Sandy Waterway Cleanup Total: 461K Cubic Yards of Debris, Sediment

State officials announced Wednesday that the effort to clean debris and accumulated sediment from state waterways following Superstorm Sandy has come to an end.

The grand total, nearly a year after the storm struck: 360,000 cubic yards of sediment removed and 101,716 cubic yards of debris removed.

In all, 6,019 submerged objects were taken out of state waterways while 194 vessels and vehicles and four nearly-intact homes were removed.

Crews surveyed nearly 195,000 acres using side-scan sonar to detect debris, officials said.

"The success of this massive project is the result of a true team effort involving not just the DEP, but the hard work of our contractors, our sister state agencies, the federal government and local and county governments," said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin, in a statement. "With this enormous effort, we were able to clear debris from bays, inlets, wetlands and the ocean."

The waterway debris is in addition to 8 million cubic yards of debris removed from the streets of storm-ravaged communities. 

The DEP hired three contractors through public bidding to focus the federally-funded water cleanup effort in separate coastal regions. CrowderGulf and AshBritt, Inc. won the two contracts that covered the shore area, for $16.7 million and $6.5 million, respectively. Donjon Marine won a contract to clean up North Jersey waterways for $18 million.

The cleanup effort was funded through federal sources, state officials have said.

While debris removal is ending, sediment removal from state waters will continue through the fall, a state from the Department of Environment Protection said. In addition, the state Department of Transportation is developing a separate plan to dredge state channels, some of which suffered impact from Superstorm Sandy.

State channels include the heavily-used Oyster Creek and Double Creek channels, which connect Barnegat Bay with Barnegat Inlet. The Intracoastal Waterway – the main channel through the bay – is a federal channel.