Matunuck area cleanup emergency meeting

[eelman]

Short notice..

Tonight, Thursday, February 1, there is an emergency open forum at URI Bay
Campus, Corless Auditorium to discuss the recent trash disaster on
Matunuck beaches.

The Point Judith dredging project is dumping the (supposedly) clean material on
the beaches at Matunuck, but it seems the material is contaminated with a lot of
submerged trash which now litters the shoreline.

Aluminum cans with the pull tabs, fishing line and nets, rubber boots and foul
weather gear, old tires, filet knives, scrap metal, circuit boards, oils rags
and filters, lobster claw bands (by the thousands), and countless other pieces
of trash are now on the shore.

WHAT: Public open forum to discuss the issue of trash washing up on the
southern shores of Rhode Island

WHEN: Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Corless Auditorium, URI Bay Campus, Narragansett, RI

DIRECTIONS: http://www.gso.uri.edu/aboutGSO/directions.html

[tynan19]

When do the club beach cleanups start? Maybe S-B can do something to help.

[snake slinger]

i think the %$%$%$%$%$%$%$s that dumped %$%$%$%$ in the water origanally should be made to clean it up(thousands of lobster bands)

[Joe]

Why is it that when there is a disaster - then, it's everybody's beach, but on a nice day in July it's private? It does not seem right that the groups that work so hard when things go wrong have so little voice in the access issues.

It reminds me of story Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. You know, Santa puts him down along with everybody else, but then when It's foggy - he asks him to lead the sleigh. Rudolph was a sucker. Instead of telling him, "It would be an honor sir," Rudolph should have told the fat man that the price has gone up.

There will be other opportunities like this one as time goes on. The odds of a monster hurricane get better each year. After it hits the nice sportfishermen will go down and help get the place back to it's previous state, and then what? Bend over as the no parking signs go back up?

I think the parties who have a stake in access - Surfriders, RISAA, etc, should get together and say, "Sure we'll bring 500 people down there and clean it up, but we want some other access opened or something along those lines - use that positive power as a bargaining chip.

[Bill L]

Joe, I would say thats a good idea, but I dont really see much of an access issue in this stretch.


There will be a cleanup effort initiated by me, Narragansett Surfcasters member, Saturday morning at 0900 at Deep Hole lot. Anybody that wants to come pitch in is welcome. Lets see if we can get more fisherman than surfers
Thanks

[zacs]

i will try to be there.

Zac

[nightprowler]

anyone make it to the meeting?

[SeaWolf]

joe, sounds good, but ask risaa how hard it is sometimes working with the state? another reason why angler should be involved in a club of some kind - access protection.

as for right of ways, the more visible it is, more signage up, and more time it is in paper and print, the harder it is to have private land owners fight to have it removed. the lesser known ones that are continually "hidden" from the public could one day fall into court cases and be removed. and, if you think rhode island has access problems, dont come to connecticut.

[Rockport24]

you wanna talk access problems, try Rockport! Oh sure, there are public right-of ways, there is just no place to park without a resident sticker for miles....

[Bill L]

anyone make it to the meeting?

I did attend the meeting, which was organized by the Surfrider Foundation. I dont surf, I attended as a concerned resident and member of Narr. Surfcasters. The following is my observation and opinion only.

There were many people there, I would guess mostly surfriders. Others included the SK Town planner, a rep from Audobon, and Dr. Boothrody and RIR from the URI geology dept.

There was some very good dialogue regarding the situation. As with any group, there was a variety of opinions. Many are outraged at the amount of debris that has washed ashore, and are concerned that the dredge material is not "clean" and affecting the environment.

As a background for those not familiar, the spoils from the dredging of the channels at the mouth of Salt Pond at the Harbor of Refuge, including the area in the vicinity of the commercial docks in Galilee, are being dregded by the Army Corps. This dredging was last performed some thirty years ago.

As part of the permitting process, the ultimate destination of the spoils had to be determined. Based upon chemical testing of core samples in the dredge area, the spoils were determined to be free of chemical contaminants that would harm marine life, and were suitable for offshore disposal (which is magnitudes of order cheaper than land disposal).

