The National Parks Service said it prefers repairing the West Pond breach and loop trail over the alternatives, one of which was doing nothing. Environmental activists praised that decision and urged the agency to start the work as soon as possible.
Posted: Thursday, October 8, 2015 10:30 am
The National Parks Service on Tuesday stated in an environmental assessment that it is best to repair the breach at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Center’s West Pond and fully restore the loop path that was broken as a result of Superstorm Sandy.
Environmental activists praised the NPS’s decision to restore the pond and loop to their former state — considering one of the alternatives was to do nothing at all.
“We just think that was so unique and critical to replace,” Dan Mundy Jr., president of the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers and Broad Channel Civic Association, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Before Sandy, the West Pond was a frequent site for birdwatchers due to its freshwater state. After the Oct. 29, 2012 storm, saltwater started to pour into it, causing some of the birds to fly away.
Mundy said shortly after the storm, he and others reached out to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park), urging them to advocate for the pond’s repair.
“There were some initial discussions of leaving it alone. And we had a big problem with that,” Mundy said.
Goldfeder said doing nothing has been the MO of the NPS in the past.
“The NPS’s policy is normally to let things be,” he said. “I think our initial concern was that NPS would do nothing.”
The proposed plan for the West Pond, which is subject to public comment on the NPS website for a month, would be implemented in phases, according to the agency. The first phase would focus on “filling and repairing the primary and secondary breaches, replacing the water control structure, the possible installation of a groundwater well or municipal water source to provide freshwater to the pond, and the restoring of the West Pond loop trail.”
The second phase would “include upland habitat restoration at Terrapin Point, shoreline restoration, saltmarsh restoration, and installation of other visitor amenities (such as boardwalks, trails, pathways, viewing blinds and educational signage).”
Once the plan is finalized, construction to implement the plan “could last up to a year,” according to the NPS’s environmental assessment.
Besides doing nothing, the NPS also considered creating different habitats by the pond and simply bridging the breach.
But, in its assessment, the agency determined that repairing the breach and the loop path is the most environmentally and cost-effective measure.
Don Riepe, president of the Northeast Chapter of the American Littoral Society and a resident of Broad Channel, said even when the breach is closed up, “it will take a while for [the pond] to freshen up.”
“The garden area has been damaged by the saltwater for three years,” he said. “They should move on it quickly now.”
Mundy said Jen Neresian, superintendent of Gateway National Recreation Area, is scheduled to attend an Oct. 29 meeting of the ecowatchers, titled “The State of Jamaica Bay.”
“We’re hoping to get a real idea on time frames,” he said of the West Pond.
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