NMHA supports responsible and sustainable human interaction with the marine environment and supports this in joint ventures, presentations and information dissemination. Example: COMBINED SEWAGE OVERFLOWS: What they are, Why you should care, and who you can contact to express your views.

What are COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOWS (CSOs)? In most cities and towns, separate pipes carry sewage to the sewer treatment plant and stormwater to rivers, streams and the ocean. But in older New Jersey municipalities, the SAME pipe carries both stormwater and sewage to the treatment plant. When it rains, those combined pipes quickly fill past capacity, threatening to back up into homes and basements. So these older treatment plants were DESIGNED WITH PIPES THAT ALLOW THE RAW SEWAGE TO OVERFLOW DIRECTLY INTO LOCAL RIVERS AND BAYS. This includes the the Hackensack River and Raritan Bay, so of course this raw sewage floats around with the tide and may enter Sandy Hook bay, and the Navesink and Shrerwsbury rivers.

This overflow happens every time there is a not-so-heavy rain, and you can see the raw sewage if you are on the water after it has rained.

Why should you care? RAW SEWAGE spreads throughout the regional waters that YOU paddle, swim, go boating, and even fish in. This is why you should care. RIVERKEEPER has some basic information as to the extent of the problem HERE.  

NY/NJ Baykeeper is VERY active on our behalf. If you think that the NJ State-sanctioned (and illegal) regular discharge of raw sewage into our bays and rivers is unacceptable, then bring it to the attention of local, State, and National politicians. Go the the NY/NJ Baykeeper site and read about CSO's HERE and report if you have become sick from contaminated water.

The latest position taken by NY State government? Go to http://www.northjersey.com/news/130518628_EPA_says_end_sewage_overflow__but_state_balks_at__8B_in_repairs.html . Of note is the position taken by NJDEP saying it will not yet require cities to implement long-term plans to fix the problem. Instead, it intends to hold another round of meetings and ask cities and towns to again study what changes they can afford. Meetings are a great and time-honored way of avoiding a problem!

Who to contact with your views? Go to http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76&Itemid=85 to contact State officials and politicians.

STEM is a national educational effort that is very strongly supported by NMHA (although NMHA thinks of it as STEMPHLA (Adding Philosophy, History, Literacy and Art)).

Furthermore NMHA through its programs has demonstrated that the maritime setting is the ideal setting for STEM education.

NMHA members are often invited to provide educational materials and to make presentations on the Navesink River, Monmouth County Heritage and boat construction. Contact NMHA for further information

We like the term tabling. We think it means showing up at regional events and to set up a table with your organization's brochures. Since NMHA is an organization that believes in doing things, we often bring an activity along with our table and brochures. If there is water nearby we bring our canoes for paddling, if there is no water we build our own play pond and kids can build pond boats, and if we need some scraping or painting done we bring the boat that needs scraping and painting.

Look for us at the Clearwater festival, Monmouth County History day, Outdoor Expo or Ocean Fun Days and join in the fun.

Ocean Fun Days 2009

Tom Gibson has put together a small team that is developing a virtual tour of the Navesink River. This tour will be an adventure game that will showcase the Navesink River and will provide basic training for future River Rangers. The Kid's Korner is a very early experiment, but we are already working with more sophisticated tools to try to make this a real adventure game.

Return to this page or contact NMHA for updates.

See:

• Kid's Korner
• Downloads
• Description