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ALO's Environmental Stands on Current Issues
Clean Water Act
In 2002 we celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Keeping our waters clean is a never-ending enterprise as we wrote the following letters:
**November 18, 2002
James Connaughton, White House Council on Environmental Quality
cc: Christie Whitman, EPA Administrator
Bradley Campbell, NJ DEP Commissioner
"ALO strongly supports H.R. 4683... This bill, if adopted, would block the Bush proposal by ADDING to the Clean Water Act a statutory definition of 'fill material.' This would expressly prohibit the Corps from discharging waste materials as 'fill' and polluting America's waters.
**January 21, 2003
Christie Whitman, EPA Administrator
ALO voiced concerns about a weakening of the standards of the Clean Water Act that could result in a loss of up to 20 million acres of wetlands. This was based on a 2001 Supreme Court decision that ruled that the Clean Water Act did not protect isolated ponds and wetlands based solely on their habitat for migratory birds.Clean Water Act
The Clean Air Act was also put to the test prompting:
**December 2, 2002
Christie Whitman, EPA Administrator
Cc: Senator Joseph Lieberman
Bradley Campbell, NJ DEP Commissioner
"To allow the so-called New Source Review regulations to be passed would most certainly be a step backward. The changes that are currently being proposed would enable companies to make 'modifications and/or improvements' that would actually result in more pollution."Continuing the Fight over HARS Dumping
Those of you on board with us in 2000 remember the strong campaign that was launched i by a number of environmental action groups and private citizens to "Stop the Muck Monster." In that year, dredged materials were slated to be dumped at the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS), located just three and a half miles offshore from the New Jersey coast. These materials posed a significant threat to the environment and human health due to the high levels of PCBs detected in worms from the dredged materials.
The fight was won, but not the war. An EPA amendment in 2000 revised the allowable levels of PCBs from 400 ppb to 113 ppb. In an unfortunate saga, in October 2002, a New York federal court determined that the EPA did not follow proper procedure in establishing the value, opening the door for corporations to continue their dumping at previous levels. ALO responded:
**September 24, 2002 and October 24, 2002
Christie Whitman, EPA Administrator
cc: Bradley Campbell, NJ DEP Commissioner
"ALO urges that a final and formal ruling be made to keep the levels of PCB contaminated materials at a maximum of 113 ppb."Saving Open Spaces and Sedges
**January 16, 2003
Kathy Haake
Project Associate-Trust for Public Land
ALO wrote a letter supporting the efforts of Save Our Community to preserve 140 acres of open space in High Bar Harbor and Barnegat Light. ALO voiced concerns about the "damage that potential development of this area could have on wildlife, including endangered species like the yellow night heron. Additional development and loss of open space would increase non-point source pollution in the bay."Saving Island Sedges
ALO's effort is to promote public and statewide awareness of the tremendous value to our maritime environment afforded by sedge islands and the vibrant ecology associated with these coastal habitats. Posters and literature will be distributed and displayed to discourage irresponsible boating and personal watercraft use that erode the sedges' fragil soil.
**April 15, 2003
William Pilling, Esq
Mordecai Island Trust
"Alliance for a Living Ocean feels it is important to alert the public to the value and vulnerability of the sedge areas. Our organization also wants to promote appropriate ways to protect these sensitive areas from potential harm and destruction."
" We wish you luck in your endeavors to preserve Mordecai Island and the wildlife that inhabit it. We hope that you are able to achieve a positive environmental impact."Motorized Vehicles in Sensitive Ecological Areas
ALO has always supported judicious use of motorized vehicles in ecologically sensitive areas. ALO recognizes that many well-meaning individuals do not realize the devastating effects that their boat propellers and jet propulsion crafts have in the area surrounding marshlands. These shallow water areas contain vital eelgrass beds that has been called "the backbone of the bay," providing a home for shellfish and a nursery for nearly all commercial and recreational fish. The marshlands themselves are home to numerous species of nesting birds, some endangered species, which are disrupted by the close activity and noise. In a letter to Senator Leonard T.Connors on October 16, 2002 ALO conveyed their support of revised legislation which includes the restriction that a person "shall not operate a personal watercraft within 100 feet of a shoreline." Our statement was forwarded to the Committee to be entered into public record of testimony in support of companion bills.