Matunuck has undergone severe erosion in the recent years, and the sand was considered possible beneficial use for beach restoration. This was slighly more expensive than the deep water disposal site, but the locals lobbied for the beneficial use, and it was approved. It is being deposited in about 15 feet of water, with the hope that on shore migration will occur to replenish sand that has been lost.

What was not fully anticipated was the amount of trash that was mixed with the dredge spoils, and which has been washing ashore since the dreding began in late December. This trash has presumably come from 30 years of commercial use, and was likely mostly ffrom the spoils in the immediate vicinity of the commercial docks.

The dredge contractor supposedly has cleaning of the shorline as part of their contract. This may be true, but in my opinon the amount of area and the nature of the trash will require much more effort than will be expended by them. I can see them picking up the big items like tires, boots, etc., but some areas are littered with small pieces of plastic, cans, rope, lobster claw bans, etc. that require hand picking.

My daughter and I spent four hours last Sunday cleaning about 400 feet of shore, half of this on our hands and knees picking the small stuff. Some people are of the opinon that "they're supposed to do it, why give them a hand?" I dont trust the contractor to put this level of care in, and its a huge problem that will need many people to help solve.

[zacs]

i told my wife i was planning to go down there, and she kind of freaked a little, saying that maybe it wasn't so sanitary/safe to be messing with that stuff.

thoughts....?

[Bill L]

Its pretty much trash, I wouldnt worry about the sanitary aspect of it. I would say you probably dont want to eat any of it though, it could make you sick

The Surfriders are planning their clean-up later in the day for anyone that cant make the morning (I have to be somewher later). Here is the email I received from them regarding this:

*************************************************

Hi all,

I want to thank you for coming to last night's forum and expressing your
thoughts, concerns, and ideas. We are organizing all that info right now
and will be following up on it today.

One major idea that came out of last night was to take a proactive
approach to start cleaning the beach. The fact is that the beaches are not
being cleaned up to the degree that we all expect. Rather than just
merely complain, we are going to take the situation into our own hands and
organize a major beach clean-up stretching from Green Hill Beach to East
Matunuck State Beach. I am calling the Dredging Company and we will be
charging them for bags, gloves, dumpsters, tipping fees, etc.

Low tide is at approximately 2:45 p.m. We are planning the clean-up from
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. We will meet at 1:30 p.m. at the Deep Hole Parking
Lot (at the end of Matunuck Beach Road, past the Ocean Mist, and on the
right). Dress warmly and wear sturdy shoes.

Please forward this email to everyone you know. Let's have a strong
response at the clean-up and show the state how much we care about our
beaches.

Thanks!

dave

David Prescott
Chair
RI Chapter Surfrider Foundation


MORE INFO:

WHAT: Dredging Project Beach Clean-up

WHEN: Saturday, February 3rd, 2007

TIME: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: Meet at the Deep Hole Parking Lot in Matunuck (at the very end of
Matunuck Beach Road, past the Ocean Mist, and on the right) From there we
will spread out and clean from Green Hill Beach to East Matunuck State
Beach

WHO: Invite everyone who cares about our state's beaches

************************************************

I will still be there at 900 this morning. The material will continue to migrate to shore, and will be alternately buried and exposed with storms, so to do this right will need constant attention for many months. If you cant make it today, consider a future session
Thanks

[RIROCKHOUND]

Bill;
Good summary.

Surfrider has a bit of a 'fanatical' reputation nationally, but the local chapter, or at least the 'active' members I've come into contact with are definetly the exception to that. Most of the people had well thought out points and although it got a bit repetitive it was a well run meeting.

Ultimately the two main goals shared by Org's like surfrider and Narragansett Surfcasters, RISAA etc..
-Clean Shoreline
-Access!

I'll see you at 9. I only had small white bags at home so I'll bring a few for smaller items.

[JohnR]

Someone had mentioned earlier about S-B getting involved in a cleanup. If people will volunteer to do so we could certainly piggy back some of our efforts on that of some other clubs, RISAA, Narragansett Surfcasters, Newport, Weaky, (or Mass Clubs in Mass) when they do their official cleanups around Earth Day, or choose to do something as a group in Matunuck...

Hey Brian, will this stuff burry in the sediment and get gouged out again later as the surf grabs at the beach? Is this going to be a constant cycle of burrying and clearing on a daily basis?

