Christie: Shark River Dredging Delayed By County and Municipalities
Beck: Federal and State Agencies Haven’t Approved Drying Sites
Governor Chris Christie told his Town Hall gathering in Belmar yesterday afternoon that the dredging of Shark River is being held up because the municipalities along the river and Monmouth County can not agree on a destination for the dredge spoils to be dumped.
The issue has gathered increased public attention in recent months due to a massive fish kill in the river last May. 310 tons of dead fish were removed from the shoreline of the estuary that feeds into the Atlantic through the inlet between Belmar and Avon-by-the-Sea and extents 11 miles through Neptune and Wall Townships.
In answering a question from a man who identified himself as Bob from Wall, Christie said that he supports the dredging, fought for money from FEMA to pay for the dredging and would impose a solution on the county and municipalities if he had the authority to do so. He said he had been briefed on the issue three weeks ago.
Maybe the Governor remembered a briefing from a different dredging project when answering Bob’s question.
Both the Monmouth County and Neptune landfills are willing to take the dredge spoils, according to Senator Jennifer Beck. The river hasn’t been dredged, Beck said in a phone interview last night, because over the last two decades various federal and state agencies have rejected every proposed location for the dredged materials to dry before being moved to their final disposal site.
Posted: July 31st, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Belmar, Chris Christie, Jennifer Beck, Monmouth County, Shark River | Tags: August 19 Special Belmar Election, Belmar, Belmar Bonding Referendum, Belmar Town Hall, Freeholder Tom Arnone, Governor Chris Christie, Senator Jennifer Beck, Shark River, Shark River Dredging, Shark River Fish Kill, Tom Arnone | 3 Comments »