NYC Takes Its First Step To Save Jamaica Bay

Studies and your very own eyes have shown that the marshes of Jamaica Bay have been steadily disappearing over the years. At this point in time the rate has been quickly increasing and many groups have cried out for something to be done. Well the City of New York finally answered and initiated a few measures to curb the problem.

From WNYC:

Jamaica Bay is steadily losing its salt marsh islands because of pollution from local development and dirty water from sewage treatment plants. Following a local law enacted two years ago, the city has now come up with a plan to save the endangered 39 square mile water body.

A big priority is cutting back on nitrogen from the two nearby treatment plants. It's also going to introduce oysters and mussels into the bay, which filter water naturally. To cut back on stormwater runoff, the city is planting more trees in the area and giving local residents rainwater barrels for their rooftops.

But some environmentalists question whether the plan goes far enough. The Natural Resources Defense Council praised the efforts, but says they will only get the city halfway toward meeting its goal of reducing nitrogen discharges by 20 thousand pounds a day.

Oysters and buckets sound nice, but the key to this problem is fixing the treatment plants. Our environment deserves better. Cutting ten thousand pounds of nitrogen is substantial but will only slow the inevitable end of the salt marshes. Unless we want them to disappear forever more needs to be done.

Jamaica Bay Could Be Gone In Five Years

The water north of Queens will remain, polluted as usual, but the makeup of the area will be changed forever. The loss in wetland marshes that are home to so many different species of fish and fowl are disappearing at an alarming rate. A new study shows that in the last six years, the amount of marsh swallowed by the bay has nearly doubled.

From The New York Times:

Using satellite imagery of the bay, along with field observations, the report found that about 33 acres of tidal wetlands are lost every year, nearly twice the 18-acre annual loss found in a previous study by the state released in 2001. The latest report was compiled by the Jamaica Bay Watershed Advisory Committee, a New York City body, and experts at the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area, which includes the bay.

“The dramatic increase in the rate of marsh loss we found is shocking,” the report says. “Given the short time that appears to be remaining for the marsh islands, this may be our last chance to save Jamaica Bay.”

While experts are not in agreement on what causes the severe losses, scientists suspect that one principal reason is nitrogen pollution from the treated outflow of four city sewage treatment plants on the bay. Large amounts of nitrogen can kill delicate marsh plants, and without the root structures to hold sediment in place, the marsh islands could be quickly washed away.

If only the city made the effort to clean up several sewage treatment plants, the levels of nitrogen emitted into the bay would drop. Scientists say this is the main reason the landscape is changing, although there could be a few more reasons related to climate change, such as rising sea levels.

Of course taking the steps to implement change is always hard to come by when you mix environmental concerns with the bureaucracy of New York. Politicians need to step up and call for action. This piece by the Times is great, but it needs to be replicated across the New York media establishment. Only an extreme amount of public pressure can do it. So call up your representatives, The Daily News, The Observer and all of the city rags so they start talking about it. There isn't much time left.

The Disappearing Marshes

Climate change is having dramatic effects across the world as can be seen with massive droughts and floods, extreme heat waves and melting ice caps. Though for some reason it is the little things that hit close to home that can have the greatest impact. Here in New York City the marshes of Jamaica Bay look beautiful from the air coming into JFK or actually being out in the bay on a boat. The problem is that in twenty years, they'll be gone.

From 1010 WINS:

No one knows for sure why the marshes are disappearing. A host of possible reasons is being looked at, from lack of sediment to renew the marshes flowing into the bay because of urban development to sea level rise to the city's four wastewater treatment plants feeding the system more nitrogen than it can handle.

"Research has looked at a handful of contributing factors, none of them have emerged as a clear cause," said Steve Zahn, a program manager for a marine resources unit for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Some are convinced that excessive nitrogen from the city's wastewater treatment plants plays a big role. The nitrogen, a byproduct from the water treatment process, feeds algae blooms, which then die off and are decomposed by bacteria which end up using a lot of oxygen, leaving less in the system.

The city acknowledges that more nitrogen than the system can handle is being discharged into the bay, but also says the science isn't definitive for that being the main problem of the marshland loss.

There is a main problem in this equation, just not a specific one. The problem is climate change fueled by the way we live on this planet. The increasing carbon output along with how we treat our waste is all indicative of a wasteful society that dumps its garbage on mother nature and pollutes the air that we all breathe. Losing the marshes of Jamaica Bay will be only one of many consequences of not cleaning up our act fast enough.