No, this has nothing to do with the political scandal.
Tom McCann, director of Hudson County Parks, said dead fish have been observed in one of the lakes at Lincoln Park in Jersey City on Thursday, July 23. People use that lake to fish. Freeholder Bill O’Dea also saw the dead fish floating in the lake on Sunday, July 26. McCann asked Knollwood Environmental, a private environmental company to determine the cause.
Freeholder O’Dea asked that the Hudson County Regional Health Commission also investigate the matter.
According to a letter from Knollwood Environmental, certain species require a specific level of dissolved oxygen in the water. For example, trout require a very high DO.
When the level is too low, they go “belly up”. DO is higher during the day and will progressively decline from dusk till dawn, and this can be extreme when significant algae blooms are present.
They said that when they studied Lincoln Park, DO levels were extremely low in the pre-dawn hours and the fish were jumping as if they were gasping for air.
Gary Garetano, Assistant Director of Hudson Regional Health Commission, said that his office received a copy of the letter from Knollwood Environmental to Tom McCann and agrees with their determinations.
“They indicate oxygen depletion caused by an algae bloom is the likely cause of the fish die-off and that toxic substances were unlikely, since only one species of fish was affected,” Garetano said. “I also agree with their suspicion that goose excrement contributed to the algae bloom. Algae blooms are usually associated with an excess of nitrogen or phosphorous from sources such as fertilizer, and human or animal wastes. The Jersey City State study that I referenced previously found that ‘goose poop’ contributed more nutrients than all other sources combined. “
So the algae, fed by the ‘goose poop,’ are helping kill the fish.
Freeholder Bill O’Dea asked that the fish be tested just to make certain that there is no other cause, especially since people fish in both lakes in the park.