update: April 2nd,
2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALO’s 17th Annual Earth Day Clean Up
<click here> Kelly Quinlan Clean-up Video <click here>
Date: Saturday, April 24, 2009 Time: 10am – 1pm
Meet at your choice of 6 locations
Bonnet
Island, Dutchman’s Parking Lot
Barnegat
Light, at the end of Broadway
Surf
City, 16th street Bay Beach
Ship Bottom Public Dock and Boat Ramp
Beach Haven, Center Street Ocean Beach
Holgate,
parking lot at the end of Long Beach Blvd.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 2, 2010
CONTACT: Lori Castle,
lorcastle@yahoo.com , 908-963-9838
or Kristin Neal, alolbi@verizon.net,
609-494-7800
Long Beach Island area —Alliance for a Living Ocean’s (ALO) 17th annual Earth Day Clean Up will take place from 10 am – 1 pm, Saturday, April 24 rain or shine. This year, the Long Beach Island Business Alliance’s (LBIBA) “Green Up Clean Up” will take place the same day. “We are excited to support ALO in its clean up efforts. As local business owners, we want to do our part and by working through ALO we will help further their larger mission,” said Stacey Fuessinger, Board of Directors LBIBA and owner of “just bead it.”
ALO will man its traditional six sites along the beaches and bay. This includes
Cedar Bonnet Island (meet in the Dutchman’s parking lot), Ship Bottom at the
public dock and boat ramp, Beach Haven- Center Street at the ocean beach, Surf
City, 16 St. and Bay Beach, Barnegat Light at the end of Broadway, and Holgate.
To clean up the Boulevard, check-in sites to date are: just bead it ,1616 Long Beach Blvd., Surf City; just bead it, 1305 Long Beach Blvd., North Beach Haven; Swell colors, 10909 Long Beach Blvd., Haven Beach; and Surf Unlimited, 1820 Long Beach Blvd., Ship Bottom.
ALO board members will be on hand by to sign people in, distribute bags, gloves, and data cards to track the debris. “While the immediate result of the clean up is obvious, the data we collect is used in additional research, serves as a basis for certain grant programs, and let’s us track the problem from year to year,” said Kellie Karolkiewicz, Vice President, ALO.
An after party will be held at just bead it, 1305 Long Beach Blvd., North Beach Haven and will feature food, bands, and prizes.
Volunteers can just show up at one of the sites the day of the event. Groups should call the ALO office to register so the executive director can coordinate the manpower most effectively. Volunteers should wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts in light colors, wear sneakers or boots (not sandals), and bring sun block. Younger children must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, email alolbi@verizon.net or call ALO at: 609-494-7800.
ordinance
2009-50 “Fertilizer Application Requirements”.
update: December 16th, 2009
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stafford
Township
Passes
Precedent-Setting
Environmental
Ordinance!
ALO members testify in support!
Ship
Bottom, N.J. December 16, 2009- The Alliance for a Living Ocean (ALO), whose
mission it is to promote and maintain a healthy coastal environment, provided
comments at the Stafford Township Council meeting, last evening, December 15, 2009
regarding ordinance 2009-50 “Fertilizer Application Requirements”.
ALO supported this ordinance “as a good first step, of hopefully many, towards
a healthier bay” said ALO President, Tom Beaty. The ordinance passed
unanimously and will prohibit fertilizer applicators from applying fertilizer
to an impervious surface
(such as roads or sidewalks) and from applying fertilizer between December 15
and February 15 or if the ground is frozen. Also prohibited is the depositing
of grass clippings into water bodies or storm drains and the application of phosphorous
fertilizer unless the soil is tested and shown to be phosphorus deficient.
These measures will limit the amount of fertilizer that leaves lawns when it
gets washed off in runoff from rain and into streams or storm drains, which
eventually empty into the bay. Once in the bay, the excess nutrients in the
fertilizer allow nuisance organisms such as sea nettles and algae to grow out of control,
known as eutrophication. The conditions of the bay experiencing eutrophication
also prevent sensitive species such as clams, scallops, eelgrass, or fish such
as gar and blowfish from thriving. “The local economy depends on a healthy bay”
said ALO Issues & Education Committee Chair, Kelly Quinlan. “We have a
responsibility to what we can where we are able, and it started with Stafford
Township.”
ALO Executive Director, Elizabeth Burke commented, “The passing of this
ordinance shows Stafford Township’s commitment to improving & protecting water quality. This
is a precedent set locally and we hope it will be taken up by other towns of
Ocean County and eventually at the State level.”
ALO Vice President, Kellie Karolkiewicz, added, “our ‘Green Room’ shop and headquarters is ready to help
the public learn more about how to landscape in an responsibly in lieu of this
ordinance passing. It is important for people to understand the alternatives
and we are here to help them”.
ALO comments presented to the Council included suggestions to address nitrogen
and organic/natural fertilizer in amendments. Although phosphorous is also a
problem nutrient in the bay, nitrogen is the biggest offender. ALO suggests
fertilizer should contain at least 30% slow-release (insoluble) nitrogen
content.