Aberdeen to beach users: Keep our shoreline clean

PHOTOS BY DONALD HONIMAR Debris such as tires and shopping carts are among the items that wash up on Cliffwood Beach from the Raritan Bay, but the most prolific culprit that litters the beach, residents and township officials say, is fishing line, which then becomes entangled in the nests of ospreys. ABERDEEN — As the weather warms up, residents are taking notice of the condition of the shoreline and want to know what can be done to improve it.

"I recently moved back to the area and I like to go out to the beach," said Donald Honimar, an Old Bridge resident and nature photographer. "So when I crossed the bridge over Whale Creek to come to the Aberdeen side, I couldn't believe how dirty the beach was."

Honimar described the beach and areas surrounding Treasure Lake as laden with broken bottles, hypodermic needles and condom wrappers, all strewn across the sand. Larger flotsam and jetsam had washed up on the beach as well, he said.

"There was a tire and even a dead seagull entangled in a plastic grocery bag; both had washed up on the beach," he said. "I couldn't believe how much trash and debris was floating around in the water just off the beach."

The ospreys nest atop platforms constructed by the Aberdeen Township Department of Public Works as a place to attract the marine birds. Officials hope that increased awareness and partnerships with local fishermen will keep the beach cleaner throughout the season. The Aberdeen Township Environmental and Shade Tree Advisory Board sponsored a cleanup at the beach on April 25 in celebration of Earth Day and in preparation for the 16th annual Aberdeen Family Fishing Contest to be held on Saturday, May 2.

"The beach cleanup went better than expected," Aberdeen Township Manager Joseph Criscuolo said in an April 27 interview. "We had a great turnout and removed a lot of debris and garbage."

But residents are concerned about who will maintain the beach for the rest of the year.A

ccording to Director of Public Works James Lauro, the township works with Clean Shores, a program of the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to maintain the Cliffwood shoreline.

This shopping cart was part of the trash removed during the beach cleanup on April 25. "Twice a year, Clean Shores comes in, and that is how we get some of the bigger stuff pulled out of there," Lauro explained. "It is really not a bathing beach, so Clean Shores comes in the spring and usually comes back in the fall to take care of the shoreline with us."

According to the DEP website, "Clean Shores is a statewide program that removes floatables such as wood, garbage, medical waste and recyclables from tidal shorelines with the use of state inmate labor. The funding for the Clean Shores program comes entirely from the sale of the Shore Protection 'Shore to Please' motor vehicle license plates."

Municipalities wishing to utilize the Clean Shores program provide roll-off containers to collect the removed debris; machinery, such as a front-end loader or dump truck, to cart larger floating debris; and a portable toilet and lunch for the laborers. The Clean Shores program covers the costs of these necessities, the website explains.

Prior to the cleanup activity, the state performs routine aircraft surveillance in order to detect the presence of floatables in coastal waters. A DEP plane flies along the coastline six days each week during the summer months while staff on board the plane search the waters for floatables and report sightings to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"When floatables are within reach of skimmer boats, EPA coordinates removal of the observed floatables with the Army Corps of Engineers," the DEP website states.

Lauro said Clean Shores would be cleaning Cliffwood Beach on May 26-28.

Criscuolo also said that the Aberdeen Township Environmental and Shade Tree Advisory Board is looking into partnerships with potential corporate sponsors to support year-round cleanup efforts.

"Naturally, stuff that is dumped in the bay washes up on our shore, and we are looking into working more with local fishermen who use the beach," he said.

Criscuolo said the township will be working with fishermen who frequent the beach to implement different strategies to maintain the beach.

"We are trying to promote taking more back with you when you leave the beach, so if you brought in one bag of trash, take two back with you and throw them away in the available receptacles," he said. "A lot depends upon the fishermen that use the beach, and we are looking at forging a partnership with them and the police department to come up with a better scenario to keep the beach clean."

In addition to working with the state, the township recently announced it was the recipient of a $20,938 grant, courtesy of the DEP Clean Communities program.

According to the DEP and the Clean Communities Council, the program is a "statewide litter-abatement program" created by the Clean Communities Act, passed in 2002.

