Wesley Lake looking east. In the center is the area of interest. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click to enlarge any of the photos.. ©
This is the collection basin near the boardwalk where water enters a pipe to be carried to the ocean. Blogfinger photo 8/10/21 ©
The large pipe in the foreground carries the abyss water into the ocean. The jetty is to the right. This is near the border of OG and AP. Blogfinger photo ©
TO THE EDITOR:
August 11, 2021
Dear Paul,
I would like to alert your readers regarding a safety hazard at the north end of Ocean Grove, near the boardwalk: the storm drain leading water from Wesley Lake into the ocean.
That is where lake water passes into a basin and then moves quickly into a large pipe which goes via the beach into the ocean.
Walking by that storm drain at the east end of Wesley Lake, I couldn’t help but notice it is uncovered. An unprotected storm drain can easily lead to drowning for those who accidentally fall into the basin in front of the drain and get sucked into the pipe.
The absence of a protective grate is a silent killer that often goes unnoticed because it appears innocuous. Compounding the problem is that there is inadequate protective fencing surrounding the basin: only a few unsecured crowd control guard rails, held together with plastic ties.
This is the inadequate barrier area where anyone can easily move the pieces and walk over to the edge of the abyss. You can see the mentioned home-made memorial there. Blogfinger photo
Ominously, I recently saw what looks like floral memorial attached to one of the rails. It is still there .
I know of an event in Totowa, where tragically, a boy drowned, followed by his friend who tried to rescue him from the pipe. A Google search reveals that unsecured storm drains like ours have led to deaths around the nation.
Not only is there a risk of drowning for victims, there is the additional risk of a wrongful death lawsuit against the CMA and Neptune should tragedy strike. I hope the situation can be remedied with the Township and the CMA working together to put up a true safety barrier around the drainage pipe as part of the Township’s storm water management system.
Somehow Neptune failed to get sufficient hurricane Sandy funds to improve the water management of Wesley Lake at the base of the lake.
I hope they don’t drop the ball again, squandering both blood and treasure.
Hopefully your readers will issue their own complaints.
Thank you for your consideration.
BRIAN O’REILLY
The writer, an attorney, is a resident of Ocean Grove. He lives near the risky location described.
M. WARD. “Neptune’s Net” from the HBO series Savages.
JW: What is the Neptune Wesley Lake Committee anyway: a ghost committee? Like a ship floating in the ether of the seas: no Sandy funds to improve storm water management, no drainage improvement or safety, no protections for wrongful death negligence liability, no modernization?? Neptune Township is just like a floating styrofoam ghost ship, or rotting cup drifting down Wesley Lake, leaving the dead to be a lone taxpayer, after the liability rulings.
Let us change that that before it become a hang on conscious, and a hang on our tax bill: act now: Write. Demand. Improve.
Brian O’Reilly: Thank you for bringing this dangerous situation to our attention.
Hope you get a reply to your written warning. Perhaps consider following up in person at the next Neptune Township Committee Meeting on the theory that an in-your-face approach can get these guys to pay attention?
Frank: I did write Neptune Township and the CMA. I hope they take action, at least to install proper protective fencing around the basin leading into the pipe.
Regarding that pipe to the sea, Brian O’Reilly, whose work involves cases of death due to such unprotected pipes, tells us that anyone who gets “sucked” into that pipe will come out dead at the other end due to drowning, unless it is low tide (as in our photo) when there might be air in the pipe and perhaps some victim could be still breathing at the other end.
Isn’t it ironic that a place where secure fencing could save a life is not protected whereas concentration camp decor iron-spiked fencing has been placed to protect the bell in Firemen’s Park?
Note also that the risk not only includes the possibility of children running over the top edge, but drunks, weaving their way home from A. Park could also find themselves toppling into the abyss.
There are also some locations along Lake Avenue on the OG side which pose dangers to children and are similarly unprotected. (see photo comment)
Besides writing Blogfinger I would hope Mr. O’Reilly also wrote the OGCMA and Neptune Township . Barrier in place now is useless and ugly . Basin is ugly too as is boarded up rear of building adjacent to it.
It appears that the spillway was replaced in the early 1950s when Asbury Park was still a desirable place to visit.
A new outfall pipe to the sea was installed at a cost of $55,400. The sluice gates were reconstructed at a cost of $16,875. Ocean Grove Times (31 Jan. 1991)