Shark River Channels To Be Dredged By Fall, Despite Wall's Resistance, Officials Say

Dredging of channels in the Shark River could happen as soon as this fall, despite reluctance of Wall Township officials to get involved with the project.

The Asbury Park Press is reporting that the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Office of Maritime Resources has provided local leaders with a timeline for dredging about 106,000 cubic yards of silt from the channels, according to a joint press release issued by a trio of state, county and municipal officials.

Samples of the sediments at the river’s bottom have been taken and are being tested, according to a statement from State Sen. Jennifer Beck, Monmouth County Freeholder Tom Arnone and Neptune Township Committeeman Randy Bishop. NJDOT officials are preparing permits as well as specifications to put the project out to bid by late summer, the statement said.

There has been a public clamor for something to be done, led by the group Save the Shark River. The group has especially focused its attention on Wall Township, where officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection have said a potential site -- Camp Evans -- exists to dry the dredge spoils from the river.

Wall officials must approve of the use, however, the DEP said in a letter to the Save the Shark River group. Group members packed a Wall Township Committee meeting in March to urge township officials to cooperate with the project, and they have written letters to the editor to urge action.

Wall Mayor George Newberry told the Asbury Park Press that the township needs more information before it agrees to anything. He said he wants to know the silt pulled from the river is clean. He also expressed concerns about the DEP’s designation of Camp Evans as a possible drying site, after it had been previously called environmentally sensitive.

The Press report said there is approval on five potential sites for drying the silt that will be pulled from the river bottom. Arnone said he doesn’t know what those five sites are and no one will know because it would disrupt the bidding process.

Read more in the Press’ report here.

(A photo of the Shark River, from the Shark River Cleanup Coalition website, shows a sign warning of no swimming in the river.)