THE OCEAN NEEDS PERMANENT PROTECTION FROM POLLUTION & HARMFUL INDUSTRIALIZATION

What can YOU do to support the Clean Ocean Zone?

• Get informed! Click here for a factsheet to learn more about the Clean Ocean Zone initative.
• BE AN OCEAN REBEL FOR THE COZ! Sign-up to volunteer as an ocean voice to help lead the Clean Ocean Zone campaign as a community leader, grassroots organizer, petition leader, or to share information.
• Learn more about the Clean Ocean Zone relaunch in our Join the Wave event Press Release.

The time is now to lock-in protections for the ocean off the NY/NJ coast.

Not so long ago, with eight ocean dumpsites, the New York/New Jersey “Bight” was the “Ocean Dumping Capital of the World.” The NY/NJ Bight is defined as the waters from Montauk Point, NY, to Cape May, NJ, offshore to the outer edge of the Continental Shelf (to depths of 1,000 fathoms). The Bight shows the results of this legacy of pollution: fish advisories from contaminated sediments, beach closures from runoff, storm drains, and raw sewage discharge, and littered beaches.

Over the last 40 years, Clean Ocean Action has led campaigns to end ocean dumping, reduce pollution and garbage wash ups, and blocked numerous proposals for oil and gas drilling, and other fossil fuel projects.  We have come a long way and the ocean is now thriving. 

The NY/NJ Bight is an essential economic, ecologic, and aesthetic resource of the United States, but it is now at risk from past and present threats, including climate change. Most alarming is the looming massive industrialization dangers. The ocean must be protected. The diversity of life in the NY/NJ Bight is unique in the world; more than 300 species of fish, nearly 350 species of birds, 5 species of sea turtles, and many marine mammals (including 33 species of whales and dolphins, 1 species of porpoise, and 4 species of seals) frequent this region. In addition, habitat in the NY/NJ Bight serves as an essential migratory pathway for species. Plus, a healthy ocean is the number one buffer against climate change. In short, if we want to save the planet, we must keep our ocean safe and healthy.

NOW MORE THAN EVER, A COMPREHENSIVE LAW IS NEEDED TO PROTECT THE OCEAN: 

Unfortunately, laws and regulations are woefully inadequate to protect the vast ecological and economic value of this ocean region and its living marine resources from polluting and industrial activities. Battles to protect the ocean are fought permit by permit, which is time-consuming, unproductive, and exhausting. It is time to lock-in the tremendous path of progress which has led to far-reaching improvements in our ocean water quality and lock-out environmentally harmful activities, thereby ensuring the continued protection of the ocean today and for future generations.

After fighting threats to the ocean for decades, Clean Ocean Action (COA) developed a holistic approach and initiative to protect the Bight by creating a zone in the ocean where pollution and industrialization are prohibited. In 2011, COA led a campaign for legislation called the Clean Ocean Zone (“COZ”) where harmful industrialization is locked out and clean ocean economy uses (e.g., fishing, boating, responsible renewable energies) are supported. However, the bill never passed. Today, industrial proposals and new technologies have accelerated at a massive scale and beyond imagination 15 years ago. Now, COA is relaunching the COZ in response to the large-scale threats the ocean is now facing.