How polluted is the raritan?

I keep hearing nightmarish stories from the residents of keansburg, keyport, union beach and all Raritan bay residents that the water is so polluted and nasty. I work right by the bay and have a condo on the bay (recently aqquired), I have surf fished it but never touched the water due to the fact that i hear these stories. The sources are all viable from mayors to boaters who all say the same thing.......I have yet to catch anything when I have gone out either. Also Iff is right off of 36 and has 2 lakes or bodies of water that are gorgeous but devoid of any fish and rumored to have been dumped in for years. I didnt see any signs of aquatic life when I walked the entire perimiter of this water. Any info? I see people fishing there all the time.

Maybe it depends where on the bay you go, but I've been surf fishing on Sandy Hook several times this summer and the water has never looked cleaner... tons of bait fish in the water, we've hooked blue crabs with artificial lures so they are obviously healthy, I've caught more short fluke than I can count, and one evening we saw a pod of around 6 dolphins swim by. Granted, this is at the very mouth of the bay, but its all the same water.

I fished and worked on the water for many years and the water is actually a lot cleaner and healthier than it used to be. The water has been cleaning up year after year, since it’s illegal to dump wastes and chemicals in the rivers and bays. There still are remains buried under a thick layer of sediment, but unless you are planning on drenching, you have nothing to worry about. Remember all waters are polluted to some extent and the consumption of your catch should be limited.

I too have heard great fish stories out of sandy hook, and did well fishing there years ago. Recently some friends have been catching all sorts of fish, but again they were catching in sandy hook and bypassed Keyport, keansburg & the bay area etc. I waded out knee level one time (@ keansburg) with 2 buddies of mine fishing with me ( residents of the area) and the horror stories that my legs would be glowing or a syringe would swim into some part of me were disturbing (they did not wade ). I agree most waters are polluted to some degree, I just want some info to gain and insight on how true....thanx for the responses guys

What you describe was how it used to be.
The Great Kills dump on Staten Island was one of the big polluters.
They had to make major improvements to stay open.
Install a trash/security fence
Trash barrier at the water’s edge
Trash barges must be covered
Dumped trash must be covered daily
All water runoff and seepage is processed before being released into the Author Kill.
No medical waste can enter the dump

The only remaining issue is from the storms and wind direction. It pushes any debris away from Staten Island towards NJ, plus the trash left behind by the slobs that visit the shore line.

I’ve worked, boated, dove, swam, fished, crabbed and eaten what I caught from the bay and have never had any adverse effects on me. If you ask my wife she will tell you different. Lol

Enjoy the water!

What you really have to watch for is when NY City pumps their raw sewage into the Hudison and NY harbor due to storms

Good to know Jim, thank you. Ive waded some nasty waters but they were either stagnant ponds or canals and the raritan smells no where near as bad..lol

I can beat your nasty water adventures. When I was a commercial diver, I had to make repairs on a underwater sewer treatment fallout pipe.


I did however deined the opertunity to dive in a sewage treatment tank that had plenty of raw sinky sewage in it!

I don't envy you for that. I used to work at a restaurant in Brooklyn with a sub basement, direct entry into the sewers and when it flooded eels could be seen swimming round amongst debris. I just took over payments on a condo in kburg and they have a pipe leading from the street drains into the ocean. And the water from the tap is yellow. Any ideas as to why? It's the main reason for this thread.

I just googled this. I think you want to read this!

http://www.politickernj.com/rlarossa/56666/poiaen-drinking-water-keansburg-nj

http://drinkingwateradvisor.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/poison-drinking-water-an-issue-in-todays-council-election-keansburg-new-jersey/

http://unitedwatersystems.com/providers-Keansburg-NJ.html

http://www.keansburgboro.com/

Anybody looking for a ground level apt. directly across the street from the bay?....lol...all I know is I only drink sparkling water in bottles. Kburg can keep their tap water & politics

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news
If the price is right, I'll turn it into a bait shop.lol

the bay is not that bad it better than it once was so i will still fish it

This summer I fished off Sandy Hook quite a bit, and had never seen it cleaner. We had whales & dolphins in Raritan Bay, so that must say something. The effects of Sandy however, may prove otherwise so I would avoid eating anything caught from the northern half of the state.

Where the bay meets the ocean near sandy hook I would assume is a lot cleaner than the bay or hudson river. I lived 30 yards from the bay and saw them building a trench that emptyed water from the streets into the bay, thats not so clean imo
I also fished the bay a few times and saw the sludge on the shore that looked like crude oil...again not clean by my/or anyones standards( i hope)
On top of everything else after the storm/hurricane/whatever everyone else wants to call it these days, all the sewerage, that came up from the rising water levels flowed into the raritan, take into consideration, I am speaking from the point of view that I lived on the beach in Keansburg and waded in the coffee colored water that smelled as bad as a decomposing corpse that flowed back into the bay, what about the other towns? the same thing happened in all the towns on the bay on the jersey side and ny......so that water cant be clean....I am not saying not to fish it but I WOULD NOT eat anything nor swim those waters even if i was starving