JERSEY SHORE – Construction debris, household garbage, and more were removed from forests and shores as part of the Barnegat Bay Blitz.
The clean-ups took place over several days. In one area of protected open space, crews from the State Department of Environmental Protection, Ocean County Parks, and the Public Works departments from Toms River and Berkeley collected three, 30-yard containers of trash and debris.
In another location, Toms River Public Works, Ocean County Parks, the DEP and Veolia (formerly Suez water) were out and about. They also had more than a thousand kids cleaning up their school grounds, parks, and beaches in Toms River, Barnegat, Little Egg Harbor, Surf City, Beachwood, and Pine Beach.
In the Plumsted/Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, crews collected 10 bags of garbage. The bags were transported out with the help of alpacas. Other locations included Allaire Park in Wall and Great Bay Boulevard in Little Egg Harbor.
The clean-ups were part of the Barnegat Bay Blitz, an event started by the DEP in 2011, said Karen Walzer, Public Outreach Coordinator for the Barnegat Bay Partnership, which is the group that took the lead on organizing the blitz since 2019.
“Litter is everywhere – on our streets, in our parks, on our shorelines, and in the water. Blown by the wind on trash day, tossed out car windows, intentionally dumped – however it gets there, it’s an eyesore and bad for the environment,” Walzer said. “The Barnegat Bay Blitz brings volunteers together with one goal in mind – removing litter to keep the land and water in the Barnegat Bay watershed (land area that drains to the bay) clean.”
Volunteers got into kayaks to clean Lake Shenandoah in Lakewood, Tuckerton Creek at the Tuckerton Seaport, and on the bay in Eagleswood. Divers from the Berkeley Underwater Search and Rescue team removed trash from the bottom of Cedar Creek. Some people took boats to bay islands off Seaside Heights.
“Through all of these efforts, Blitz volunteers removed a total of 172 bags of trash and 57 tons of larger household and construction debris,” Walzer said. “This year’s Blitz was made possible by a generous donation from the Knudson family in the name of their parents, Richard and Karen Knudson, long-time residents of Barnegat Township. Thanks to their support, the bay and land around it is safer and cleaner.”
Meanwhile, the DEP focused its clean-up efforts on other areas of the state. One of the 28 National Estuary Programs, the Barnegat Bay Partnership works to protect and restore the water quality and natural resources of the bay and its entire watershed.
