While Barnegat Bay remains a paradise for boating, there has been a decline in fish, mollusks and other aquatic wildlife in recent years. After many years of study by the New Jersey DEP, Rutgers University, and various grassroots groups such as Clean Ocean Action and ReClam the Bay, state legislators last week passed three bills aimed at protecting and preserving Barnegat Bay.
In other legislation, the state also agreed to a deal with Exelon Corporation, which operates Oyster Creek Nuclear Facility, to close the plant 10 years sooner than expected, in 2019. In exchange for the early closure, Exelon will not be required to build expensive cooling towers that would have reduced the temperature of water emissions.
One of the laws, perhaps the toughest in the nation, will restrict the sale of certain types of fertilizer. It is expected to ultimately reverse the declining conditions in a place that had once been a center for commercial fishing and oyster harvesting. The bay was long considered a sportsman's paradise, attracting hunters and fishermen from all over the globe.
Other bills aimed at improving water quality that passed last week include a requirement that construction crews restore soil to its original condition after a project is completed so that storm water will soak back into the ground instead of running off hard-packed dirt and into sewers.
Another new regulation implores the federal Environmental Protection Agency for technical assistance in determining a safe daily-nutrient level in the water and requires the state DEP to identify and upgrade malfunctioning storm drains in Ocean County as a way to reduce the bay pollution.
At the heart of the regulations, however, is the requirement that at least 20 percent of the nitrogen in fertilizer sold in New Jersey be a slow-release type that will prevent the material from washing easily into waterways. Nitrogen is a major pollutant that spurs algae blooms that eat up the oxygen levels in the water, depriving fish and other aquatic life of the vital component.
While meant to address the issues with Barnegat Bay in particular, this legislation will have state wide ramifications as the law takes affect.
Karl Hess, Your Real Estate Agent on The Jersey Shore
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