On the surface, things look calm and placid. Just beneath the waterline, however, it’s a different story.
Cars and sunken boats. Patio furniture. Pieces of docks. Entire houses. A grandfather clock, deposited in a marsh a mile from solid land. Hot tubs. Tons of sand. All displaced by Superstorm Sandy.
“We did a cleanup three weeks ago. Then when we went back the other day, you could still see junk coming up in the wash,” said Paul Harris, president of the New Jersey Beach Buggy Association, which helps take care of beaches on which the group goes surf fishing. “They go and clean it again, and two days later, you have the same thing again. There’s nothing you can do about it; you can’t vacuum the ocean.”
Coastal areas of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut are racing to remove untold tons of debris from waters hardest hit by the Oct. 29 storm before the summer swimming and boating seasons begin – two of the main reasons people flock there each year and the underpinning of the region’s multibillion-dollar tourist industry.
The sunken debris presents an urgent safety issue. Swimmers could cut themselves on submerged junk, step on one of thousands of boardwalk nails ripped loose, or suffer neck or spinal injuries diving into solid objects. Boats could hit debris, pitching their occupants overboard, or in severe cases, sinking.
The cleanup won’t be easy, fast or cheap.
“The amount of debris that needs to be removed is mind-boggling,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said, ticking off the statistics in his state: 1,400 vessels sunk, broken loose or destroyed during the storm. In just one shore town alone, Mantoloking, 58 buildings were washed into Barnegat Bay, along with eight vehicles, and a staggering amount of sand carried from the ocean beaches into the bay.
“Everything you can imagine is sitting in our waterways,” he said.
Barnegat Bay is likely to have some no-go zones in place for at least part of the spring and summer as cleanup work progresses. “Big Al” Wutkowski, a locally famous striped-bass fisherman who volunteers as the Barnegat Bay Guardian for the American Littoral Society environmental group, is worried about what still lurks beneath the waves.
“When people start putting their boats back in the water in April, I know they’re going to start hitting stuff,” he said. “It’s impossible not to hit stuff. It’s also a lot shallower in places now. A lot of the lagoons are filled in with sand. People can’t get their boats in or out.”
Florida-based contractor AshBritt Environmental removed 42 boats from New Jersey waterways in recent weeks. Others were corralled by the State Police, or by private salvage companies acting on behalf of owners.
Property owners are not being held financially responsible for debris that washed or blew off their property into waterways unless they hire a private company to retrieve a boat they plan to repair and keep, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The state, which issue contracts last week for the water cleanup work, plans to seek full reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of $60 billion in Sandy relief approved by Congress.
Much of the work will involve cranes atop barges that pluck the largest debris from the bottom. Divers could be used for smaller pieces. Once that’s done, many waterways will need to be dredged, with the sand placed back on beaches.
The private owners of an amusement pier that collapsed in Seaside Heights, N.J., pitching the Jet Star roller coaster into the ocean, are working with insurers to devise a plan to dismantle the ride and get it out of the ocean.
Seaside Heights also plans to send teams of divers to scour the ocean bottom in popular swimming areas before letting people back into the water, fearing parts of the wooden pier, metal pieces from boardwalk rides and other debris still linger in the ocean. Cars from the pier’s amusement rides were found on beaches as far as 8 miles away in the days after the storm.
The Polar Bear Plunge, in which swimmers briefly dash into and out of the frigid surf to raise money for charity, was moved this year from Seaside Heights to Long Branch, a beach 24 miles to the north where hidden debris wasn’t a concern.
New York and Connecticut face similar problems.
“We have everything from floating oil barrels, gasoline tanks, household hazardous waste products, buckets, tires, bathtubs, you name it,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment on Long Island.
“We’re concerned not only about pollution, but boater safety,” she said. “Come the spring, this stuff is going to be submerged partially or totally, but the boats are going to have some very serious issues.”
Rob Weltner, president of Operation Splash, said the Freeport, N.Y., volunteer group has spent the past 20 years collecting 1 million pounds of debris, mostly from waterways on the south shore of Long Island.
“Twenty years is out the window,” he said. “Gone, gone. Sandy hit us right at the time when we would normally be putting the finishing touches on our cleanups. Every place I look I go, ‘Oh, my God, not again, man. We just had that place looking beautiful and it’s going to take us another 10 or 15 years to get it back looking decent again.”
Among the items found by the group since Sandy are hot tubs, floating docks, damaged boats, barbecue grills, patio furniture, umbrellas, hundreds of trash cans and the grandfather clock.
Crews in Hempstead, N.Y., have removed 379 tons of debris from waterways since Sandy hit. Neighboring Babylon has retrieved 50 tons, including two tool sheds fully intact, with tools still inside, and 24 destroyed boats.
Fairfield, Conn., needs to remove debris left in marshlands by the storm, including bicycles, picnic tables and backyard furniture, said First Selectman Michael Tetreau. The town is waiting to use special equipment from the state to remove the debris without harming the marshes.
Fairfield also saw significant beach erosion and needs to dredge its harbor and marina because sand was pushed into the waterways. Tetreau doubts the work will be done before Memorial Day, and said there may be limits on boat traffic.
In Brick, N.J., the lagoon on which Mayor Stephan Acropolis lives is filled with junk, including the front door and part of a wall from one of three houses that burned during the storm. Also in the lagoon are a kids’ picnic table, a 50-gallon plastic barrel holding who-knows-what, and two docks from homes two blocks away.
