02-06-2004, 05:24 AM
Oil spill fouls beaches
Published in the Asbury Park Press 2/05/04 Visit [url "http://www.app.com/app2001/webextras/"][#0000ff]our Web Extras page[/#0000ff][/url] for links to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Oil Program and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research.
![[Image: 05oil1.jpg]](http://www.app.com/images/news/0402/05oil1.jpg)
[font "arial,helvetica"]STAFF PHOTOS: TANYA BREEN & BRIAN FERREIRA[/font]
Patrick Kraft tries to help an oil-covered gull in Ocean Grove. Source of fuel oil on 20-mile stretch of coast unknownBy TODD B. BATES and KIRK MOORE
STAFF WRITERS
Nearly 30 environmental cleanup specialists began removing small globs of fuel oil on ocean beaches in central Monmouth County yesterday after a mysterious spill reportedly killed or oiled 80 to 100 birds.
A leading clean-ocean advocate said the work started a day late and needs to be expedited. But officials called their response aggressive and said they would step it up today. They also were trying to track down the source of the spill of the No. 6 fuel oil.
Janet Latshaw of Ocean Grove came to the boardwalk there after learning of the spill on TV.
"I think it's very bad, especially for the wildlife," said Latshaw, 56.
Joanna Dunn Samson, deputy state environmental commissioner, said the DEP "did not see any evidence of a massive slick (or) massive killings of birds." She spoke at a news conference on the Ocean Grove boardwalk.
The oil was discovered on beaches Tuesday, and officials, who gave differing accounts of the extent of the spill yesterday, said they were ramping up efforts to deal with it. A total of 15 oiled birds were taken to Delaware yesterday for rehabilitation.
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[font "arial,helvetica"]STAFF PHOTOS: TANYA BREEN & BRIAN FERREIRA[/font]
Oil on Ocean Grove beach. Coast Guard spokesman Patrick Montgomery said, "The assessments are still being completed but right now it's been characterized as a low-impact spill. They've not been able to quantify the exact number of gallons."
The spill -- reported by State Police about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday -- covered about 20 miles from Sea Bright south to Brick yesterday. Amounts were mostly very light and sporadic, with quarter-inch to one-inch oil balls in the tide line, said Montgomery. Others spotted tar balls from several inches to up to a foot wide.
"The concentrated area is in Bradley Beach," Montgomery said. "That's the area that they're going to concentrate on the cleanup. It's the only area that they can do the cleanup really -- the concentration of oil that's basically recoverable. The other areas are too light or too sporadic."
Montgomery said he did not know the suspected source, adding "it could be anything. That's why we're investigating."
After flying over in a helicopter yesterday, Harry Conover, Monmouth County emergency management coordinator, said the shoreline from Sea Bright to Manasquan had sporadic amounts of oil in the northern and southern stretches and concentrated oil in the central area.
"We haven't seen any slicks in the water, no indication of where it may have come from," Conover said.
Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said the Coast Guard has begun taking oil samples from recently arrived ships and barges in New York and New Jersey harbor waters. The samples will be compared to samples taken on beaches in an attempt to pinpoint its source, he said.
Cynthia A. Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a Sandy Hook-based anti-pollution coalition, said she went to beaches in Bradley Beach and Ocean Grove yesterday and was aghast at the extent of the oil there.
![[Image: 05oil3.jpg]](http://www.app.com/images/news/0402/05oil3.jpg)
[font "arial,helvetica"]STAFF PHOTOS: TANYA BREEN & BRIAN FERREIRA[/font]
Tri-State Bird Rescue workers from Newark, Del., net another gull in Belmar. "I was particularly frustrated by the fact that there was hardly any cleanup crews out there almost 24 hours after the spill had been reported," Zipf said.
As of about 4 p.m., three groups of three people apiece were scooping up oil from Ocean Grove to Bradley Beach, she said.
"If this had been in the summertime, there would have been (more people) there addressing the problems, so we need to look for that tomorrow and hope we can get it all up before the storm comes in" later this week, she said.
Federal spill fund tapped
Pallone asked the Coast Guard to bring more resources. Pallone is "concerned it was taking this long to get people out there," said Andrew Souvall, his spokesman.
The Coast Guard responded by having cleanup costs borne by the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, Souvall said.
Gov. McGreevey likewise appealed for a rapid expansion of the Coast Guard response, in a letter to Adm. Thomas H. Collins, the Coast Guard commandant.
"Given the fragile nature of the ecosystem affected and the potential of even greater disaster, it is imperative that all available resources from the Coast Guard be implemented to mitigate the effects of this incident," McGreevey wrote.
The Coast Guard, state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Office of Emergency Management are "taking this very seriously," Montgomery said earlier.
DEP Spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said 29 employees of Miller Environmental, a contractor, were out cleaning beaches yesterday and more people will be on beaches in Monmouth and Ocean counties today "so that they can go to . . . where the tar balls have been spotted."
"They're concentrating in the heaviest area first," the Bradley Beach and Ocean Grove area, she said.
