarva makes you wonder. I mean, there had to be one or two that slipped by, but no one on record stated every finding them down there....

It was all over Southern/Eastern NYC coast and Northern to Central Jersey. Just unlucky.... Just being that close to NYC is the problem. Nothing you can do. 8.5 million people on a tiny concrete island with no grass. I can only imagine what enters the waterways in that area... The Baltimore harbor is a death trap and the city of Baltimore only has 600k people living in the city. There are 15 times that in NYC... Ewwwww.