New Jersey DEP Commissioner to Join Thousands in Watershed Cleanup
OutdoorHub 05.08.12
DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and as many as 1,000 DEP staff will be joined by thousands of volunteers, many of them local schoolchildren, for the second Barnegat Bay Blitz watershed-wide litter and debris cleanup.
The Barnegat Bay Blitz, organized by the DEP and the nonprofit New Jersey Clean Communities Council, will bring together volunteers representing all 37 municipalities within the bay’s 660-square-mile watershed in Ocean and Monmouth counties. The Blitz is a key part of the Christie Administration’s continuing focus on restoration of Barnegat Bay through the Governor’s Comprehensive 10-point Barnegat Bay Plan.
Wednesday’s event will run from 8 a.m. to dusk and will be held rain or shine. It will target a wide variety of areas for cleanup, including wetlands, stream banks, stormwater discharge points, school grounds, trails, docks, areas around bulkheads, and the bay itself. All cleanup locations will be open and available to the news media.
The following is Commissioner Martin’s schedule (times are approximate):
- 8 a.m.: Joins students from the MATES Academy for a litter cleanup along a stream near the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Location: Mayetta Landing Road near Cedar Run Dock Creek Road, West Creek, 08092
- 10 a.m.: Works with environmental science students in cleaning up woods near the Lacey Township High School. Location: 73 Haines Street, Lanoka Harbor, 08734
- Noon: Joins students from the Harold G. Antrim Middle School and Point Pleasant Beach High School at Little Silver Lake Park in Point Pleasant Beach. Location: Little Silver Lake Park, Arnold and Baltimore avenues, Point Pleasant Beach, 08742.
- 3 p.m. Addresses volunteers and dignitaries at ceremony applauding the efforts of the participants. Preliminary numbers of waste collected will be made available. Location: Ocean County College, College Drive, Toms River 08754. Directions: http://www.ocean.edu/welcome/maps/maps_directions.htm Parking is in Lot 2. Reception is in Solar Lounge. See map at: www.ocean.edu/welcome/maps/college_buildings/Student_Center.htm
DEP partners in the cleanup include the New Jersey Clean Communities Council, MATES Academy, the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, Waste Management, the Barnegat Bay Partnership, Clean Ocean Action, ReClam the Bay, Sustainable Jersey, Starbucks, Wawa, and the American Council of Engineering Companies.