In addition, 31 more bird rehabilitators have been on site, and officials will fly over the coast again this morning, she said.
![[Image: 05oil4.jpg]](http://www.app.com/images/news/0402/05oil4.jpg)
[font "arial,helvetica"]STAFF PHOTO: BRIAN FERREIRA[/font]
Patrick A. Kraft, 27, of Ansonia, Conn., holds an oil-fouled sea gull he rescued in Belmar, where he went to surf yesterday. Conover, the Monmouth County emergency management co-ordinator, said workers cleaned about two blocks of beach in Bradley Beach yesterday and "we're going to try to get the borough's entire beach cleaned, at least, today."
State Police Sgt. George Georgeles of the state Office of Emergency Management said the oil "can be scooped up and bagged for the most part. It's almost (the) consistency of tar."
"It's not going to affect fish, we're pretty certain of that," Georgeles said. "You would have maybe some birds affected for a while. Next few days, there may be a few birds that are affected and wash on the shore."
Bird rescuers turned back
Workers with the Associated Humane Societies of Monmouth County were barred by state officials from trying to bring birds from the beach to the organization's shelter in Tinton Falls Tuesday, said Patrick S. Malone, general manager.
"I can't understand the decision at all," said Lawrence Ross of Manasquan. "I think that's ludicrous."
"So (the birds) had to stay there overnight and die" instead of being taken to a rehabilitator where they might have had a chance, Ross said.
But DEP spokeswoman Makatura said officials were concerned that people were picking up injured birds and putting them in the back of their trucks.
"There was concern that it would be harmful if they were not aware of the fact that there was a proper protocol for cleaning up the birds," said Makatura, adding that the issue has been resolved.
Kerry Gowen, animal control officer for Sea Bright, said late yesterday, "a police officer told me he saw six to eight birds with oil on the beach, and another two walking along the seawall."
Gowen said she picked up a heavily oiled loon Tuesday afternoon and got the bird to a crew from Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, a Newark, Del.-based nonprofit group.
Loons are best known as summer residents of northern New England lakes, but they winter out at sea, and they are typically difficult to clean when they get caught in an oil spill, said Christina Motoyoshi, executive director of Tri-State Bird.
"We first started hearing reports of birds yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon" and the team of wildlife responders set out for New Jersey yesterday morning, Motoyoshi said. Late yesterday they were returning to Delaware with 15 birds, including common and red-throated loons, grebes, gulls, razorbills and a common murre, she said.
A veterinarian was to examine the birds last night, and rehabilitators would start washing the animals as soon as they were physically able to handle the treatment, Motoyoshi said. It will take multiple washings to get all petroleum off the birds, particularly the loons, she said.
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Published in the Asbury Park Press 2/05/04 Visit [url "http://www.app.com/app2001/webextras/"][#0000ff]our Web Extras page[/#0000ff][/url] for links to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Oil Program and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research.
[font "arial,helvetica"]STAFF PHOTOS: TANYA BREEN & BRIAN FERREIRA[/font]
Patrick Kraft tries to help an oil-covered gull in Ocean Grove. Source of fuel oil on 20-mile stretch of coast unknownBy TODD B. BATES and KIRK MOORE
STAFF WRITERS
Nearly 30 environmental cleanup specialists began removing small globs of fuel oil on ocean beaches in central Monmouth County yesterday after a mysterious spill reportedly killed or oiled 80 to 100 birds.
A leading clean-ocean advocate said the work started a day late and needs to be expedited. But officials called their response aggressive and said they would step it up today. They also were trying to track down the source of the spill of the No. 6 fuel oil.
Janet Latshaw of Ocean Grove came to the boardwalk there after learning of the spill on TV.
"I think it's very bad, especially for the wildlife," said Latshaw, 56.
Joanna Dunn Samson, deputy state environmental commissioner, said the DEP "did not see any evidence of a massive slick (or) massive killings of birds." She spoke at a news conference on the Ocean Grove boardwalk.
The oil was discovered on beaches Tuesday, and officials, who gave differing accounts of the extent of the spill yesterday, said they were ramping up efforts to deal with it. A total of 15 oiled birds were taken to Delaware yesterday for rehabilitation.
[font "arial,helvetica"]STAFF PHOTOS: TANYA BREEN & BRIAN FERREIRA[/font]
Oil on Ocean Grove beach. Coast Guard spokesman Patrick Montgomery said, "The assessments are still being completed but right now it's been characterized as a low-impact spill. They've not been able to quantify the exact number of gallons."
The spill -- reported by State Police about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday -- covered about 20 miles from Sea Bright south to Brick yesterday. Amounts were mostly very light and sporadic, with quarter-inch to one-inch oil balls in the tide line, said Montgomery. Others spotted tar balls from several inches to up to a foot wide.
"The concentrated area is in Bradley Beach," Montgomery said. "That's the area that they're going to concentrate on the cleanup. It's the only area that they can do the cleanup really -- the concentration of oil that's basically recoverable. The other areas are too light or too sporadic."
