TRENTON,
NJ – Environment New Jersey applauded NJDEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson’s
announcement Monday that the state Department of Environmental Protection is
seeking to strengthen the clean water protections to more than 900 miles of the
most pristine waterways in the state. Over
250 of the announced waterway mileage are in the Highlands Preservation Area,
and already slated for upgrades, while the others are new additions to the
state’s clean water protection efforts.
With
the announcement, the State has officially proposed granting Category One
protections – among the highest antidegradation standards in New Jersey – to portions of over
15 major rivers and streams that span 11 counties. Category One
protections guard against any measurable increase in pollution levels in the
stream. To guard against runoff pollution, Category One protections
install 300 foot riparian buffer zones along the banks of streams carrying the
designation in which no new, large scale development is permitted.
“Protecting
these waterways is a smart move in a state that loses close to 50 acres of open
space to new development every day,” said Dena Mottola Jaborska, executive
director of Environment New Jersey. “It’s a common sense step that will
keep tons of pollution from forever degrading the most pristine waterways in New Jersey.”
Mottola
Jaborska highlighted the inclusion of many miles of Southern New Jersey
waterways in the proposal, including sections of the Toms River (Ocean County),
the Salem River and Oldmans Creek (Salem County), Pompeston Creek (Burlington
County) and the Swimming River Reservoir Tributaries (Monmouth County) .
Environment New Jersey had recently called
upon the state to increase the number of South Jersey waterways carrying the
Category One designation, due to their important role in maintaining the
quality of the state’s coastal waters.
A
recent Rutgers University report highlighted the
accelerated pace of development across the state, especially in three coastal
counties – Atlantic, Ocean and Monmouth Counties. According to the
report, released by the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing
& Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), the counties represent a “hotspot” for new
development.
“For
many of these waterways, these protections will come not a moment too soon,”
said Mottola Jaborska. “Maintaining high water quality in the face of
booming development is not possible without installing safeguards to make sure
our waterways are not overrun with pollutants and contamination.”
In
November, seven environmental groups – including American Littoral Society,
Environment New Jersey, New Jersey Audubon Society, New Jersey Environmental
Federation, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Save Barnegat Bay, and Sierra
Club, NJ Chapter – officially petitioned the NJDEP to grant Category One
protections to one of the rivers slated to receive increased protection under
the proposal – the Toms River. The petition, prepared by Carter
Strickland of the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic, highlighted the scientific-
and merit-based rational for increasing the protections of the Toms River.
The
rivers and streams containing segments that will receive the Category One
designation include: Wallkill River, Sussex County; Musconetcong River and
Pequest River, Warren County; Stony Brook, Mercer County; Pompeston Creek,
Burlington County; Salem River and Oldmans Creek, Salem County; Toms River,
Ocean County; Rockaway River and Split Rock Reservoir, Morris County; Swimming
River Reservoir Tributaries, Monmouth County; Oak Ridge Reservoir and Wanaque
Reservoir Tributaries, Passaic County; Lamington River, Somerset County; and
Ramapo River, Bergen County. Approximately 250 miles of streams are in the
Highlands Preservation Area, and already receive some level of protection.
The NJDEP
announcement today also included a proposed update to the state’s Water Quality
Management Planning Regulations,
“This rule
is hugely important as they govern sewer and septic discharges and expansions,
a leading cause of the water pollution today,” said Mottola Jaborska.
A 2003
NJPIRG report found that development is the number one threat to the state’s
waterways, with the majority of waterways in the state declining in the state’s
fastest growing counties. Fully 65% of the state’s waterways do not meet water
quality standards that protect healthy marine life because they are burdened
with too much nutrient pollution from overdevelopment.
Late last
year, Environment New Jersey and other environmental groups called on the
Governor to strengthen this rule so that the state NJDEP had the clear
authority to reject sewer and septic expansions that would destroy the quality
of waterways in the state. Environment New Jersey has yet to analyze the
proposed changes to the Water Quality Management Planning Rule, but will do so in
the coming weeks.
“Maintaining
high water quality in the face of booming development is not possible without
installing safeguards to make sure our waterways are not overrun with
pollutants and contamination,” concluded Mottola Jaborska.
Environment New Jersey is the new home of NJPIRG’s environmental advocacy work,
and represents over 20,000 citizen members across the state.
