🪚Preventing Microplastics Contamination From Construction Dust in NJ🛑
Micro- and nanoplastics are no longer welcome in the seaside town of Monmouth Beach on the Jersey Shore, less than 30 miles as a seagull flies from Lower Manhattan. In what appears to be a first-in-the-nation law, the three-member Borough Commission gave final, unanimous approval to an ordinance requiring contractors to contain and clean up daily all table sawing dust including toxic plastics from manufactured lumber such as TREX, PVC piping and vinyl siding.
The “Control of Plastic Dust and Contaminants” ordinance that passed in Monmouth Breach was inspired by the Green Team in Margate, another Jersey Shore town farther down the coast near Atlantic City. There, the lawn of former chemical engineer Sherri Lilienfeld was polluted by workers cutting up plastic building materials out in the open which the wind blew onto her property.
An attempt there to pass a sawdust control ordinance ended with a simple resolution asking contractors to encapsulate their cutting and clean the micro/nano particles daily. But that effort caught the eye of Beyond Plastics Advisory Board member Brian Thompson who also serves as an Environmental Commissioner in Monmouth Beach.
Thompson researched the problem and quickly concluded that the idea of sawing plastic and wood in an enclosed space with a tarp underneath and a vacuum attachment to the saw would significantly reduce the amount of micro and nano plastics that would otherwise be blown into the air, settle on the ground or wash into the nearby Shrewsbury River.
Working with Monmouth Beach Commissioners and the Borough Attorney and finding that local contractors had no problem with the mandate, they crafted the ordinance that passed in near record speed. You can find the ordinance here.
If you’d like to consider urging your town, city, or county to pass a similar ordinance, you may find it helpful to have the copy for the ordinance to work from. You can download a copy of the ordinance here that you can make changes to.