“Low Tide at Wesley Lake” Blogfinger photo.©
Water near the retaining wall by Founders’ Park in OG. Blogfinger (Stephen Goldfinger) photo. 12/7/16 © Click it and then take a deep breath. Is it any wonder that not a single bird was in sight?
Wesley Lake, west end. March 28, 2017. Paul Goldfinger photo © Click to enlarge. Photograph from the muckrakers at Blogfinger–Paul Goldfinger.© March, 2017.
Blogfinger has posted a variety of articles about Wesley Lake pollution. Today we feature yet another piece on that subject which contains some new elements which we have not addressed before.
Q: The Lenape Indians used Wesley Lake as a source of food. Now the Lake is reserved for recreation and conservation—-or is it?
A: According to the Neptune township Tax Map (effective Jan. 1, 2015) Wesley Lake is now a municipal facility to be used to treat dirty street-water runoff. The Lake’s name has been changed to ” Wesley Detention/Retention Basin” under the supervision of the Departments of Public Works.
Q: Who is responsible for this?
A: It starts with the Neptune Township Committee along with the Mayor and Council of Asbury Park. The two governing bodies are in charge, so the buck stops with them, or in this case, the pollution starts and stops with them. Officials from both towns took an oath that would include managing the welfare of the Lake for recreational use. It should be noted that most of the dirty street-water runoff comes from AP.
Q: How did this happen?
A: It happened when the mayors of both Neptune and AP took their charters and hung them on the developers’ walls.
Q: Who can correct this plethora of problems involving the Lake’s rehabilitation and restoration?
A: The Wesley Lake Commission. Or can they? Jack attended a meeting of the Commission on May 16, 2017, and suggested that they should not allow street-water runoff to enter the Lake because that is causing the Lake to be polluted. And the streets are not part of the Lake’s natural watershed.
Discussion:
A member of the Wesley Lake Commission representing Neptune’s DPW (Dept. of Public Works) said, “The streets are in the ‘watershed area,’ and in New Jersey you are permitted by the Dept. of Environmental Protection to allow street water runoff to drain into a lake.”
But the “watershed area” includes all the land that drains into the lake, and by that definition, it does includes street run-off. But there is a semantic issue here. He would be correct if the streets were a part of the Lake’s “natural watershed” and not just “in the watershed area.” The”natural water-shed area” is desirable, but dirty street water is not part of that.
So his argument boils down to “let’s keep polluting the Lake illegally.”
You might have noticed the Rainwater Garden near the train station in Asbury Park. That is an example of a desirable “natural” water-shed area where the rain is purified by the soil and plantings and then the clean water drains into the lake.
And if the name change from Wesley Lake to “Wesley Detention/Retention Basin” had been done legally by Resolution of the Neptune Committee with permission from the New Jersey DEP Green Acres Program, then the streets would become “the watershed” for a detention/retention basin, but there was no such Resolution or Green Acres permission. Note that a detention/retention basin is an actual structural facility to clean the water draining into the Lake. So far all we have is a name change on the Neptune Tax Map. We don’t even have a map that shows the Lake’s water-shed. And we don’t know where A. Park stands on this, but we can guess.
So what’s in a name?–in this case, nothing.
Another member of the Commission said, “The condition of Wesley Lake is the same now as it has been for the last 10,000 years, and the condition of the Lake’s mud is a naturally occurring condition found in every lake.”
We think the dead fish never got the professor’s message. And, we have to remind the professor, that 10,000 years ago they were first brewing beer in Mesopotamia, but there are no records of what Wesley Lake looked like then. We barely know about it from records of 1869. We do know that it was much different than it is now—then it was a full blown estuary.
And don’t forget, the water may look or test clear sometimes, but what toxins are trapped in the mud? They don’t test the mud, only the water, and how often do they test the water?
We may be at a crossroads, but we still have the choice of which road to take, before it is too late:
LEANN RIMES:
I remember in the fifties when Wesley Lake was dredged. Before the days of the EPA, they pumped the “stuff” into the ocean. The ocean ran black for days. Also Asbury Park filled in the area behind what used to be the 5 and dimes and the next block east, remember Lerners, for additional parking. Wouldn’t be too surprised if most of the lake, especially the western part is mostly Neptune.
How sad. Why doesn’t the town authorize an employee to “fish out” the debris? I know dredging is needed but let’s start with the obvious. AP and OG should be ashamed and held accountable!
How can developers expect to sell condos or hopefully single family homes overlooking this putrid waterway. Perhaps the marketing slogan could be: “Effluent for the affluent”.
Excellent reporting on this important issue.
The Biergarten helps sponsor the cleanup, but years ago I witnessed a Moonstruck employee dumping mop water right onto the sidewalk and that water flowed right into the street drain. I’m not singling out Moonstruck. This is common practice for many businesses. I’ve seen in it in Ocean Grove, Bradley, Asbury, etc. Something needs to be done, and we all need to stand up now.
There’s your parking lot, since it is a dead issue.
Q. Does anyone care outside of a small circle of friends who live on Lake Avenue?
Q. Does OGCMA, Neptune Township Committee, or Ocean Grove Homeowners Association care?
Q. Do any of the businesses in AP care, such as Moonstruck, Biergarten, Lake House, etc. (all on lake)?
A. No, no, no.