Big Cleanup for Barnegat Bay

Barnegat Bay getst a big makeover Friday.New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin  will join thousands of local next schoolchildren, residents and businesses for the DEP’s Barnegat Bay Blitz, a trash and debris cleanup.

Friday's blitz is the first since Sandy pounded the Barnegat Bay region.

Volunteers throughout the state participated in the blitz.  The bay is suffering from degraded water quality caused by many factors, including excessive algae growth caused by nutrients from fertilizers and other sources.

More than 11,300 volunteers have participated since the first Barnegat Blitz in May 2011, collecting thousands of bags of trash and filling dozens of dumpsters and dump trucks with a wide assortment of trash and debris.