[RIROCKHOUND]

Thats possible.
The more we get now the better though IMHO.
Hopefully this stuffed moved as a semi-cohesive slug of sediment/debris onto the shore... and in that case it would be less of a trickle effect...

[animal]

I meant to go see it today,I will go Wednesday.I will post pix!

[animal]

I did go today,the beach is pristine.I dunno who did it(surfriders?)but they did a helluva job.Instead of trash pix(no trash)I'll include dredge pix.As the dredge is still going full steam,I guess it'll have to be done again.
gspd1.jpg.jpg
gspd2.jpg.jpg

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by animal

I dunno who did it(surfriders?)but they did a helluva job.

How about those of us from 'gansett surfcasters
We got no press even though there was a throng of 3 people

[animal]

Great job,guys.Ya shoulda said something.

[animal]

Great job guys!You shoulda sais something.

[Springtides]

Last weekend the local surfrider group started somewhere around Charlestown and worked their way east. Supposedly 4 or 5 truckloads worth. Talked to their Pres.

[Bill L]

Here is an email from Surfrider regarding a follow-up clean up Sunday Morning 2/11/07......

************************************************** *

Hi all,

I just wanted to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who helped out
with the beach clean-up in Matunuck on this past Saturday. We had about 80
volunteers bear the cold to comb the beaches picking up trash big and
small. Narragansett Surfcasters also picked up about 6-7 bags of
trash earlier that morning. Overall we had about 5 pick-up truck loads of
trash consisting of timbers, tires, fishing gear, boots, cans, and
assorted other treasures. EXCELLENT JOB!

Unfortunately, we are not out of the storm yet. Another round of trash
has washed up over the last couple of days. The majority of the new trash
that washed up is concentrated in the area between Deep Hole and the Ocean
Mist. So, we are organizing another beach clean-up tomorrow (Sunday). We
are planning the clean-up to start at 9 a.m. We will meet at the Deep
Hole Parking Lot (at the end of Matunuck Beach Road, past the Ocean Mist,
and on the right). Dress warmly and wear sturdy shoes. While this
clean-up is last minute, we wanted to make sure that we remain on a
proactive patrol of the beaches. If you can make it down, even for a half
an hour, your help would be appreciated. If you can't make it tomorrow,
make it a point to head down to the beaches during the week. Bring a bag,
fill a bag, and make sure you call CRMC at 738-3370 to report the trash!


On another note..........


This Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., the Rhode Island Chapter Surfrider
Foundation is holding a panel discussion to follow up on our initial open
forum concerning the issue of solid waste washing up along our southern
shores due to the Point Judith Pond dredging project. Many of our
unanswered questions about the status of the project and issues and
concerns should and need to be answered that night. The panel will
consist of representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers, CRMC, RIDEM,
Save The Bay, and RI Chapter Surfrider Foundation. This is the
opportunity for you, as a concerned citizen, to voice your concerns and
get your questions answered. Please make it a point to attend.


MORE INFO:

WHAT: Point Judith Dredging Project Panel Discussion

WHEN: Thursday, February 15th, 2007

TIME: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Auditorium, Coastal Institute, URI Bay Campus

DIRECTIONS: http://www.gso.uri.edu/aboutGSO/directions.html

WHO: Invite everyone who cares about our state's South Coast beaches

Please feel free to forward this email to any and all who are concerned
about the trash washing up on our beaches. Your attendance and input is
highly appreciated.

Thank you and we hope to see you there.

dave

David Prescott
Chair
RI Chapter Surfrider Foundation

[Bill L]

The dredging trash tends to be a lot of small stuff, glove, lobster bands, plastic, cloth, cans,rigging twine, etc that accumulates with the seaweed in the wrack line

[Bill L]

I went to the clean up on Sunday, a whole new batch of trash has washed up in a week's times. This area was cleaned just last sunday. The line of cans and junk went on out of site, and not shown is the masses of seaweed mixed with crap.

It will take many sessions to stay on top of this. Last week Surfrider had more than 70 volunteers, Sunday there were about a half dozen. Contractor's crews nowhere to be found, and obviously hadnt been here.

[Pete F.]

The technology is available
In fact there is one in York Maine