SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Photo Courtesy of E. Manclark

The salt marsh around Jamaica Bay is disappearing and your help is needed. The American Littoral Society is calling for volunteers to help restore the salt marsh, which is vanishing at a rate of 40 acres per year.

Since 1924, 1,400 acres of tidal salt marsh has already been lost and if efforts aren’t made to conserve and restore it, the environment of Jamaica Bay will change radically.

Salt marsh is instrumental in providing a buffer from storms to the surrounding Jamaica Bay community. The marsh also improves the water quality of the bay helps preserve the habitat and breeding grounds for birds and fish.

The event will cover three days.

• May 25, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
• May 26, 12 p.m.-4 p.m.
• June 2, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

To sign up for the event and get more information on the project you can visit  http://restoremarshes.eventbrite.com.

Source: Chicago Zoological Society

It is always kind of sad, and gross, when the ocean dumps its dead creatures on the shore, especially when the animal was a once happy dolphin. Well, we are sad to report that a dolphin has again washed up on the shores of Coney Island, according to a report in the Gothamist.

This is the second dead dolphin seen since late last February and this one turned up in a tributary of Gravesend Bay. It was discovered yesterday around 3:15 p.m.

While the cause of death is not yet known, Robert DiGiovanni, the executive director and senior biologist of the Riverhead Foundation, and his team are transporting the deceased marine life mammal back to their labs for further study. According to DiGiovanni, the dolphin in question is somewhat decomposed, making it more difficult to determine a cause of death.

DiGiovanni has noted that there are more dead dolphins washing up on the shores of New York more than ever.

“Are we seeing more because more are sick, or more because there are simply more in the area?” the Gothamist reported DiGiovanni asking. “These are really good questions.”

Source: Howard N2GOT / Flickr

Governor Andrew Cuomo approved a plan to inject some much needed funds to restore 28 acres of salt marsh in an effort to provide stability for the natural wildlife, as well as future storm protection. According to a press release, the project will be led by the Jamaica Bay Eco-Watchers and the Northeast Chapter of the American Littoral Society.

In their effort to restore and protect the salt marsh grasses, the state has approved $645,000 for the project. The state press release broke down the source of and dispersal of the funds raised:

“DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] funds provided for this planting include $500,000 in compensatory mitigation associated with improvements to the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge and $145,000 from a settlement for illegal sewage discharges to Shellbank Creek. Planting work will begin in mid-May and is expected to be complete by the end of June.”

Restoring the salt marshes will bring stability to the local wildlife and fish populations while also providing storm protection for the Broad Channel community. During storms, the marshes reduce the force of waves and storm surges.

Dan Mundy, Jr., the president of the Jamaica Bay Eco-Watchers, thanked the state and governor and stressed the environmental importance of the project.

“These wetland islands are critical components to one of the most important estuaries on the East Coast. This project will restore two wetland islands that are nurseries to the tremendous number of species of bird and marine wildlife. In addition, these islands will play a critical role in dissipating the impact of future storm events and in the process will help to protect the adjacent communities.”

Jamaica Bay Pipeline Source: Williams

After months of protests, legal wrangling and more last-minute protests, the controversial Jamaica Bay Pipeline project is now in construction. According to a report by Gotham Gazette, construction on the 1.6 mile pipeline that stretches underneath Jacob Riis Park and ends at a meter and regulating station positioned at Floyd Bennett Field is now officially underway, much to the consternation of opponents who believe the pipeline could pose an environmental hazard.

While officials at National Grid have stated that the actual drilling has yet to commence, preparatory work for construction has already begun. Eventually, National Grid will connect the pipeline to the planned gas meter and regulating station located in a hanger at Floyd Bennett Field. The gas lines will service customers in Brooklyn and Queens. The project links the National Grid delivery system with Transco Williams’s offshore feeder.

While environmentalists have protested the pipeline, citing potential harm to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, local animal life and danger to residents from potential hazards, as well as industrializing a national park, National Grid promised that the line would actually be good for the environment.

“Each conversion is equivalent to taking 15 cars off the road for a year,” the Gotham Gazette reported the company saying.

The first phase of the construction effort is expected to be completed by May.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced plans to kick off the second phase of construction on Plumb Beach in April, but say they’ll have to close the parking lot and detour the damaged bike path until the end of the year.

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Source: BrokenSphere via WIkimedia Commons

Styrofoam is perhaps one of the most space-aged products mankind has ever invented. But, though the stuff is soft, lightweight and relatively durable, its also a dangerous environmental hazard. Because of this, the Sanitation Department is looking for a city-wide ban on the product, according to a report by DNA Info.

The legislation being proposed would place the focus of the ban on businesses and not consumers.

