Students report troubled waters in Matawan area BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Lake Lefferts, as seen here on Saturday, is considered polluted, according to a group of environmental students who spent the summer studying the lake. The informal study showed that the lake is highly polluted and filled with trash. MATAWAN - All of the borough's water bodies are polluted, unstable and filled with trash, according to a recent informal study. On Aug. 14, three local college students majoring in environmental science presented findings from their study of the borough's lakes and streams. The students compiled their data over a three-month period, an effort organized by volunteer group New Jersey Community Water Watch. The reason for the study was to help gather information for the borough in hopes of gaining a grant from the state's Department of Environmental Protection. Gravelly Brook, it seems, is in the worst shape. Typically orange these days, the brook contains a high level of iron, according to Englishtown resident John Turneal, an environmental volunteer and student at Brookdale Community College. "Lawn clippings are extremely abundant," Turneal reported to the group at town hall, a small crowd that included Mayor Mary Aufseeser, Councilman Paul Buccellato and Joseph "Bud" Mullaney. The lawn clippings, along with other bulky trash, are blocking the natural flow of the stream, Turneal explained. The clippings also contain fertilizers and pesticides that wreak havoc on the waterway's natural ecosystem. "I haven't seen a single fish in this brook," Turneal said. The brook is also suffering from an overabundance of rainwater, Turneal said. The brook is "not meant to hold this much water," Turneal said. "If it wasn't for clay, our streams would be gone in a lot of areas," Turneal told the crowd. "Clay is much more resilient." Large oil slicks are also a problem. Turneal reported that in some sections, motor oil covers as much as 500 yards of the water's surface. Gravelly Brook is a direct tributary into Lake Lefferts, and both waterways suffer the effects of abandoned retaining walls. "Some people have built retaining walls," Turneal said. "If you don't maintain it, it falls into the stream." The fallen walls block the stream's flow and create a host of other problems. According to recent Monmouth University graduate Jonathan Costello, of Lincroft, things aren't much better over at Mohingson Brook, where large bulk items are also blocking the water's flow. "Little streams are becoming very large and it's not being documented on maps," Costello said. "Water is not being absorbed because we're paving everything." "What it really comes down to is overdevelopment," Costello added. "It's just overdevelopment." Matawan Brook is also suffering from erosion and garbage pollution. "There are lots of tires in this stream," said Lauren Tonti, a Middletown resident and recent Brookdale graduate. "We're not trying to be repetitive," Turneal told the crowd, "but a lot of the same big-picture items are affecting these areas." Lakes Matawan and Lefferts, man-made water bodies dating to the early 20th century, are also polluted, unstable and only contain stocked fish, according to Costello. Residents questioned what could be done to improve matters. The students noted several times they were not qualified to make such recommendations. Several in attendance expressed frustration with the students and the situation in general, perhaps unaware that the volunteers were not hired professionals. "This is getting more and more depressing," one member of the crowd called out of turn. "What is being done to fix it?" The students' data will now be handed over to Monmouth University, where a dean has volunteered to pen the grant application.