Dredging threatens nature park
By John B. Comegno II While you may have heard about proposed dredging for the Delaware River channel-deepening project, you might not have heard about the Army Corps of Engineers' plans to dredge for maintenance of the river on the site that's become home to the Palmyra Cove Nature Park.
By John B. Comegno II
While you may have heard about proposed dredging for the Delaware River channel-deepening project, you might not have heard about the Army Corps of Engineers' plans to dredge for maintenance of the river on the site that's become home to the Palmyra Cove Nature Park.
That maintenance dredging threatens to destroy a natural habitat where endangered and threatened species live, where 6,000 school students and other visitors come every year - at Palmyra Cove Nature Park, at the base of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.
It's there that you'll find more than eight miles of trails and may also catch sight of egrets quietly wading in the marshes or a turtle slipping off a partially submerged log into a freshwater pond.
Such sights are common at the 250-acre Palmyra Cove Nature Park, so much so that the refuge has become a popular destination for serious birders, families enjoying a day in the sun, and thousands of schoolchildren who come to Palmyra Cove to learn in our "outdoor classroom."
Incredibly enough, Palmyra Cove continues to discover nature and discover itself. For example, one of its nesting birds is the saw whet owl. The only other place you will find this seven-inch nocturnal inhabitant in New Jersey is in the South Jersey Pine Barrens.
This is what you can find now - today. Tomorrow may bring another story. Because Palmyra Cove may fall prey to a heavy-handed bureaucratic mandate.
The Corps is pursuing a plan to maintenance dredge the portion of the Delaware River that flows past Palmyra Cove. While we agree with the need for maintenance dredging, we have a problem with the Corps' next step. It is determined to dump the dredge spoil on a 70-acre portion in the center of our community's outdoor classroom.
The plan to use 70 acres of the Palmyra Cove for the deposit of dredge spoil doesn't just alarm us at the Burlington County Bridge Commission, which maintains and runs the refuge. It is causing an outcry from environmental groups, such as the New Jersey Audubon Society, which has identified more than 250 bird species in the park.
The Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter believes an environmental impact statement should be required to determine the ecological effects of dredge spoil dumping and to determine if more appropriate locations, such as the Money Island site in Pennsylvania, should be utilized instead.
There is some history to this saga. In 1998, the Bridge Commission entered into an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Protection to set aside land to receive maintenance dredge spoil. Fair enough. But this was, by no means, a "blank check" to destroy a sizable portion of the preserve.
The deal was that the Army Corps' efforts had to be consistent with the overall plan to develop the park, and had to be consistent with the requirements of state and federal environmental laws. That's where the whole plan comes apart.
Some more history: The Army Corps has tried this plan before. As recently as 2003, the Corps applied to DEP to utilize the entire 70 acres. That application was met with serious requests from DEP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address critical environmental issues, including potential impact to threatened and endangered species of plants and animals.
No response was forthcoming, and four years later, we still don't have any answers. Those environmental issues have still not been addressed. If there are safeguards, it is a well-kept Army Corps secret.
We might not even know about the current plan, had DEP officials not been spotted in the Nature Park last October, stealthily surveying and staking out a site for a 70-acre retention basin for the Army Corps' dredge spoil.
And the kicker: There is no money in the federal budget for maintenance dredging for this portion of the Delaware. But the Army Corps remains dead set on clear-cutting 70 acres of the Palmyra Cove. One can only ask why.
We're fighting the good fight, but it's time for concerned citizens to step up, too. Some already have. "Save the Cove" signs are popping up on lawns across South Jersey and letters and phone calls are going out to elected officials.
Join us in demanding that the Army Corps present a plan that's informed, thoughtful and justified. Help us ensure that our environment is protected, and that our students, and families, can enjoy this public resource for generations to come.