Inter-Agency Partners Begin Oil Spill Clean up Efforts
An unidentified source of heavy oil washed up on the shore Tuesday between Shark River Inlet, Monmouth County, and Seaside Heights, Ocean County, prompting the Coast Guard and other federal, state and local officials to begin clean-up efforts. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office/Group Philadelphia along with the Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team, N.J. Department of Environmental protection, Bradley, Neptune, Asbury Park and Avon Offices of Emergency Response, New Jersey State Police, Tri-State Bird Rescue, and numerous other groups are currently responding to the spill that spans the 12-mile stretch of shoreline. The spill was reported Tuesday afternoon by New Jersey State Police.
Coast Guard Contributes Material for Artificial Reef
The Coast Guard, in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), is scheduled to deploy worn buoy sinkers to an artificial reef off the coast of New Jersey on Saturday. The Coast Guard cutter Juniper, a 225-ft. buoy tender homeported in Newport, R.I., will be adding a total of 10 buoy sinkers weighing approximately 16,000 pounds each to the Axel Carlson Reef site located approximately six miles from Shark River Inlet and four miles from Manasquan Inlet. The area of the reef is four square miles and sits at a depth ranging from 66-ft to 80-ft. The concrete sinkers, recently taken out of service by the Coast Guard, will provide a hard substrate for fish, shellfish and crustaceans, fishing grounds for anglers and underwater structures for scuba divers.