Montgomery said he did not know the suspected source, adding "it could be anything. That's why we're investigating."
After flying over in a helicopter yesterday, Harry Conover, Monmouth County emergency management coordinator, said the shoreline from Sea Bright to Manasquan had sporadic amounts of oil in the northern and southern stretches and concentrated oil in the central area.
"We haven't seen any slicks in the water, no indication of where it may have come from," Conover said.
Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said the Coast Guard has begun taking oil samples from recently arrived ships and barges in New York and New Jersey harbor waters. The samples will be compared to samples taken on beaches in an attempt to pinpoint its source, he said.
Cynthia A. Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a Sandy Hook-based anti-pollution coalition, said she went to beaches in Bradley Beach and Ocean Grove yesterday and was aghast at the extent of the oil there.
[font "arial,helvetica"]STAFF PHOTOS: TANYA BREEN & BRIAN FERREIRA[/font]
Tri-State Bird Rescue workers from Newark, Del., net another gull in Belmar. "I was particularly frustrated by the fact that there was hardly any cleanup crews out there almost 24 hours after the spill had been reported," Zipf said.
As of about 4 p.m., three groups of three people apiece were scooping up oil from Ocean Grove to Bradley Beach, she said.
"If this had been in the summertime, there would have been (more people) there addressing the problems, so we need to look for that tomorrow and hope we can get it all up before the storm comes in" later this week, she said.
Federal spill fund tapped
Pallone asked the Coast Guard to bring more resources. Pallone is "concerned it was taking this long to get people out there," said Andrew Souvall, his spokesman.
The Coast Guard responded by having cleanup costs borne by the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, Souvall said.
Gov. McGreevey likewise appealed for a rapid expansion of the Coast Guard response, in a letter to Adm. Thomas H. Collins, the Coast Guard commandant.
"Given the fragile nature of the ecosystem affected and the potential of even greater disaster, it is imperative that all available resources from the Coast Guard be implemented to mitigate the effects of this incident," McGreevey wrote.
The Coast Guard, state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Office of Emergency Management are "taking this very seriously," Montgomery said earlier.
DEP Spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said 29 employees of Miller Environmental, a contractor, were out cleaning beaches yesterday and more people will be on beaches in Monmouth and Ocean counties today "so that they can go to . . . where the tar balls have been spotted."
"They're concentrating in the heaviest area first," the Bradley Beach and Ocean Grove area, she said.
In addition, 31 more bird rehabilitators have been on site, and officials will fly over the coast again this morning, she said.
[font "arial,helvetica"]STAFF PHOTO: BRIAN FERREIRA[/font]
Patrick A. Kraft, 27, of Ansonia, Conn., holds an oil-fouled sea gull he rescued in Belmar, where he went to surf yesterday. Conover, the Monmouth County emergency management co-ordinator, said workers cleaned about two blocks of beach in Bradley Beach yesterday and "we're going to try to get the borough's entire beach cleaned, at least, today."
State Police Sgt. George Georgeles of the state Office of Emergency Management said the oil "can be scooped up and bagged for the most part. It's almost (the) consistency of tar."
"It's not going to affect fish, we're pretty certain of that," Georgeles said. "You would have maybe some birds affected for a while. Next few days, there may be a few birds that are affected and wash on the shore."
Bird rescuers turned back
Workers with the Associated Humane Societies of Monmouth County were barred by state officials from trying to bring birds from the beach to the organization's shelter in Tinton Falls Tuesday, said Patrick S. Malone, general manager.
"I can't understand the decision at all," said Lawrence Ross of Manasquan. "I think that's ludicrous."
"So (the birds) had to stay there overnight and die" instead of being taken to a rehabilitator where they might have had a chance, Ross said.
But DEP spokeswoman Makatura said officials were concerned that people were picking up injured birds and putting them in the back of their trucks.
"There was concern that it would be harmful if they were not aware of the fact that there was a proper protocol for cleaning up the birds," said Makatura, adding that the issue has been resolved.
Kerry Gowen, animal control officer for Sea Bright, said late yesterday, "a police officer told me he saw six to eight birds with oil on the beach, and another two walking along the seawall."
Gowen said she picked up a heavily oiled loon Tuesday afternoon and got the bird to a crew from Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, a Newark, Del.-based nonprofit group.
Loons are best known as summer residents of northern New England lakes, but they winter out at sea, and they are typically difficult to clean when they get caught in an oil spill, said Christina Motoyoshi, executive director of Tri-State Bird.
"We first started hearing reports of birds yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon" and the team of wildlife responders set out for New Jersey yesterday morning, Motoyoshi said. Late yesterday they were returning to Delaware with 15 birds, including common and red-throated loons, grebes, gulls, razorbills and a common murre, she said.
A veterinarian was to examine the birds last night, and rehabilitators would start washing the animals as soon as they were physically able to handle the treatment, Motoyoshi said. It will take multiple washings to get all petroleum off the birds, particularly the loons, she said.
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