Acropolis is counting on the state to quickly remove the marine debris to prevent even deeper economic losses from the storm.
“Someone goes out crabbing; they buy gas for the boat, maybe they have to rent the boat in the first place. They buy bait, they buy lunch,” Acropolis said. “It’s a big economic impact. People live here because they want to be on the water, out on a boat. If we don’t get this cleaned up, we’re going to have a problem.”
Resource information for Rebuilding Mantoloking
CONSTRUCTION GUIDELINES FOR HOMES DAMAGED BY SANDY
At last we have reached the point where we can begin the rebuilding process. Please read on to see how you should proceed given your specific circumstances.
The Flood Plain Officer for the Borough of Mantoloking has issued a list of all homes in the Borough determined to have sustained damage less than 50% of the pre-Sandy assessed value of the home. Please see that list here: Properties with Damage of Less than 50% (as of 1/31/13)
If your home is less than 50% damaged, please click here to obtain important information about how to proceed with the repairs necessary to remediate the damage caused by Sandy. If you are on the 50% damaged list and you believe that your home is more than 50% damaged, you can send your justification in writing to the Borough Flood Plain Officer at:
Hatch Mott MacDonald
3 Paragon Way
Freehold NJ 07728
3 Paragon Way
Freehold NJ 07728
Attn: Borough of Mantoloking Flood Plain Officer
The Flood Plain Officer is still reviewing homes that have the potential to be declared more than 50% damaged. Please click here for important information on that process.
EASEMENTS AND REPLENISHMENT
The Army Corps of Engineers and the State DEP have reviewed the new easement and have released it for execution. Please see the new easement here: MantolokingEasement1_29_13
We hope that the easement is clearer in terms of the exact area where the westward toe of the dune will intersect with ocean front property. Bob has put together a chart which shows where the westward toe of the dune will intersect and which also shows the immense size and protection the new dune/beach system will offer. Please see the Dune Chart and where the Easement line falls for the length of the town: 01-29-13 MANTOLOKING EASEMENT LINE RCM
Bob will also put together a presentation for the Council Meeting on the 6ththat will give an overview of the changes. We have also included a letter from the Army Corp’s Chief of Real Estate that clarifies the questions of perpetuity and other potential “uses” of the easement. It is a very useful document. Please see the letter here: 1-30-2013 Letter to Mayor Regarding Easement
Hard copies of the easement are being sent out this week to every oceanfront owner. When filling out the easement, please list the Block and both Lots (the buildable lot as well as the lot east of the dune reference line). You can find your Block and both Lots in the easement chart mentioned above (The Block is the number in the circle, the Lot # is attached to your property and the ocean side lot is the same as your street side lot, but followed by a .01).
At the risk of waiting for US postal service to deliver the easement, it would be appreciated if the Oceanfront owner(s) print the easement from the website on LEGAL sized paper, sign it in front of a registered notary (Out of State notaries are acceptable) and send it immediately back to the Borough.
If you are going to send it via FedEx, DHL, etc., please send to:
The Borough of Mantoloking
340 Drum Point Road
Brick Township, NJ 08723
If you are going to send it via US Postal Service, please send to:
The Borough of Mantoloking
P.O. Box 4391 Brick, New Jersey 08723
If you can, please also send us an email (replenishment@mantoloking.org) and let us know your intention on whether or not you are planning on signing the easement or, better yet, scan a copy and send it to us electronically.
We hope to get all of the easements collected as soon as possible and take advantage of funding that has specifically been set aside to fund replenishment projects.
Thank you all for your patience with this process. We will do all that we can to make this project happen once we have the easements in hand. The very existence of our community depends on it.
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Main Number: 732-475-6983
Construction Department: 732-475-7261
Municipal Court: 732-475-7398
Fax: 732-475-7601
Construction Department: 732-475-7261
Municipal Court: 732-475-7398
Fax: 732-475-7601
Physical Address
340 Drum Point Road (Yogi Plaza)
2nd Floor
Brick, New Jersey
340 Drum Point Road (Yogi Plaza)
2nd Floor
Brick, New Jersey
PLEASE DO NOT SEND MAIL TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. SEND ONLY FED EX, UPS, ETC.
Temporary Mailing Address
Borough of Mantoloking
P.O. Box 4391
Brick, New Jersey 08723
Borough of Mantoloking
P.O. Box 4391
Brick, New Jersey 08723
Borough of Mantoloking Website: http://www.mantoloking.org
For the latest local news and resources check here: BRUNEbuilt Builder Blog
Brunebuilt Construction is here to help. For more information on how to move forward with construction services, please contact us and we’ll be happy to assist you at (732) 701-7885 and for emergencies call our mobile number at (732) 581-8268.
Our crew works seamlessly to provide a turn-key capability for delivering projects anywhere along the Jersey Shore including Normandy Beach, Mantoloking, Bay Head, Pt. Pleasant Beach, Pt. Pleasant Boro, Brielle, Manasquan, Lavallette, Chadwick Beach, Ocean Beach,Ortley Beach, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, Toms River Township, Brick Township, Wall Township
New Home Construction, General Contracting, Construction Estimates, Home Additions, Home Renovations, House Repairs, Home Alterations, Finish Carpentry, Window Installation, Door Installation, Exterior Porches, Property Assessments, Home Remodeling, Home Restoration, Green Building, Deck Building, Bulkheads, Marine Construction Flood Remediation, Flood Repair, Floor Repair, Mold Remediation, Mold Removal, Debris Removal, Storm Debris Removal, Crawl Space Clean Out
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