help stop the destruction at matunuck!
 

Stop Dumping Waste on Matunuck-Petition!
Please take a moment to sign this petition. Go to the link listed below. The dredging project/dumping is approx. 1/2 completed. Lets try to minimize the damage.

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WE oppose the dumping of commercial and recreational waste off Roy Carpenters Beach in Matunuck Rhode Island. This waste is a direct result the dredging of the navigational channels in Salt Pond and the disposal of the dredged materials on the sand bar 600 yards off Roy Carpenters Beach. WE believe that this is disastrously affecting the marine and shore environment at, South Kingstown Beach, Green Hill Beach, Moonstone Beach, East Matunuck Beach, Deep Hole Fishing / Surfing area and the Trustom Pond Wildlife Refuge.

WE urge the CRMC and the Army Corps. of Engineers to stop dumping waste mixed with sediment NOW until an appropriate solution can be found.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/matunuck/

I will probably sign this but I would like to see some more discussion on this first. I'm sure a lot of people do not know what happened (and I don't think I know the whole story yet either).

Short version: A dredging project from Gallilee / PJ HOR to make the harbor more navigable (a good thing) was to have it's sediment (decalred non-toxic - yeh right) and deposited off several matunuck beaches for beach replenishment. Problem is, while the contractor says the sand is "clean" IIRC, it is loaded full of debri that has ben dumped primarily off of commercial fishing boats and some of public use for 30 years... The Projo article said that the contractor would be "cleaning" this.

I wonder if our on the scene expert rocktologist has anything he could add :hee: ? Either professionally or simply gut feeling..

Sounds "fishy" to me!:hs:

Exactly what does "clean" mean??

....sounds like another hose job to me.

There was also a petition created by the residents of Roy Carpenters beach practically begging to have the dredging materials deposited there. They are fighting serious beach erosion - the snack bar/beach house and significant parts of the beachfront road all fell into the ocean last winter. The first row of cottages is seriously at risk this year with any major noreasters. This project is intended to help save this community.

Your talking about dredging materials from inside a harbor that has no manufacturing or industrial waste and supports a vibrant ecosystem full of fish. Not exactly Hudson River PCB's.

I think this petition might have good intentions, but in this instance their efforts are misplaced.

BTW -- if a new bar does form in front of the cottages - thats going to be nice structure with parking access.

Who is "we" in the petition ? And who are you ?

Again - let's discusssssss this like men and not go down the old pi$$in contest route.... ;)

Thanks!

John

all those beer cans are making great little homes for choggies. Stripers love choggies. :btu:

i live in matunick year round and have been watching the beach erode with every winter. if we do not get another storm this winter, we have already lost another 2 feet. i do not know what the complaining is about. we need the sand, otherwise i will have waterfront land, and i cannot afford it. we need the sand.

I agree with slow eddie. matunuck needs that sand. Furthermore, just because a radiator hose and an old oil filter washes up on shore does not mean all of the spoils are contaminated and it certianly does not mean its hazordous. Rather than compalin about it, why not send a petition to organize a beach cleanup.

First off; caps does not = yelling; I just want to make a few points stick out.
Any of the below is just my gut feeling and my personnel take on the situation.


Flotee, what is your affiliation?
Any petition that doesn't specify the who what where when and why needs some help, or they dont want people to know.
Surfrider? Trustom? USFW? Just concerned?

Out of 90,000 cu yd dredged from a harbor, some sh-t will wash up.
Big jay was on the right track.
The sediment is NOT TOXIC, maybe littered but not toxic. The same crap washes off boats all summer and ends up on the beach.
Littered does not = toxic. What they test for doesn't show % of tin cans. The remove anything major (engine blocks etc) but cant screen it all or it would never get done. Pumping instead of dumping might have alleviated some of this but the cost was too high

This sediment is sand that was transported along the shoreline (the whole shoreline) and ended up inside the pond. It is primarily sand-sized material, which does not tend to absorb/trap PCBs, PAH's, metals and all the other unsavory crap.

The stuff washing up (cans etc) ALSO gets to the beach FASTER than sand (due to surface area and sticking up further in the flow) While it is only speculation, if the debris is washing up, some of the sand is as well.

Whatever the ultimate fate of the sand dumped is (i.e. how much makes it to the shoreline) this is still a band-aid on a bullet wound as fas as the overall erosion problem. The Roy Carp's crowd did a lot of work petitioning this. Eventually something will happen to the area around the Mist, as mentioned in the paper, what that is I don't know but it probably means big rocks which means ultimately means no beach.
Remember, if you leave the shoreline alone, there WILL ALWAYS be a beach. It just isn't where people want it to be.

I WONT sign the petition, especially not with know the who, what where when and why.. ANY ONE WHO WRITES OR SIGNS THE PETITION SHOULD THINK LONG AND HARD ABOUT BOTH SIDES. I can tell you from experience, short of a court order, they aren't going to stop the dredging and dumping.

