Today there was a heavy downpour. Once again, the Pascack Brook is loaded with silt.
Onderdonk Pond on the Pascack Brook
NOT pretty. NOT natural. A direct result of lots of digging. OK, once in a while people will cause some sedimentation, BUT this is happening EVERY time there is a heavy downpour for about the last 3 or 4 years. It is not normal for an area which is already built out to experience such a dramatic amount of digging. This is due to HUNDREDS of individual site approvals ALL of which have to pass in front of supposed environmental watchdogs on zoning boards and at the county level.
Why should you care?
- Rockland has spent millions of your tax dollars dredging this stream. YOU will be taxed to dredge it again.
- Aquatic life has been impaired. Over the last 15 years I have been living by this stream we used to have many herons, different kinds of Ducks, and even Kingfisher. Now there are usually no birds on the water. There used to be many Bass and Perch. Now it is mostly Carp. The degradation of Aquatic life has been documented by the DEC (below)
- The Pascack Brook feeds the Hackensack River and the Meadowlands. Our negligence is harming our neighbors downstream.
- Of the 402 acres of Historic Wetland in the Upper Pascack Brook only 96.4 remain.
The Pascack is a protected brook according Rockland County. Does this designation have any meaning?
This crap is defined as a pollutant by NY State, but is never accounted for as local government routinely declares “negative” environmental impact at zoning boards. And yet, THERE IT IS- environmental impact! This stuff kills whatever is living in the stream. It results in increased tendency to flooding costing those downstream millions in flood damage and costing the taxpayer to pay millions to clean it up to avoid further damage.
Pascack Brook and tribs, within NYS (1501-0015) Impaired Seg
Waterbody Location Information Revised: 07/01/2008
Water Index No: NJ- 5 Drain Basin: Hackensack-Ramapo Rivers
Hydro Unit Code: 02030103/160 Str Class: C*
Waterbody Type: River Reg/County: 3/Rockland Co. (44)
Waterbody Size: 16.2 Miles Quad Map: PARK RIDGE, NJ (Q-24-3)
Seg Description: entire stream and tribs
Water Quality Problem/Issue Information (CAPS indicate MAJOR Use Impacts/Pollutants/Sources)
Use(s) Impacted Severity Problem Documentation
AQUATIC LIFE Impaired Known
RECREATION Impaired Known
Type of Pollutant(s)
Known: – - -
Suspected: SILT/SEDIMENT, UNKNOWN TOXICITY, D.O./Oxygen Demand, Nutrients
Possible: – - -
Source(s) of Pollutant(s)
Known: – - -
Suspected: URBAN/STORM RUNOFF, Industrial, Municipal
Possible: – - -
Resolution/Management Information
Issue Resolvability: 1 (Needs Verification/Study (see STATUS))
Verification Status: 2 (Problem Verified, Cause Unknown)
Lead Agency/Office: DOW/Reg3 Resolution Potential: Medium
TMDL/303d Status: 3b*
Further Details
Overview
Aquatic life and recreational uses in Pascack Brook are impaired by unspecified pollutants attributed to municipal/industrial inputs and urban/stormwater runoff.
Water Quality Sampling
A biological (macroinvertebrate) assessment of Pascack Brook in Pearl River (at West Washington Street) was conducted in 2002. Sampling results indicated moderately impacted water quality conditions. Biological communities were dominated by facultative filter-feeding caddisflies and species richness was low. Impact Source Determination indicated municipal/industrial influences were the likely source of the impacts. (DEC/DOW, BWAM/SBU, June 2005)
Section 303d Listing
Pascack Brook not is currently included on the NYS 2008 Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters. However this updated assessment suggests it is appropriate to include this waterbody on the 2010 List. Due to the unknown nature of the specific pollutants causing the impairment, it is recommended that the listing be added to Part 3b, as a waterbody for which TMDL development is deferred pending the verification of the pollutant/cause. (DEC/DOW, BWAM/WQAS, 30
June 2008)
Segment Description
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