"The funds will be used to pay for an employee to clean roadsides and parks; educational programs for children, including a puppet show about recycling and litter, for students in local schools; and educational outreach to residents about recycling in Aberdeen as communicated through the township's calendar and newsletters," according to a press release from the township.

Aside from the trash on the beach, Honimar said that he noticed the presence of ospreys in the area.

"When I was down there last time, I saw an osprey in one of the man-made nests, trying to free itself from a tangled mess of fishing line," he said.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, ospreys are some of the largest birds of prey in North America, eating almost exclusively fish, and are found in close proximity to water on nearly every continent.

The Cornell Web site explains that ospreys readily build nests on man-made structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it.

"Such platforms have become an important tool in re-establishing ospreys in areas where they had disappeared," the site states. "In some areas, nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures."

Road Superintendent Butch Derechailo, of the Aberdeen Township Department of Public Works, said that his staff installed one of the two osprey nests 10 years ago and the other about five years ago.

"We did notice that they are active when we did some beach cleaning a while ago," he said. "We had installed them when we had noticed the ospreys, and we are on the water where those birds can be seen, so that was why we put them up."

Honimar suggested installing signage warning of the birds' nesting activities, and providing more trash receptacles for peoplewalking along the beach or in from the parking lot, to throw their garbage away properly.

"There are no trash bins along the Ocean Boulevard entryways, and so people just throw their garbage on the ground," he said. "The other night I saw fire trucks over there, and when I went back in the morning, I saw burned remains of railroad ties, like someone had a bonfire or something on the beach."

Burnt railroad ties aren't the only large items that clutter the beach, Honimar said.

"There were tires over there, too," he said during the April 20 Township Council meeting. "I remember coming across to the Aberdeen side and always feeling like it was nicer and well taken care of, but this was saddening."

Clean Shores, Lauro said, will remove those items.

The mayor and council listened to Honimar's descriptions during the April 20 Township Council meeting and suggested some other agencies and organizations that interested individuals could contact for help.

"Having a beach cleanup once a year is fine, but how do we monitor the beach all year-round?" Honimar asked the council.

Mayor David Sobel responded that the township has individuals who clean up the beach regularly and said police should be notified of dumping.

"Did you report what you found to the police?" he asked Honimar.

"No, I wasn't sure who to report it to," he said. "I tried contacting NJDEP and the EPA, but no one answered my questions."

Criscuolo said he had received several emails from fishermen not from the Aberdeen area, apologizing for the way fellow fishermen had left the beach.

"They actually called me for a truck to come and pick up the bags of trash that they had tried to clean up," he said. "I have noticed that when people fish out there, they are gutting the fish and then throwing out the remains, attracting flies in the warmer weather."

Criscuolo also said that glass bottles are now prohibited in township parks and beaches.

"There is an ordinance on record, but enforcement is another issue," he said. "I know the receptacles are emptied on a daily basis."

Councilman Thomas Perry asked Honimar what kind of response he got from the state agencies he called, and Honimar told him he didn't get much of a response.

"Maybe the ranger at Cheesequake State Park could be helpful in regard to the wildlife," Perry suggested.

"We have asked the [people who use the beach] to clean up after themselves, and I know several citations have been issued by the police," Criscuolo said. "The word is out there that we want our beach kept clean."

Following the meeting, Honimar said that people do not realize the history and rich variety of wildlife that are to be found in the Cliffwood Beach area.

"Treasure Lake was named that because pirates supposedly buried treasure there, and this area used to be a mecca for shellfish harvesting," he said. "Some of the first roads in the area were paved with oyster shells, they were so abundant, and the beach is a great place to see the area's wildlife. I feel like people don't always see that; they see an old resort area that went downhill, but there is more to it than that."

Criscuolo said the township wants beach goers and people who use the Cliffwood area for their shore access to treat their beach as they would treat any other Jersey beach.

"You wouldn't go to Belmar or Bradley Beach and after spending a great day at the beach, leave a big bag of trash on the sand," he said. So, don't do it here. We want people to take care of this area and our shore."