NATURAL and CULTURAL FEATURES of MONMOUTH COUNTY

Poor tidal flushing in warm weather can also lead to anoxic conditions in estuaries with shallow
channels and wide mudflats. An odor complaint on Oceanport Creek was investigated in August
of 2009 immediately following a fishkill in Branchport Creek. The western portion of the creek
had turned septic: black with a foul odor. Anoxic dissolved oxygen and elevated temperature
levels were noted. Anoxic conditions were still present the following day, but were showing
significant improvement, following changes in wind and rain conditions. The earliest known
report of anoxic conditions in this area of the Shrewsbury watershed dates back to 1892, when it
was recorded by the Shrewsbury Township Board of Health on page 310 of the 1892 Report of
the Board of Health of the State of New Jersey. This report states: "There is a complaint of tidewater
backing up on a tributary of the South Shrewsbury, known as Little Silver Creek, causing
decay of vegetable matter and jeopardizing the health of neighbors surrounding it. This Board
wishes information as to how it should be opened, and what steps are necessary to be taken in the
matter, as all persons owning property adjacent to the creek claim that they have no legal right to
proceed in the matter, as it is the bed of the river." (BOHSNJ, 2010) .
Streambeds near malfunctioning septic systems and active, unlined landfills will also turn black
from the sulfide produced during the anaerobic decomposition of organic material and nutrients;
further downstream, these streambeds may support growths of “sewage fungus”, a grey floc
produced by the filamentous bacteria Sphaerotilus natans (Curtis and Curds, 1971).
The interlaminated sands and clays of the middle-Miocene Kirkwood aquifer, which is the
largest single outcrop of any formation in the County, contains sulfur deposits that give wells a
rotten-egg odor; its black clay base contains bits of lignite, a precursor of coal (Dahlgren, 1977).
Generally, wells in shallow, water-table aquifers in NJ are acidic, predominantly due to geologic
sulfur deposits (Szabo, 2003).
AIR QUALITY AND PRECIPITATION
NJDEP air monitoring stations are located in Freehold Borough (sulfur dioxide) near the corner
of Court and West Main St., and at Monmouth University in West Long Branch (ozone)
(http://www.state.nj.us/dep/airmon/ ). There are 87 monitoring stations in the state that actively
monitor for carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, lead, or particulate matter.
The EPA has classified Monmouth County as a non-attainment area for ozone, which is
significant in the summer because it forms in the presence of heat and sunlight, and is associated
with vehicular emissions. About 1 out of 5 car trips is work related, and about 75 % of
commuters use ‘single occupancy vehicles’. The USDOT estimates that 2.3 billion gallons of
fuel are wasted nationally every year while motorists wait in traffic for 3.7 billion hours
(Chebium, 2006). Monmouth County ranked third highest in NJ for the number of hours per
year drivers spend in traffic delays, according to a 2001 study by the Foundation of the NJ
Alliance for Action and the National Center for Transportation and Industrial Productivity at the
NJ Institute of Technology (Higgs, 2006). From 1994 to 2004, the yearly average is: 326
‘healthy’ days and 29 ‘moderately healthy days, with about 3% of the year classified as
‘unhealthy and ‘unhealthy air for sensitive groups.’
During the winter, winds predominate from the northwest in the Middle Atlantic Bight, due to
the dominance of the cyclonic (counterclockwise winds) Icelandic Low; while during the
summer south and southwest winds predominate due to the anticyclonic (clockwise winds)
Bermuda High (Cook, 1988; MCPB, 1975; MCPB, 2005). The average wind speed of 11 mph is
highest in the spring (ESDRU, 2006). The mean annual temperature for Monmouth County is 53