DEP blames big fish and lack of oxygen

After removing 10 cubic yards of dead fish in the waters off Howard Beach over the Labor Day weekend, on Thursday, September 4, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) removed an additional 10 cubic yards of fish from 157th Street to 162nd Street. Then, on Monday, September 8, the skimmer boat pulled another four cubic yards.
And though this - and the smell - may seem daunting, DEP officials say there is really nothing wrong.
“There’s nothing unusual,” according to DEP spokesperson Mercedes Padilla. “[The cause is] warm waters and dissolved oxygen. The bunker fish are chased by bigger fish to tributaries, with lower levels of oxygen.
Having sent boats to clean up over the last week, the DEP says the fishy situation is nothing new.
“[It has] happened every year for last few years - last year in Brighton Beach [in Brooklyn],” said Padilla.
A few weeks before the fish went belly up, Betty Braton, Chair of Community Board (CB) 10, who lives on the canal, had noticed that the water had turned a greenish gold color, which usually indicates oxidization. A resident of the area for over 50 years, she sent a letter to DEP and called up the department.
Currently, there is a destratification system in place in the Basin to pump oxygen into the water for the thousands of bunker fish that inhabit the waterway. In addition, this system removes pungent hydrogen sulfite odors that are normal in the geometry of the Basin.
Local politicians were informed that the destratification system was temporarily shut down last week on the orders of the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as they researched whether the system was negatively impacting the environment.
“Last week, the aerator that keeps oxygen flowing under Shellbank Basin to keep the fish alive was temporarily shut down,” explained Senator Serphin Maltese and Assemblymember Audrey Pheffer, whose constituents alerted them to the problem. “This resulted in thousands of dead fish that produced a very pungent odor throughout the area. Our staffs were contacted by a constituent whose practice is located above the CVS drugstore overlooking the Basin. We responded immediately so the many businesses that overlook the Basin would not be negatively affected by the odor and the view of the dead fish floating on the surface.”
Maltese continued, “After alerting NYC DEP and speaking personally to Commissioner Emily Lloyd, who acted promptly to resolve the situation, we continue to monitor the situation to ensure the air quality surrounding the Basin is returned to normal.”
However, some do not believe this explanation is adequate.
“We’ve now seen the same problem two weeks in a row, which is twice more than it has ever occurred in the history of the area,” said Councilmember Joseph Addabbo. “Obviously something is amiss. This is not simply a naturally occurring phenomenon nor is it a situation we should be forced to endure before the appropriate measures are taken. I’m calling for a meeting with DEC, DEP, and Community Board 10 to explain the situation and design an appropriate course of action. This situation is both disgusting and bizarre, and we need to prevent a future occurrence.”