Fishermen along the southern tip of Stephen Gregg County Park say they see trash flowing on to the shore every morning. This is so regular an event that some suspect that somebody has been illegally dumping.
Leonard Kantor, who is one of the candidates running for mayor, and Ramon Veloz, who is running for one of the at-large council seats, said they suspect that someone has been dumping debris into Newark Bay at night.
But county and other officials say the debris is probably the result of deteriorating docks, street run off, and possibly even items falling off of ships and boats in the harbor.
“The debris comes as part of the tidal flow. We clean it up and it starts to build up as soon as we’re finished.” — Thomas Pietrykoski
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“It’s a disgrace,” Veloz said.
Kantor said he believed that trucks belonging to contractors were driving into nearby Rutkowski Park during the night, causing the flood of debris to flow up with the outgoing tide in the morning.
Looking into it
Freeholder Doreen DiDomenico said she has asked the county parks department to look into the matter and to make sure the debris is cleared out of the park.
Thomas Pietrykoski, assistant scientist at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, said the debris is a seasonable problem as old docks, bulkheads, and other deteriorating infrastructure flows down stream with tidal movements.
“This is just a symptom of what is going on with the rivers,” he said. “That’s why each year in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, we do a shore cleanup as part of our river restoration project. We spend two months collecting debris.”
Pietrykoski said debris along the Bayonne and Jersey City shoreline is a huge problem, and something that continues each year.
“We eliminate the debris over the two months, and then when we are done, it starts to accumulate again,” he said.
The cleanup project usually starts around June and continues during the summer, in order to provide people with a clean river front for recreation and other uses.
“It is very frustrating,” he said. “The debris comes as part of the tidal flow. We clean it up and it starts to build up as soon as we’re finished. Bayonne and Jersey City shores are notorious for this accumulation.”
“It seems to be a problem along the entire waterfront, so it’s difficult to determine if there’s dumping of large quantities of trash by any one entity, or if it’s just the accumulation of everyone’s thoughtless polluting along the rivers and bay,” DiDomenico said. “Our Parks Dept. tries to keep a handle on the shorelines of the parks (Gregg and Lincoln), but with the amount of refuse that washes up, it’s almost impossible to prevent and remove it all.”
City street cleanup set for April 17
Living up to a promise he made when he was first named to the City Council, Terrence Ruane is spearheading a cleanup day in the city in conjunction with PVSC, the City of Bayonne, local Boy Scouts, and the Bayonne schools’ Cleaner and Greener program.
Dubbing April 17 “Spring Cleaning Day,” the city is asking residents to participate in helping to clean up streets and parks.
“Terrence Ruane is trying to assemble groups of residents in the school courtyards in the morning to go in teams around the neighborhoods and clean up litter,” said Freeholder Doreen DiDomenico. “For folks that don’t join the groups, he’s encouraging a general clean-up of your own area that day. I spoke to him about this issue and asked him to encourage people to look at the shorelines as well.”
Thomas Pietrykoski, assistant scientist at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, said the PVSC is partnering with the city on the effort to cleanup the streets.
Street litter is a huge source for pollution as it flows into local waterways, and is one of the areas that environmentalists claim can be addressed in helping to clean up local rivers and bays.
“As you can imagine, this is not a small endeavor, so we have partnered up with the Bayonne Board of Education, the Boy Scouts of America and the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission,” said Mayor Mark Smith. “Our goal is two-fold: one, to obviously make our town look better, and the other is to set an example.”
Residents are asked to go to their nearest public school at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 17, where a coordinator will hand out gloves, bags, dust pans and brooms. Smith said residents can bring their own dust pans and brooms if they wish. The coordinator will then let residents know which area of the neighborhood they should clean up.
When residents are finished cleaning up by noon, they are asked to leave the bags on the southeastern corner of Broadway to get picked up.
“If you are unable to participate for one reason or another, we ask you to do the area around your home, especially the street gutters,” Smith said. “This is the garbage that tends to go into our waterways, causing much pollution.”
Ruane said residents need to take pride in their community. While he has at times confronted people he has seen littering and asked them to refrain, he said he is also aware of some of the issues, such as lack of trash receptacles around the city and the tendency of some residents to fill them up with trash from home. He said in the past, some people have actually stolen public trash containers, and he is currently exploring new containers – similar to those he saw in use in other countries – that could be purchased cheaply, emptied easily, and are not easily vandalized.
Supplies will be available at eleven public schools: Henry Harris School, Avenue C and 5th Street; Philip G. Vroom School, W. 26th Street near Broadway; Dr. Walter F. Robinson School, W. 31st Street and JFK Boulevard; Mary J. Donohoe School, Dodge Street and E. 5th Street; Lincoln Community School, Prospect Ave. and 30th Street; Horace Mann School, W. 38th Street and Broadway; Midtown Community School, Avenue A and 24th Street; Washington Community School, Avenue B and 47th Street; Woodrow Wilson School, W. 56th Street and Avenue B; John M. Bailey School, W. 10th Street; and School No. 14, E. 24th Street and Avenue E.