First Step in Seaton Hackney Clean-up Complete

Volunteers and consultants teamed up to construct silt fencing as part of the environmental restoration at Seaton Hackney Stable.

The silt fence is the first project under a federal grant for protection of the Great Swamp Watershed.

Runoff from the 38-acre Seaton Hackney property goes into the Loantaka Brook, according to Steven Reynolds, director of communications and membership at the Great Swamp Watershed Association. That became a concern when a volunteer with the GSWA identified a problem with stormwater pollution at the stables while visited a flooded pony corral on a rainy day in 2010.

Reynolds explained the silt fencing catches silt carried by water as it reaches the brook. The silt carries pollutants from the equine facility which would eventually reach the Great Swamp, he said. The rain water carries animal waste, bacteria, nutrients and sediment.

Loantaka is one of five major streams that feed the Great Swamp. The swamp, the first national wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River, is a critical resting place for migrating birds along the Atlantic Flyway, according to Reynolds’ press release.

The silt fencing was the first project funded by a $300,000 federal grant awarded in the fall of 2011. Future project include relocation of livestock quarters away from the Loantaka Brook, restoration of a natural vegetative buffer along the stream bank and the installation of rain gardens and other stormwater and bioretention improvements. The grant, and projects, will run for three years.

Reynolds said volunteers will work on all projects along with employees of PrincetonHydro, the environmental consultants on the project.  Volunteers were Steve Gruber of Long Hill Township, Joe Balwierczak of Madison and Wes Boyce of Bernardsville. they worked with Jeff Czapor and Tyler Overton of Princeton Hydro and Geoff Knapp of the Morris County Park Commission.

The Watershed Association was founded in 1981 to protect the water and land in the 36,000-acre watershed regional in Morris and Somerset counties. Members monitor the five feeder streams: Loantaka Brook, Breat Brook, Primrose Brook, Black Brook and the Upper Passaic. These streams flow into the Passaic River and provide drinking water for more than a million people.