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“This is a genuinely fascinating account of the controversies and activities surrounding a highly significant issue. It is refreshing to read an author who is willing to express considered comment and opinion on science and politics, management and economics. At the end of the account, it may be suggested that the reader will either be encouraged by the diligence with which the crisis was pursued, or despair at the challenges still outstanding in the pursuit of sustainable development and society's struggle with decision-making. The author has provided a meticulously detailed and comprehensive insight into an important case study that has significance on a much wider scale."—International Journal of Maritime History
A clarion call for sustainable oceans policy
The ocean resources on which we depend for food, commerce, transport, and recreation are not limitless, nor are ocean waters capable of continual self-cleansing. Alex Lechich makes it painfully clear that the world's oceans are, in fact, in desperate peril: fish stocks are overexploited, other marine resources are depleted, habitat is being lost or its resilience is declining, water contamination is pervasive, and the economic and human costs related to ocean decline are escalating. All of these considerations contributed to a dangerous shipping crisis that threatened the Port of New York and New Jersey's very viability in the early 1990s.
Modern navigational channels and shipping berths must be periodically dredged. Historically, the millions of cubic yards of frequently contaminated muds and sands regularly removed in this way have been dumped at sea. When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency imposed tighter restrictions on ocean dumping in the 1990s, almost all dredging halted, putting the Port of New York and New Jersey's standing as one of the busiest cargo ports in the nation at risk. The crisis was temporarily abated by a Vice President Al Gore-sponsored agreement between environmental groups and government agencies, but many of the original problems remain.
Accessibly written by a scientist intimately familiar with these dramatic events, A Storm in the Port explains the origins, escalation, and specific and broad implications of this port crisis. Lechich explains the science and environmental concerns that come into play, considers solutions to complex dilemmas, and makes clear the desperate need for new ocean policies that tread the delicate line between protecting the world's oceans and preserving their economic and recreational value. This urgently needed book is poised to heighten regional and national interest in ocean policy and related issues, and promote the sustainable use and enjoyment of the world's oceans. It will be essential reading for professional and lay students of oceans and environmental policy.
“A marine biologist and environmental scientist, Lechich draws from daily logs he kept through the '90s while he was with the Environmental Protection Agency... [for his] report on a crisis in one of the country's busiest ports...[Lechich finds] that there's much sludge and silt to dredge to keep shipping channels clear-but finding places to dump it is a continuing problem."—Publishers Weekly
“Mr. Lechich has done a superb job telling the story of a complex political and scientific issue from the insider's perspective. The story of the dredging crisis of 1993 is one that needed to be told, not only for history, but to show the human factors that plague the regulatory and policy process. While some may pick up the book in order to understand, finally, the reasons for the current high cost of Port maintenance and construction in NY/NJ Harbor, I hope at least some will come away with a better understanding of the need to keep public agencies staffed with qualified, experienced people. The Port of NY and NJ may have dodged the bullet this time, but in the current atomosphere of "downsizing and privatization" the next time it may not be as lucky."—W. Scott Douglas, Dredging Program Manager, NJ Department of Transportation
Click here for TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ALEX F. LECHICH is an Environmental Protection Specialist with the U.S. Coast Guard. He has previously worked as a marine biologist and environmental scientist for several state and national agencies. This is his first book.
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