BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
CHRISTINE VARNO Cindy Zipf (l-r), executive director of Clean Ocean Action; Bradley Campbell, DEP commissioner; and Rep. Frank Pallone held a press conference in Long Branch to protest Bush administration policy they say will increase ocean pollution. LONG BRANCH –– State and local environmental officials and a local legislator sent a message to the Bush Administration on Friday.
“We do not want to go back to the days of sewage in our water,” Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6) said.
Pallone was one of the officials at a press conference held Friday in Long Branch to protest a proposal by the Bush Administration that he said “would make it easier to pollute” shore waters.
“The prospect of this new policy has the potential to take us back to the days when we had to worry if our beaches would be open,” Pallone said at the press conference held on the beach at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park.
Pallone was joined by Bradley M. Campbell, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, and representatives of more than seven environmental groups, who voiced their concerns at the proposal.
“The health of our towns and the health of our economy relies on [our clean shore water],” Campbell said.
The press conference was called to draw attention to a policy introduced by the Bush Administration two years ago that would weaken the 30-year-old Clean Water Act and “allow partially treated sewage to be dumped in New Jersey’s waterways,” according to a press release from Pallone’s office.
In November 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to allow publicly owned water treatment facilities to combine filtered but untreated human sewage with fully treated waste water before discharge whenever it rains. Previously, the policy allowed dumping only during periods of extreme weather, according to the release.
According to a Jennifer Cannata, a spokeswoman for Pallone, the local legislator is expecting the Bush administration to take action on this policy, possibly as soon as this month.
Pallone explained at the conference that there are two steps in treating human sewage; first solids are removed from the sewage and then they are biologically treated.
“When there is heavy rainfall it is difficult to do the second [step],” Pallone said. “Historically when there is a heavy rainfall, the second level is eliminated and [the sewage] is treated with chlorine.”
He explained that Bush’s proposal would allow for the second step to be eliminated during all instances of rainfall or precipitation, not just after heavy storms.
“[The Bush administration] is saying it will save the federal government a lot of money,” Pallone said.
If approved, Pallone said this treatment would become accepted as the norm.
“We can understand [using he chlorine treatment rather than biologically treating sewage] once in a while, but not all the time,” he added.
Campbell said the policy would bring us back to the days when “the solution to pollution was dilution.”
“It is a fact in New Jersey that many of our waterways are not swimmable during wet weather. This is a sad day for clean water in New Jersey,” he said.
One surfer agreed.
“We are in that ocean a lot,” John Weber, of the SurfRider Foundation, said at the conference. “We surf year-round, frequently after storms because that is when the waves are good. It is a bad idea.”
Last year, New Jersey had a total of 168 beach closure days, most caused by the discovery of contaminants found in improperly treated sewage, according to the release.
“Sewage contamination was also the cause of shellfish bed closures late last year in Ocean County. New Jersey’s economy is directly dependent on coastal tourism, with the industry supporting nearly 500,000 jobs and generating $16.6 billion in wages and $5.5 billion in state tax revenue,” according to the release.
The policy would not only threaten public health, it would also threaten marine life, Zipf said.
“Chlorine is toxic to marine life,” she said. “Swimming in sewage is a foul and unthinkable idea.
“We are hopeful to pull this policy,” she said.
On Feb. 22, a letter signed by over 135 members of Congress was sent to the EPA expressing concerns about the proposed policy.
In part, the letter stated:
“We believe that there should be less sewage entering our environment, not more. The proposed guidance is inconsistent with sewage treatment standards required by the Clean Water Act and its implementing regulations. It would undo many of the public health and environmental gains achieved over the last 30 years under the Clean Water Act.”
Pallone said he was not happy with the response received to the letter and last Thursday, a second letter was sent that expressed “disappointment at the empty response” received from the first letter.
“We would like you to send us a more detailed response explaining why sewage treatment plants should not be required to provide full treatment for sewage when there are feasible ways to do so.”
Pallone said he hopes to receive a more detailed response soon.
“My fear is that [the Bush Administration] is waiting until the public outcry dissipates,” he said, adding that he will continue to voice strong opposition to the policy.