Green Jersey

News roundup for Thursday, July 31

The number of beaches in New Jersey and New York that were closed or the subject of warnings is way up, according to an annual report out this week from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The number of closings and health advisory days was up 33 percent in 2007. (The year before saw an increase of 96 percent from the previous year.) Pollution caused closings and advisory days to hit their second-highest level ever in the 18-year history of the report, entitled “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches.”

On the bright side, microbes in the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal in nearby Brooklyn may hold potential as medicine, according to two New York biology professors.

A federal agency has found turf fields, leaded or not, are safe for kids. (The lead levels in artificial turf aren’t high enough to cause a problem, according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission.)

On Tuesday, Sen. Lautenberg and three other called for federal EPA head Steven Johnson to resign from his post. They cited Johnson’s “misleading” testimony before Congress about why the agency blocked California’s efforts to cut auto emissions.

Senate President Codey and some of his staffers yesterday cleaned up the Route 37 bridge that links the Pelican Island sections of Toms River and Berkeley to Seaside Heights. He said he hoped the act would inspire New Jerseyans to beautify some of the areas they think need attention.