It’s not that Barnegat Bay is dead, it’s just that it’s not as healthy as it should be. Nursing the bay back to health, of course, will take some difficult decisions, say those who are hoping state and local governing bodies will pass regulations mandating tougher standards on pollutants.

“There are a lot of things that have to be done” to save the bay, said Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. “We’ve studied Barnegat Bay to death and if we don’t act soon, the bay is going to die.”

The group is concentrating its efforts on two immediate goals: getting state and local officials to pass regulations to curb pollution from fertilizer and sewage runoff, and making Berkeley Township’s Cedar Creek, which borders the Lanoka Harbor section of Lacey, a “category one” stream, leading to new environmental protections.

The easiest way to help the bay in the immediate future is to curb nitrogen from entering the watershed. The bulk of nitrogen content enters by way of lawn fertilizers that are either soaked into the soil or washed into the bay by way of storm sewers.

According to Tittel, fertilizers with low nitrogen and phosphorous content already exist, but are not mandated in New Jersey. The Sierra Club has been lobbying for a state law regarding the use of fertilizers in watershed areas, but local officials at the municipal or county levels could pass their own regulations as well.

So far, it’s been a tough sell. A county measure that would have regulated fertilizer throughout Ocean County has been tabled by the board of chosen freeholders and passed on to the board of health, and no local municipality has crafted its own ordinance on the matter. The state, despite some legislative rumblings over the course of the past decade, has also failed to act.

“The state really needs to step up and follow the recommendations from the scientists,” said Tittel. “They need to set a standard and start enforcing it.”

When nitrogen levels increase, the bay can get jammed with jellyfish which prey on the larvae of fish and other species. The most noted member of the jellyfish family to enter the bay in the last few years has been the sea nettle, a small, translucent jellyfish that packs a nasty sting in its tentacles. That sting not only makes the sea nettle a significant addition to the bay’s food chain, but can prevent swimmers from using the bay. The Chesapeake Bay in Maryland is largely off-limits to swimmers during the summer season due to the number of sea nettles taking up residence there.

Other problems highlighted at the meeting include overdevelopment. Tittel noted that the Barnegat Bay watershed is about 30 percent developed, a level that is usually a “tipping point” when it comes to the health of the body of water a particular watershed feeds. As feeder creeks and other marshlands silt over and dry up, the bay has become saltier, exacerbating the jellyfish problem and increasing other algae blooms.

In addition to setting nitrogen standards, Tittel’s group and another - Save Barnegat Bay - have suggested local communities tighten stormwater management ordinances and mandate the upkeep of city and residential septic systems.

Another perpetual issue plaguing the bay is the effects of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generation Station in Lacey. The equivalent of the entire bay is filtered through the plant’s cooling system every six days, sweeping small fish, clams, oysters and crabs into the system along with the bay water despite efforts by the plant’s owner to screen the intakes.
It’s a problem that could be solved by installing cooling towers at the plant - the nation’s oldest - but the plant’s license was renewed earlier this year without any requirement to construct the towers. Many environmental groups are still fighting for such a requirement.

Still, with the issue of Oyster Creek looming in the background, most environmental advocates are focusing their energy on regulating pollutants.

Officials, including Sen. Christopher Connors [R-9] have called for additional studies on the bay, noting the last comprehensive study took place in 1986.

“Assemblyman Rumpf and I requested a hearing on the Barnegat Bay in response to the growing concerns expressed to us about the condition of the bay and certain changes that are occurring that could threaten the unique and diverse wildlife that currently inhabit it,” said Connors. “It is important to note that other parts of the country, including the states surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, have been compelled to take on the very difficult challenge of protecting their bays from harmful actions, even if unintentional.” •