Deal Lake by Paul Goldfinger @Blogfinger.net c. 2014. © Click to enlarge the E.Coli.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Deal Lake water quality is a concern, but the citizens there are doing something about it. In a piece posted in the latest Coaster (Dec 22, 2016) we learn that the Monmouth County Health Department will embark on a quarterly testing program to find out “if Deal Lake water is a health hazard.” The county will be doing multiple quality testing over the next two years. That program will need to be approved by the State DEP.
Like Wesley Lake, Deal Lake, the largest lake in the county, has a lake commission (DLC), but unlike Wesley Lake, they also have an activist citizens group called Friends of Deal Lake (FODL) who went to county officials to ask that something be done about the “continuing deterioration” of DL including its filling with dirt at the west end despite dredging. In addition, there are concerns about adverse health problems due to that water. The FODL motto is “Save Deal Lake.”
The article tells us that the county has many resources which can be mobilized for lake water safety, and the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, led by Freeholder John P. Curley, held a conference call in October which included the Monmouth County Engineer Joseph Ettore; County Public Health Coordinator and Health Officer Christopher P. Merkel, Environmental Specialist Turner Shell, and Testing Manager Joel Grimm. As a result of that activism, some new results should be seen at Deal Lake which borders 7 towns in this area.
We found one quote of particular interest: “The FODL said that Deal Lake water quality is important for many reasons, citing untreated water being discharged directly into the ocean and to the local beaches, including Asbury Park, Loch Arbour, Allenhurst, Deal and Ocean Grove. “
They also asserted that “even minor or incidental contact with the water during activities such as canoeing* can result in adverse health effects.”
Let this be a role model for Grovers and Asburians who could push harder on county officials to duplicate for Wesley Lake what they are doing for Deal Lake. Our Wesley Lake Commission is useless in this regard; in fact they disdain any such criticism regarding water health and functionality. (see the Blogfinger article by Jack Bredin Dec. 26, 2016 above.)
*(? or riding paddle swans?)
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: “Water Music Suite 2, D major.” Academy of Ancient Music.
Google Maps clearly show plumes of dark (polluted?) water flowing into the clear water of the Atlantic from both Deal and Wesley Lake and drifting South along the shore.
Based on my past experience, the Municipalities, County, and State may be studying this for the next 25 years.
It may be time for the Army Corps of Engineers to look into this, because they like to ‘work fast and go home early’.