Monday, November 05, 2007

Monmouth County

Department of Health

3435 Highway 9

Freehold, NJ 07728

Dear Monmouth County Department of Health,

The purpose of this letter is to endorse the establishment of a pump-out boat exclusively for Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. There is widespread support for the operation of a pump-out boat by many of the municipalities in the Bayshore region of Monmouth County.

As of November 2007, the Bayshore Regional Watershed Council and the New York-New Jersey BayKeeper have received financial commitments from Aberdeen, Atlantic Highlands, Hazlet, Keyport, Keansburg, Middletown, and Union Beach to share maintenance costs for the five year operational period required by the State of New Jersey and the NJ Marine Science s Consortium.

Boating is a favorite recreational activity in Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. Many people in the Bayshore region support the establishment of this program, since a pumpout boat would make it convenient for boaters to empty their holding tanks in an environmentally acceptable manner. This reduces water pollution, such as fecal coliform and bacteria that is often found in raw sewage, and lowers various health risks to the public from contaminated water. Unlike a stationary or floating pumpout station, a pumpout boat can move around and come along side a vessel anywhere in the bay.

Today, the Bayshore region of Monmouth County is expanding to meet the needs of new residents and businesses while still playing an important role in traditional ways of life, such as recreational fishing, recreational boating, swimming, wind-surfing, birdwatching, and coastal tourism. Clearly, the ability of the Bayshore region to sustain these uses is dependent on the presence of active and informed water quality stewardship strategies, which includes pumpout facilities for boaters.

A pumpout boat for Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay is an integral tool to keep our coastal waters clean. Pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and nutrients are found in human wastes and, if dumped into our coastal waters, can affect human health and water quality. These pathogens can transport diseases to humans such as hepatitis, typhoid, and cholera. Nutrients contained in waste, like phosphorus and nitrogen, provide food for plants and algae to grow to nuisance levels, reducing the aesthetics of the

waterbody. Since boats generally congregate in shallow, closed-in areas - including harbors and marinas - that are slow to flush, nutrients and bacteria may become concentrated in the water. Using a pumpout boat decreases the supply of nutrients to the water and reduces pathogens that may cause waterborne diseases.

For all these reasons and more, the Bayshore Regional Watershed Council and the people and municipalities in the Bayshore region of Monmouth County support the operation of a pump-out boat for Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. 

The Bayshore Regional Watershed Council (BRWC) is an all-volunteer environmental group. Since 2000, the council has been working to improve the physical environment in the Bayshore region of Monmouth and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. The BRWC is made up of volunteers, including citizens, scientists, environmental commissioners, and municipal officials from a variety of Bayshore communities, consisting of all or part of the following 11 municipalities in Monmouth County: Aberdeen, Atlantic Highlands, Hazlet, Highlands, Holmdel, Keansburg, Keyport, Marlboro, Matawan, Middletown and Union Beach, and portions of three municipalities in Middlesex County: Old Bridge, Sayreville, and South Amboy.

Sincerely,

Joseph S. Reynolds

Joseph S. Reynolds

Co-chair

Bayshore Regional Watershed Council

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