The Coaster

Rescue efforts responding to a recent airplane crash into the Shark River were severely hampered by deep silt, and Neptune officials are urging Wall Township officials and residents to let a river dredging project proceed by providing a dewatering site for the silt.

A homemade, four-seat airplane plunged into the Shark River on July 5, killing its pilot, Richard Jahns, of Point Pleasant Beach.

Rescue workers were severely hampered by the deep silt in the river and Jahns body and much of the planes fuselage were buried deep in the silt. Jahns body was not recovered until three days later because of the silt problem.

Township Committeeman Thomas J. Catley, who brought the issue up at Mondays Township Committee meeting, said the problems of reaching the plane and extricating the pilot because of the deep silt are only further evidence that the river needs to be dredged.

All the pieces are in place to dredge the river except we need a spot where the dredge spoils can be dried before they are hauled away. We have not proceeded because Wall Township will not let us use an old site, he said.

Mayor Randy Bishop said he is not sure if removing the silt would have saved Jahns life.

But I will never again wait for days to be able to tell a family if their childs body is in the river or not, he said.

Bishop said that if the Shark River is not dredged it will be a dead river in 10 years.

The towns of Wall Township, Neptune, Neptune City, Avon, and Belmar all border the river but only Wall has not signed-off on the dredging project.

Catley said Wall Township already has an existing site, off Marconi Road, to dry the dredge spoils and that the same site was used about 40 years ago for another dredging project of the river.

Perhaps another tragedy could be avoided. Perhaps the pilot may have survived (if the plane was not buried deep into the silt), Catley said.

Catley said he hopes the residents and governing body in Wall Township can come together to resolve this issue.

They have to provide some assistance so we can get the dredging of the Shark River done, he said.

Wall Township Administrator Joseph L.Verruni said his township is trying to be cooperative but added that questions and many of the problems with the dewatering site have never been addressed.

Wall agrees the river needs to be dredged. We have never disagreed on this. But the question is where do you put the spoils to dewater, how long will they be there, and what is the cost to the municipality and how are these costs covered? he said

Verruni said the governing body and the townships Environmental Advisory Board have made some alternative recommendations about the dredge spoils but that these recommendations have either been ignored or have received no response.

These recommendations include dewatering the spoils at an upward end of the river and barge them out or pump the spoils through a pipe system directly to the Neptune landfill, where it is to be put anyway.

This pipe system could then be permanently in place for future dredging projects and you would no longer need a dewatering site, he said.

Verruni said another options is to create another island in the river like was done in the past.

Neptune allowed residential development on the last island that was formed from dredge spoils so now that site is lost forever, he said.

Verruni said perhaps having the dredge spoils in Wall for a short period of time may be acceptable.

But to have the spoils for a long-term or on a continuous basis is unacceptable. Once the dewatering site is established it may be there for many years, he said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Neptune, The Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.