Funding for a program to control floating debris in NY/NJ Harbor was not restored in a final federal bill due to clerical error.  However, US Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-R-11) and US Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-D-6) will continue their work to restore the funds needed for the NY/NJ Harbor Drift Removal Project.

     Information from the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), one of the regional collaborators in the program, underscored the need for this joint program and its benefits.  Since 1990 this program has removed garbage slicks from the Harbor.  This regional program is needed to collect the millions of tons of floating junk that pollutes beaches, kills marine life, and poses threats to navigation.  The project consists of locating, collecting, removing, and disposing at least 530,000 cubic feet of debris per year, which equates to filling about 225 forty-foot highway tractor-trailors.  Removing drift and floatables each year results in the avoidance of approximately $23,000,000 of damages to vessels.