Under transition program, inmates to clean shoreline at Liberty State Park in Jersey City

Published: Friday, July 22, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Jean-Pierre Mestanza/The Jersey Journal

As part of a program to reintroduce prisoners nearing their release dates back into society, 10 inmates from the Garden State County Correctional Facility in Mercer County will be spending the next two weeks cleaning up the shoreline at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

?This program allows us to expose prisoners who are near their release date to come out and give back to communities and hopefully learn something new,? New Jersey Department of Corrections Chief of Staff Mark Cranston said yesterday during a press conference at the park.

The cleanup is part the state Department of Environmental Protection?s Clean Shores program, in which debris is removed from tidal shorelines along the state.

Since its inception in 1989, more than 130 million pounds of debris has been removed from 2,400 miles of the state?s shorelines, according to a press release.

Since 2003, the NJDEP has worked with the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, which oversees shorelines and tributaries all over North Jersey including Jersey City.

?Liberty State Park is such a beautiful venue that needs to be kept clean for families around the area,? Virginia Loftin, a research scientist with the NJDEP, said yesterday.

Debris in the park was so high at one point that it took eight years to clear the area near Flag Plaza, officials said.