Berkeley cleanup targets trash, pollution in Barnegat Bay

Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park Press

BERKELEY — Rick Pullen lives in a cedar shingle house along the marsh in Berkeley Township, from where he watches blue herons, ospreys and egrets live among the grass and water.

The wildlife is just one of the many reasons he and a group of volunteers grabbed gloves, orange vests and garbage bags on Tuesday morning and picked trash out of reeds and tributaries off Sloop Creek Road and Bayview Avenue.

The house in the marsh has been within Pullen's family for generations, and the surrounding habitat is a place this 68-year-old Berkeley resident treasures.

"It's heaven," Pullen said as a heron waded in the marsh and seagulls flew overhead on Tuesday morning.

Karen Wisniewski, CJ Nicholson, and Kristina Roselli of NJDEP volunteers at the annual Barnegat Bay Blitz watershed-wide cleanup. Bayville, NJ Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Karen Wisniewski, CJ Nicholson, and Kristina Roselli of NJDEP volunteers at the annual Barnegat Bay Blitz watershed-wide cleanup. Bayville, NJ Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Yet this ecosystem is marred in places by various pieces of garbage: plastic bags and bottles, small glass liquor bottles, various pieces of floating debris carried in on the wind or tides.

Pullen was joined by members of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Berkeley Township Underwater Search & Rescue team, Berkeley Township public works, Ocean County Parks and employees of the Veolia Water utility company.

The cleanup is part of New Jersey's Barnegat Bay Blitz, an annual event held during Earth Week where volunteers remove trash from spots throughout the bay's watershed. Additional cleanups were scheduled at sites across Ocean and Monmouth counties.

"That people give a damn enough to come out and clean up other people's front yard, so to speak, is pretty awesome," Pullen said.

During last year's cleanup event, Pullen said he and other volunteers helped to remove 11 bags of garbage from the marsh near his home.

"The plastics that we often think are recyclable – and maybe they're not – can find their way into our waterways," said New Jersey Environmental Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. "Then the tides and the rains bring them up to our lower lying areas, where they can remain … and those tides come back in, they just wash right on back out into our bays and oceans."

Dogan and Marta Mazur, residents of Poland staying in Toms River, pick up debris found in the water. Berkeley Township workers hand out gear for the cleanup. Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette will join Berkeley Mayor John A. Bacchione and volunteers at the annual Barnegat Bay Blitz watershed-wide cleanup. Bayville, NJ Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Without cleanups like the Barnegat Bay Blitz, animals could ingest and be harmed by the trash, said Crystal Pirozek, a Department of Environmental Protection employee who specializes in remediation. Pirozek also led the cleanup effort along Sloop Creek Road.

In addition to the potential harm to wildlife, degrading plastics emit various chemicals into the environment, she said. Plastic, metal cans and occasionally plastic foam make up the majority of the trash picked up during these cleanups, she said.

Of the more than 16,000 chemicals found within plastics, about a quarter could pose risks to humans because "they are persistent, bioaccumulative, mobile, and/or toxic," according to a recent report on plastics from a team of European scientists. The health impacts of about 10,000 of those chemicals have not yet been thoroughly studied, according to the report.

In addition to the Berkeley cleanup, Pirozek said she also helped organize cleanups with student volunteers from Toms River Regional schools.

Crystal Pirozek of NJDEP organizes volunteers at the annual Barnegat Bay Blitz watershed-wide cleanup. Bayville, NJ Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Crystal Pirozek of NJDEP organizes volunteers at the annual Barnegat Bay Blitz watershed-wide cleanup. Bayville, NJ Tuesday, April 23, 2024

"There are a lot of different repercussions from the trash that people don't normally think of," Pirozek said. "It's really important to start with the schools and teach them (students) how it is not healthy for you or the animals living here."

Registration and safety waivers for Barnegat Bay Blitz cleanups are online at BarnegatBayPartnership.org. Cleanup times and locations are:

  • 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 24, with April 26 rain date: bring-your-own-kayak cleanup of Westecunk Creek in Eagleswood. A land cleanup will also happen at the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area.

  • 10:30 a.m. April 24: Long Beach Township Field Station at 127 West Osborn Ave., Holgate.

  • 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 24: East Colliers Mill Road and Colliers Mill Wildlife Management Area. Attendees should wear long pants and bring tick spray.

  • 10 a.m. April 24, rain date April 25: Community Park, 2255 Bridge Ave., Point Pleasant.

  • 10 a.m. April 24, rain date April 25: Nellie F. Bennet Elementary School, 1535 Bayberry Lane, Point Pleasant.

  • 10 a.m. April 24, rain date April 25: Point Pleasant canal walk, 2100 River Road, Point Pleasant.

  • 10 a.m. April 24, rain date April 25: Point Pleasant fisherman access, 738 Howe St., Point Pleasant.

  • 9 to 11 a.m. April 27: Pinelands Regional High School bog cleanup. Attendees should prepare to get muddy.

  • 10 a.m. April 27: Patty Brand Memorial Garden on Bergen Avenue, near the bay, Mantoloking.

  • 10 a.m. April 27: Riverwalk Refuge, GPS coordinates: 40.0451093, -74.1016694, Brick.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 15 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Barnegat Bay Blitz cleanups pulls plastics, trash from watershed

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