CRMC supports marine debris cleanup program

November 23 , 2005, WAKEFIELD—The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, in its support of the continuation of the state’s Community-based Marine Debris Prevention and Removal Program, has granted an assent for debris removal in Narragansett Bay, as well as sent letters of support.

CRMC Chairman Michael M. Tikoian recently sent a letter of support on behalf of the agency to Clean The Bay, Inc., of North Kingstown, a nonprofit organization established for the cleanup work by Capt. Alan Wentworth of Seatow Rhode Island and Capt. Ed Hughes of the Recreational Fishing Alliance. A letter from the chairman was also sent to Governor Donald L. Carcieri as an update on the progress of the program, the granting of the assent and support for Clean The Bay.

“Your endeavor is a worthwhile one because it will involve a locally drive, community-based marine debris prevention and removal project that will benefit coastal habitat, waterways and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) trust resources,” Tikoian said in his letter to Clean The Bay. “As the Chairman of the state’s coastal zone management agency, it gives me great pleasure to support a project whose benefits will be seen immediately within Narragansett Bay and its watersheds.”

On November 2, 2005, the CRMC issued an assent for the debris removal program to continue. According to the assent, all work being permitted must be completed on or before November 2, 2008. Stipulations included in the assent call for Clean The Bay to meet with CRMC staff if they encounter difficult removal operations, in order to discuss options with the least impact on coastal resources; no alterations, no stockpiling of materials or disposal of materials and no operation of heavy machinery in an area of beach grass or coastal wetland vegetation; and no discharge or disposal of hazardous wastes or hazardous materials associated with construction machinery on-site on in the waterway.

Clean The Bay has also conducted a debris survey of Narragansett Bay, which includes detailed photographs of marine debris on Prudence, Patience and Hope Islands, in East Providence, Providence, Warwick Cove, Cowesett, East Greenwich, North Kingstown, Jamestown, on Gould and Dyer Islands, in Newport, Portsmouth, Bristol and Tiverton. The marine debris removal, however, will be conducted for all of Narragansett Bay, according to Clean The Bay.

Municipal harbor masters will add information to the debris survey upon completion of the cleanup work. A grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Community-based Marine Debris Prevention and Removal Project Grant, which Clean The Bay is applying for, would go toward cleanup costs.

“The CRMC is encouraged by the work and efforts of Clean The Bay to improve the coastline of Narragansett Bay,” Tikoian said. “Over the years, this marine debris has cluttered our shores and become an eyesore and, in some cases, a hazard. With the CRMC assent, Clean The Bay will now be able to clean up the debris while being sensitive to the coastal habitat.”