NJ DEP Reports Widespread Water Pollution

Nearly one thousand waterbodies across New Jersey are too dirty for fishing or swimming, according to the latest impaired waters list released by the NJ DEP.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, New Jersey is required, every two years, to prepare and submit a list of Impaired Waters (303(d) List) to the U.S. EPA. The 2006 list of water pollutants include nutrients such as phosphorus; toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, and lead; pesticides; toxic chemicals including PCBs and dioxin; and pathogens such as fecal coliform bacteria. According to the NJ Sierra Club, the report shows that water quality in the northern counties is degrading as development moves westward from Middlesex, Essex and Hudson counties. The report shows the reverse is true in South Jersey, where waters are degrading in an easterly flow from the Philadelphia area toward the Pine Barrens and farming regions. DEP argues that water quality has not gone down and that the state is using new methods that set the pollution bar higher.

Several NJ environmental advocacy organizations criticized DEP's handling of the announcement, saying they were only given three days' notice of the public hearing. Consequently, DEP agreed to hold a second public hearing. The deadline for submitting written comments to DEP regarding the 2006 Integrated Waters List (which includes the 303(d) list) has been extended to June 16, 2006. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/wmm/sgwqt/wat/integratedlist/integratedlist2006.html