Federal funds for Deal Lake dredging fall short of request
DLC and NJDEP counter at double the amount returned for approval
The federal government has approved a request for post-Sandy dredging and debris removal to Deal Lake, but the funds are significantly less than the total sought by the Deal Lake Commission [DLC].
The DLC teamed up with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection [NJDEP] to request a total $6.9 million in federal aid for post-Sandy sediment and debris removal to the eastern portion of the lake. The area totaled 170,000 cubic yards of sediment.
Approval for 19,000 cubic yards at an estimated cost of $855,000 was returned by the United States Department of Agriculture National Resource Conservation Service.
A memo from the NCRS states, “While the storm surge may have deposited 170,000 cubic yards of sediment, our program only provides assistance with the most immediate threat to life and property, property being structures. If the State chooses to move forward with the 19,000 cubic yards of sediment and debris removal, the [Damage Survey Report] should be signed and we can move to requesting funds and preparing agreements.”
The agreement provides for $769,500 in financial assistance to reimburse for 90% of the estimated $855,000 construction cost along with $64,125 in technical assistance for engineering and contract administration, the memo states.
Instead of signing off on the offer, the DLC and NJDEP came to a “meeting of the minds” and have chosen to counter with a request for approximately double the amount approved, according to DLC Chairman Don Brockel.
Instead of dredging the entire eastern portion of the lake from the Interlaken border east to the edge of the lake as originally planned, the effort will now concentrate on the section of the lake most immediately affected, according to Brockel.
“From Norwood Avenue to the ocean is the concentration,” he said.
Brockel hopes to have word back from the NCRS within the next week.
Deal Lake is Monmouth County’s largest lake and the largest of New Jersey’s coastal lakes, and the seventh largest in the state. It encompasses 155 acres over 27 miles of shoreline along the borders of Asbury Park, Allenhurst, Deal, Interlaken, Lock Arbor, Neptune City and Ocean Township.
Although the $6.9 million originally requested is a steep figure, Brockel’s estimated cost to dredge the entire lake comes in around $38 million, he said.
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