Trashing of the Pines

bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,715
4,898
Pines; Bamber area
Its bad enough when people trash the pines, but when the county does it too, its outrageous.

I have stopped this before by writing a lot of letters, and now they are doing it again. Ocean County fills in roadside shoulders by mixing up its street sweepings with residential yard waste. The resultant mix is heavily (and I mean very heavily) laden with plastic jugs, car parts, metal parts, household plastic throwaway junk, and garbage bags (from leaf collection).

This is what they are currently doing to Lacey Road, in the Pines Preservation district of all places! Here is a shot at road level:

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/forums...ery&file=index&include=view_photo.php

Here is the type of stuff mixed in. I gathered this little pile in just one minute from stuff poking up through the top. Note the tennis balls, plastic, ladies bra, shoe soles, etc:

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/forums...ery&file=index&include=view_photo.php

And here is the tractor, ready to do another days dirty work. Note how pristine the roadway looks before the dirt assault.

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/forums...ery&file=index&include=view_photo.php

I swear this makes me want to cry. I really feel ill just looking at it. Please talk it up and help me stop this ridiculous practice. The trash has non-native plant seeds I'm sure, and soon the roadways will lose that characteristic white sand and blueberry look.

bob
 
P

Piney1125

Scout
May 1, 2004
65
0
Cherry Hill, NJ
BEHR655 said:
Bob,

If I were you I would send those photos in to a newspaper or even the local news. That really sucks.
Click to expand...

I have never heard anything like this happen before. This really pisses me off! Something must be done to stop this. That was a good idea, Behr655. When everybody knows they will be embarassed and will stop it immediately. If that doesn't work, I don't know what will. :swear: :furious:
 
B

BarryC

Guest
And you know what else will happen? Next time it rains, afterward when someone drives on the shoulder for whatever reason they will leave big ruts in the mud, and then it will be left that way.
I can't believe they do that. What a mess!
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,715
4,898
Pines; Bamber area
bruset said:
Bob,

Who are you writing to? Mind sending me a copy of the letter?

Maybe a new front page story on the site would be in order.
Click to expand...

Ben, when I stopped it 3 years ago I wrote to the DEP, the PPA, and the Pinelands Commission. I also sent them bags of the trash. A commission member, Alan Avery from Ocean County, reamed out the county for it and they promised to buy a heavy duty sifter. They did perhaps buy the sifter, but they also promised to never do it in the pines again. This was when they were doing it in the Pygmy Pines area on 539.

This time, I gathered one of those big pretzel jars full of trash, and am taking it down to the Mayor of Lacey township tomorrow morning to show him how his township is being trashed. I wrote this short letter to bring with it. As you can see, I cut and pasted what I wrote you all tonite.....

Mayor Parker,

Its bad enough when people trash the pines, but when the county does it too, its outrageous.

I have stopped this before by writing a lot of letters, and now they are doing it again. Ocean County fills in roadside shoulders by mixing up its street sweepings with residential yard waste. The resultant mix is heavily (and I mean very heavily) laden with plastic jugs, car parts, metal parts, household plastic throwaway junk, and garbage bags (from leaf collection).

This is what they are currently doing to Lacey Road just West of the Bamber fire house, in the Pines Preservation district of all places!

Here is the type of stuff mixed in. I gathered this container full in just three minutes from stuff poking up through the top. .

I swear this makes me want to cry. I really feel ill just looking at it. Please help me stop this ridiculous practice. The trash has non-native plant seeds I'm sure, and soon the roadways will lose that characteristic white sand and blueberry look.

Please make the county stop this trashing of Lacey Township!

Bob Moyer
2424 Phillips Road
Bamber Lake
 
njvike

njvike

Explorer
Jul 18, 2003
353
1
Sparta, NJ
home.earthlink.net
If they have taken care of it in the past, one has to wonder why it happened again

Since they did take care of it in the past, perhaps they will again. If not, NEWS 12, along with some of the other news media, would be my next step.

There's nothing like bad press getting around.

Here's another organization that might be able to assist. I realize that they deal mostly with land acquisition for preservation but I don't know for sure if this is out of scope for them.

The article/site also shows that they've been involved in the Pine Barrens so they might be of assistance:

http://www.njconservation.org/

http://www.njconservation.org/html/pressreleases.htm

Ken
 
J

jokerman

Explorer
May 29, 2003
345
17
Manasquan
I SENT THIS EMAIL TO THE COUNTY department of Solid Wastre Management"

"To Whom It May Concern,
It has recently come to my attention that the County is filling in roadside areas with residential trash. I am bewildered how this could have seemed like a good idea for waste disposal since it creates a continuous source of trash in the pristine places that many of the roads tranverse, since disturbances in the soil caused by rain, vehicles, animals, etc. will release the trash which can then be strewn about the entire roadway and ruin these places that we all enjoy so much. I REALLY hope a better alternative can be implemented for disposal of trash than this one."

Here's the email response I received from them :

"Mr. Adams, thank you for contacting the County with your concerns. I
received a copy of your email to Carl Block, the County Clerk. I can
assure you the County does not dispose of solid waste in the shoulder areas
of its roadways. We do perform shoulder maintenance as required for safety
and drainage. If you could tell me the road and or roads you are concerned
about, I will check with the County Road Department and see what work may
be underway. We should not be using fill material containing debris.
Thank you again, Alan Avery, Director, Dept. of Solid Waste""

I sent an email to the Clerk who hasn't responded yet. I am not a resident of Ocean County and only stated my name and need to use the info on the webpage to clarify what I am reporting, unless someone else wants to write the response for me. Hope this attention will help.
 
J

JIMBO

Scout
Mar 31, 2003
66
0
Nugentown NJ
It was the Road Department they were the ones paving Lacey Road last week. Ben Mabie is still in charge over there. Even if you are told otherwise he is staying on through the summer paving season. It is also the Road Department that runs the street sweepers. Your best bet is the Soil Conservation Service they over see all the work from the edge of the road to the limit of grading.
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,715
4,898
Pines; Bamber area
Thanks to everyone who responded and gave me information or sent emails. Jokerman, if you have that email I will respond to Mr. Avery for you.

I had my wife bring down the letter and trash sample to Lacey Town Hall today for the mayor to see it.

You know what is really ironic? Just 2 miles away is the biggest conglomerate of sand mines in the state. Duh, how about a little road fill please? Clean white sand mixed with gravel would be nice.

Bob

PS; if any of you get a chance, stop by and get out of your car and actually see it. It blows your mind how they think this is a good thing to do.
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,715
4,898
Pines; Bamber area
Mr. Avery is a pinelands commissioner also. Here is his answer in part. I told him I was satisfied. He also had men out there raking out the trash today and yesterday.....

Mr. Moyer

Yes, I remember this issue and our conversation from a couple years back..
Thanks for your email. Good and bad news for you. This is not street
sweepings. It is leaf compost from Dover's compost site. Clearly it
should have been screened prior to its use. We have the screens, but you
need to use them! We now have a seperate, state approved method of
handling street sweepings that does not involve their use as fill, which we
used to do as you know. The Road department will rake out all this litter.
I'm sure very carefully. They do have a problem. They need to stabilize
the shoulder with vegetation, which requires some organic material. They
seed with a Pinelands approved mixture. They are going to try and
stockpile some Pinelands "top soil" the grayish sand you see in the Pines
for use in sensitive Pinelands areas like this. Roads is a big operation
and sometimes the word fails to get out. Thank you again for bringing
this to our attention.
 
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