Diesel, Toxins & A Seawall Made Of Lead Slag - Potential Beach Cleanup Costs $5-$8 Million/Mile
Superstorm Sandy washed away beaches and sent raw sewage and diesel fuel into waterways, leaving an environmental repair bill for New York and New Jersey exceeding $100 million. The harm to wildlife and habitats probably will be extensive given the strength and duration of the storm, Larry Ragonese, press director for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said yesterday in an interview.
“We’ve lost beaches,” Ragonese said. “We’ve lost dunes. We’ve lost wetlands. We’ve lost habitat for endangered species. The environmental impacts are tremendous.”
Officials are working to contain about 336,000 gallons of diesel fuel that leaked from a storage tank into the Arthur Kill, the tidal strait that separates New York and New Jersey, he said. Most fuel has been contained, Ragonese said today.
State officials say they are concentrating on restoring electricity and other basic services to residents affected by the storm, which at its peak knocked out power to 8 million homes and businesses in the mid-Atlantic and New England. The storm is blamed for more than 70 deaths in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
EDIT
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-01/beach-repairs-after-sandy-may-cost-8-million-a-mile.html
