Optimism Abounds At Jamaica Bay Task Force Meeting
NYS Senator Joe Addabbo addresses the Task Force and lends his support to Jamaica Bay efforts.A great egret – a large white heron with a yellow bill and black legs – appeared on Don Riepe’s dock during a phone interview after the Jamaica Bay Task Force Meeting, held on Oct. 15.
A visitor for years, the bird had not shown up in quite a while. Riepe, director of the Northeast chapter of the American Littoral Society (ALS), assumed it had since migrated.
“I’m just going to walk down there while we talk,” said Riepe, who is also an avid bird watcher and photographer.
The great egret, along with more than 300 other bird species sighted at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in the last 25 years, thrives in the park’s unique melting pot of rare native habitats, from salt marshes, to upland field and woods, to fresh and brackish water ponds and the open bay.
John McLaughlin, DEP, and Caroline Massa, FEMA.It is this sanctuary that the environmental groups ALS and the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers work to safeguard and restore through efforts like the Jamaica Bay Task Force, which the two organizations co-chair.
The latest Task Force meeting drew around 35 people to the Ryan Center at Floyd Bennett Field, including a showing of city, state and federal agencies as well as government representatives such as New York State Senator Joe Addabbo Jr. and aides of Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder.
On behalf of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), John McLaughlin spoke about the agency’s pilot oyster bed projects and proposal for expansion. To evaluate the environmental suitability for oyster growth in the bay, DEP constructed an oyster bed off of Dubos Point, Queens, and oyster reef balls in Gerritsen Creek, Brooklyn in 2010.
Jen Nersesian, Superintendent of GNRA, and Elizabeth Stoehr, Restoration Coordinator, American Littoral Society.The 2014 update to the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan, released by DEP on Oct. 1, revealed that monitoring of the pilot projects indicates adequate environmental conditions for oyster sustainability in the bay. With $1 million in funding from the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Hurricane Sandy Resiliency Grant Program, the projects will be scaled up in 2015.
A voice of concern about the project’s feasibility arose from the audience, but according to Riepe, “It’s a worthwhile effort.”
“We feel that oysters were once in Jamaica Bay, and as the water quality clears up, we can reestablish them,” he said, explaining that oysters help restore the natural ecosystem and improve the water quality by removing excess nutrients found in the bay, namely nitrogen.
Army Corps of Engineers recently helped remove eight derelict boats from Jamaica Bay shorelines.Also during the meeting, Jennifer Nersesian,Gateway National Recreation Area (GNRA) superintendent, provided an update on the planning process for the breach of the Wildlife Refuge’sWest Pond. Caused by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy, the breach has impacted the freshwater ecosystem at the refuge.
Another freshwater area, East Pond was also breached by the storm but was quickly repaired to restore subway service to theRockaways. Since then, the National Park Service (NPS), which manages GNRA, has led a planning process with significant community input to devise the best solution for West Pond.
“We just closed the public scoping on that and got a lot of great feedback,” Nersesian said in a phone interview earlier this week. “There are people who have really gotten hands-on with the project and are throwing out great solutions for us to consider as well as a wealth of knowledge about the area. They’re really helping to inform the decision that will be made there.”
NPS is currently developing alternatives based on the scoping and is weighing the potential impacts of each. Another public meeting is planned for November to welcome an additional round of feedback before drafting a final plan.
Dan Mundy, president of the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers, and Elizabeth Manclarke, of the ALS, later presented on the volunteer-driven planting efforts on Black Wall Island this summer. After the 2013 seeding proved unsuccessful, the environmental groups organized a renewed restoration campaign stressing volunteer engagement.
More than 600 volunteers from corporate and nonprofit partners, Restoration Corps and local youth employment groups planted 35,000 spartina plugs on the island at a lower cost than the initial project. According to the Ecowatchers, the restoration is already contributing to the ecology of the bay and is greatly reducing damage from wind and wave activity to Broad Channel.
Walter Scott, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), also gave an overview of the marine debris removal project during the meeting. Through a partnership with NPS, U.S. Park Police, ALS and the Ecowatchers, USACE has helped remove eight derelict boats from Jamaica Bay in 2014.
The work is ongoing, but Nersesian said the partnership is “really doing a lot for the health of the bay.”
Finally, Peter Ventura presented on the progress of the Jamaica Bay Science and Resilience Institute. The Institute, which was formed in 2013 to serve as a top-tier research center, is in the final stages of the search for a permanent director.
Currently located on the Brooklyn College campus, the Institute received a $7.7 million grant this summer from the State of New York to build a new facility. The new location is yet to be determined, but according to Riepe, Floyd Bennett Field is the likely site.
The Institute also secured a $3.6 million grant from the DOI to support its array of research projects, including a program focusing on Jamaica Bay restoration and storm resilience.
Overall, the updates shared at the Task Force meeting reflected Riepe’s optimism about the outlook for the bay.
“It’s a good time for Jamaica Bay,” he said. “There’s a lot of money and interest, and all the agencies are working together to up the water quality, help restore marshes and educate the public.”
According to Riepe, “The bay is slowly getting cleaner and better.”
But that’s not to say it does not continue to face challenges brought on by forces like climate change.
“The things fighting against us are…the sea level rising, and global warming doesn’t help, things like that,” Riepe said. “But we think if we continue with marsh restoration…it can help stabilize the bay.”
ALS knows these processes take time. The organization initiated its shoreline clean-up program around 25 years ago, and according to Riepe, the effort “has really taken on.”
In Rockaway, the group led a clean-up in Broad Channel on Tuesday and has an upcoming event with FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scheduled for Oct. 28 at Dubos Point.
“It’s a good time,” Riepe said again. “I’ve been working in the bay for over three years, and I think it’s kind of a good time that we’re finally getting everything together and money’s coming in to help.”
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