New Bill Would Boost Jamaica Bay Clean-Up Efforts

JAMAICA, QUEENS — Two Queens officials unveiled a proposal to rid Jamaica Bay of debris that poses environmental and safety hazards.

A new bill by City Council Members Costa Constantinides and Eric Ulrich would create a governmental program to get rid of trash and abandoned boats in Jamaica Bay, the officials announced Friday. If the bill passes, the new "office of marine debris disposal" would be responsible for removing debris that washes up on Jamaica Bay's shores and abandoned boats drifting in the bay.

The office would develop a plan to recycle as much of the debris as possible, the bill says, and could fine those responsible for the littering.

While the Department of Environmental Protection has a pilot program for removing abandoned boats on beaches, these clean-up efforts have traditionally relied on volunteers, according to Dan Mundy, president of environmental group Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers.

"For years, there was no agency that was willing to take on the responsibility for cleaning up marine debris that became deposited throughout the bay," Mundy said in a statement.

The conservation effort is about more than aesthetics.

Abandoned boats drifting in the bay can pose a safety hazard, officials said; the American Littoral Society, a coastal conservation group, estimated there were 133 abandoned boats in Jamaica Bay in 2015. And debris like plastics and fishing line can harm wildlife, according to Don Riepe, American Littoral Society's Jamaica Bay director.

The City Council referred the bill to the Committee on Environmental Protection, which Constantinides chairs.

“Jamaica Bay has seen so much improvement in the last few years, yet debris still washes ashore on a regular basis — as have scores of abandoned boats,” Constantinides said. "This bill will give the Crown Jewel of Queens the proper polishing it deserves."