That amount of material WILL NOT be used for upland disposal, so either you would have to pay the $$ th put it in the CAD cells in providence, OR put it offshore, which means it is still in the marine environment. At least what washes up can be cleaned up FAIRLY EASILY FROM THE BEACH.
The same isn't true if the material is put into 130ft of water.

Lastly: IF YOU STOP THE DREDGING NOW THEY WILL NOT MAKE THE DREDGE WINDOW. THE WINDOW IS SET-UP TO MINIMIZE EFFECTS ON FLOUNDER AND OTHER SPAWNING THAT GOES ON IN THE POND. The negative effects of the dredging on those guys probably out weighs any gain from not dumping the material.

You cant please all the people all of the time.
MAYBE THE PLOVERS WILL USE THE BEER CANS AND BUILD THEM SELVES SOME SHELTER :D
(OK THAT was a joke)

I know that they are talking about building a break wall out off the Mist and the Joyce's pub to protect the road there, which will probably make erosion at the SK town beach and carpenter's even worse. The sand is clean, everyone eats the clams that come out of the Great salt pond and that is where most of theis sand came from, getting washed down into the channels of the harbor of refuge. I don't see that it's anything but good for the people who live there. If they don't want it I'm sure east Matunuk state beach will take it.

Mike:
don't go there.
That site was not chosen for reasons.
:D

I am a lifelong local resident, and have been to the beaches today. I will say this -- the amount of debris and junk that has washed up on the beaches is appalling.

I know full well how badly the beaches need replenishment, and this may be a necessary consequence of the dredging. BUT IT NEEDS TO BE CLEANED UP. This effort MAY come from the contractor, but also needs volunteer efforts from the public. We cant sit around and wait for them to respond. The debris is scattered, but very concentrated in some areas and will require many,many dumpsters.

This material did come from the salt pond, but the areas in front of the commercial docks are not exaclty "clean" either. There are large areas of shoaled sand bars away from the harbor docks and in the HOR that will be much cleaner. Personally, I am surprised at the amount of trash that has come from it, and I bet the permitting agencies are as well. We see the stuff that floats, I wonder what is still on the bottom.

These photos are from the townn beach, not to alarming at first glance

Did I say we DO NEED the SAND?

The area to the east of the beaches, and across the bars has a LOT of trash mixed in the seaweed. This area is a pristine coastal environment. The junk can be picked, and hopefully there isnt much more coming

Erosion and the destruction of waterfront property represent a second chance for equitable access....

Yup.
Thats what I saw Bill.
Bad to look at. yes.
Easily cleaned up? yes.
Better here than in 130ft of water? Thats a judgment call.
But they do need sand.

Its going to take a LONG time to get all the lobster bands and small pieces of plastic etc out of the seaweed line

Yeah.
Walk the beach after a good storm and a lot of crap washes up too.
Unfortunate, but it is what it is now.

They say the contractor is supposed to clean it up. I can just picture them saying "hey, I just scooped it up and dumped it like my contract says, I'm not paying for weeks of mantime to pick a mile of shore"

Dont cut your feet at the shore this summer...

It may be in the contract? I don't know specifics like that. Just a geologist :D
My guess is surfrider and/or STB or similar will be out there doing cleanups.

Regarding the Petition, I will not sign it without knowing who authored it and more about their plans. But we do need to put the heat on the people in charge to committ resources to cleaning this mess up

It may be in their contact, but I bet they say this is a bigger problem then was planned, and will therefore be the obligaotry "Extra". :faga:

Bryan, lots of interesting gelogy in action here. I just hope some of the sand washes ashore to offset the impacts

I'll agree with that last statement.
I think any delay or alternate plan is worse. If this came from right in front of the dock (and judging by the beer cans alot of this stuff was buried fairly near the bottom) then the worst is probably over.

As I understand it, after 31 Jan they will be mostly dredging outside the harbor/channel so they stuff should have orders of magnitude less debris.

RiSSA, Narragansett surfcasters and other organization hold beach cleanups in the spring. Someone might ask them to target that particular stretch of beach. I have been on some of these clean ups and they pick up a ton of crap! Enough so a DEM truck has to make several runs to get rid of it.

It always amazes me how much stuff gets thrown on the beach by the surf. I know Cuttyhunks beaches have tons of junk and I'm pretty sure little of it came from the island.

:btu:

those pictures tell a sad story....

i would think though ...that they are the "before" pictures

after we get a severe storm then we'll see huge amounts of junk.

Be carefull supporting these petitions. Not sure who is sponsoring this one. Just a week or so ago a surfing group here in Newport was squaking about the artificial reef being built off of Eastons Beach. The reef is clean refuse from the tear down of the old Jamestown Bridge. The surf group was "worried" that the wave break on Eastons Beach would be affected by the artificial reef - they were ready to fight the reef project that we worked years to get approved. An engineer said the reef was to far offshore to affect the waves - things are quiet for now.
Watch out who you support.

DZ