Bruce Steadman, executive director of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, or FMERA, likewise declined to comment. Netflix did not return a request for comment.
On July 21, FMERA, the state agency redeveloping the former U.S. Army base, created a new 289-acre Mega Parcel on land that lies in parts of Eatontown and Oceanport. FMERA said it s open to several industries purchasing the site, including film and digital, but also life sciences, information and high tech, clean energy and the food and beverage industry.
Steadman said they haven t opened the parcel to public bids, yet. Typically, one purchaser is selected for a Fort Monmouth parcel. Steadman did not comment when asked if the authority would be willing to divide the parcel between multiple buyers.
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LONG BRANCH - So what about those dead fish washing up along the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, the ones that were knee-deep in some places?
A state senator is hoping to use state and federal money to reimburse communities that spent thousands of dollars cleaning up the aftermath.
Since March, thousands of pounds of dead menhaden, or bunker, have washed ashore in communities along the two rivers and their tributaries. Swarms of flies and a strong stench have accompanied the rotting fish. I have reached out to all the towns in the two-river area, state Sen. Vin Gopal said Thursday during a virtual meeting about the fish die off held by the environmental group Clean Ocean Action.
State to begin fish kill cleanup along Monmouth County rivers
News 12 Staff
Updated on:May 07, 2021, 5:43pm EDT
First came the dead fish, and then came the flies. People living in the Two River Basin in Monmouth County say that the fish kill situation is so bad that they can’t even go outside.
But now a cleanup effort is underway along the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers.
The dead fish washed ashore earlier this week, trapping residents in their homes due to the rotten smell.
“On Monday we are going to start cleanup for a minimum of two days and see how it goes,” says Long Branch Mayor John Pallone. “Three crews – two ground back crews, one boat crew.”
Oceanport Mayor Jay Coffey was not immediately available for comment.
In a 2014 menhaden fish kill in the Shark River, several tons of menhaden were collected by local public works from Neptune and Belmar, volunteers and even prison inmates. The fish were brought to the Monmouth County landfill in Tinton Falls.
That kill was said to be caused by oxygen deprivation due to low river water levels that were caused in some part by sand deposited by superstorm Sandy that exasperated existing shoaling conditions on the river. The channels have since been dredged.
The menhaden die-off this spring is different. The fish are diseased and the dead fish are appearing in several tributaries of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.