Wesley Lake, Ocean Grove, NJ as seen from the foot bridge. (bordering Asbury Park) © Paul Goldfinger photo. Click left for full view.
To the Editor:
We went to the First Ave beach in Asbury yesterday and I noticed the water was really dirty. Filled with garbage. A couple of kids were swimming in it anyway. I was wondering weather it was a “Sandy” tide. It smelled too. Then someone told me it’s because of the heavy rains we’ve had and that Wesley Lake empties into the ocean and with it, all it’s garbage. So I’m wondering number one if that’s true, does the water ever get tested for bacteria etc? And number two is anyone aware of this garbage problem with Wesley Lake waste water and what are they doing about it? I think it needs to be addressed. (I just found your site BTW) Oh and I did walk up to Ocean Grove and the water was cleaner so I’m thinking it could be a Wesley Lake problem. Looking forward to your comments. Thanks.
JUDI HULL
JUNE 11, 2013
The beach in Ocean Grove where I was basking in the sun this past Sunday had garbage washing up on the shore the entire time I was present. (I was near the Pavillion.) Youthful workers were walking up and down the shoreline cleaning the garbage up off the sand. I have never seen the water so full of garbage.
It’s pathetic that Neptune hasn’t even cleaned up the area on Beach Ave. I have gone down to the water line there to retrieve some of the debris.
All of the drains run into the lake. The same goes for Bradley Beach. They are just big pollution pools. All of the runoff from the local roads, a combination of silty mixture, sand, leaf and other organic debri, road salt or equivalent (during winter), car pollutants, fertilizer, dog poop, plastic pieces, etc., flow into the lake all year long. It’s not really a lake, but things live in it. Snapping turtles washed up during Sandy I think we lost at least two huge ones, unfortunately. They are bottom dwelling and must have been worked up by the rough water. Today I a saw a Cormorant eating a fish and I wonder what it was. I wonder how healthy of an ecosystem it is.
As a resident who lives close to Wesley Lake I can offer some non-scientific observations. Yes, the lake is full of debris as the post Sandy low levels showed (shopping carts, bike frames, traffic pilons, tires, hoses, etc.). After rains, there are large ‘islands’ of floating ‘things’ and trash plus an oily sheen on the surface.
There used to be a fence-like debris catcher at the outflow/spillway to stop the debris before it gets to the ocean, but it is no longer there. The offshore current generally runs south to north so AP probably gets the worst of it. When the lake water level is low, there is a certain odor wafting in the air that is anything but aquatic in nature, and we North Enders are grateful when the wind is southerly.
The water and beach in OG were filthy as well. As I was picking up some garbage, a man with a couple of children walked by and said ” Disgusting , isn’t it?”. It broke my heart that someone said this about our beautiful beach. I feel really upset about this and am also wondering why.
The so-called “lakes” on our section of the Jersey Shore are in reality watershed retention basins to prevent storm water and rainfall going directly into the ocean.
You should have been here when the ASBURY SEWAGE PLANT pumped its greenish overflow straight into the ocean. You knew it was happening when the current pushed it across our beaches.
Hi Judy. Thank you for your smelly water report. Welcome to the discussions @Blogfinger. Hopefully some of our readers who know something about your issue will respond.
Paul Goldfinger, editor @Blogfinger