“This would not be something that the consumer would have to deal with,” said deputy commissioner for recycling and sustainability Ron Gonen, “From a pure dollars-and-cents standpoint, it costs us money to dispose of Styrofoam in a landfill. It’s also unhealthy for the environment. It doesn’t break down properly.”

Instead, the ban would fine or heavily tax businesses that continue to order and distribute Styrofoam in large quantities, forcing them to find more environmentally favorable alternatives.

“We’re either going to ban your product or packaging, or make you pay to have it sent to a landfill,” Gonen said.

Councilman Lew Fidler, who had expressed support for a ban in the past, reaffirmed his support for the new ban proposal.

“I would love to move this bill forward, as it would be a help to both our environment and to our businesses through tax incentives,” Fidler said in a released statement.

Source: allairports.net

Jamaica Bay is one of Mother Nature’s precious jewels, filling our lives with wondrous natural fauna and cute little baby ducks.

An airport is the polar opposite.

Airports are environmental hazard zones, spewing pollution, chemicals and other toxins into the wide-open spaces they have trampled in their wake. There isn’t much to be done to fight the necessary evil that airports bring to the environment, but the Wild Wilderness Project is doing its best to bring environmental awareness into the airports themselves, according to a report by E Magazine.

The Wild Wilderness Project’s goal is to broadcast the “pulse of nature” surrounding airports into the complexes themselves. For example, they recently set up shop at the Mineta San Jose Airport in California’s Silicon Valley, filling the facility with large and beautiful real-time images of local wilderness that surrounds the airport.

The presentation isn’t just installed for aesthetic reasons. Scientists and programmers behind the project are studying and marking down the effects that climate change has on the region, and synthesizing the results via time-lapse photography for traveling passengers, bringing a critical sense of environmental awareness to peoples’ psyches.

“The project isn’t really about the raw statistics of climate change, such as carbon dioxide emissions,” project artist Freya Bardell told E Magazine. “We’re more about capturing nature’s pulse and making that pulse accessible to the public.”

It’s a fascinating work that would be perfect for JFK Airport, especially considering its proximity to the wonders of Jamaica Bay. As we recently reported, the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is holding its own photo exhibit documenting the impact of Superstorm Sandy on the region, highlighting the fast-evolving impact that the environment is having on the region.

It would be interesting if the Wild Wilderness Project could coordinate with the Wildlife Refuge and broadcast the results straight into the airport, bringing awareness to the millions of people that use JFK every year.

I think it’s a good idea – do you?

Source: Howard N2GOT / Flickr

A cadre of city, state and federal representatives spoke of Superstorm Sandy’s impact on Jamaica Bay last Tuesday at the latest Jamaica Bay Task Force meeting, according to a report by Rockawave.

The gathering was stuffed with over 150 people, all eager to hear from officials over the state of the Bay.

“Whatever you think of climate change, it is an indisputable fact that in the past 100 years water levels have risen,” said Carter Strickland, an NYC Department of Environmental Protection representative.

Learn the specifics of how Jamaica Bay weathered the storm.

Source: Williams

The reality of the proposed Rockaways natural gas pipeline project came one step closer to fruition this week as Williams Transco, the company looking to build it, officially filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin the project, according to a report by Natural Gas Watch.

As we’ve previously reported, opposition to the pipeline was heated, but federal legislation signed by President Obama last month made it legal for companies like Williams Transco to do construction in Gateway National Recreational Area, a federal parkland that includes Floyd Bennett Field. The filing is only the latest formal action; Williams has been providing FERC with pre-filing reports and documentation for several years – and locals have been filing statements of opposition, too.

The pipeline, officially known as the Rockaway Delivery Lateral Project, is set to run through the Jamaica Bay wetlands, underneath Jacob Riis Park and ending at Floyd Bennett Field where a new meter and regulating station will be built in two of the park’s historic hangars.

Environmentalists and local residents have voiced opposition to the project due to fears  of the proposed new regulating station at Floyd Bennett Field being flooded in the event of another storm like Hurricane Sandy, as well as other safety, environmental and security concerns.

Williams Transco claims that the pipeline will provide much needed extra energy to New York and “supply flexibility and increased capacity to meet future incremental demand growth.”

Parts of 301 Oriental Blvd remains filled with a toxic oil-water mixture. (Photo by Susan Vosburgh)

Superstorm Sandy demolished homes, businesses and infrastructure, leaving all sorts of environmental health hazards in its wake. One such hazard were the toxic fumes at the 301 Oriental Blvd apartment complex that resulted when flood waters collided with oil barrels in its basement, forcing the residents of to seek less arid smelling confines.

The residents took the landlords to court after the smell persisted long after the storm, but have now given up their fight according to a report in the New York Daily News.

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