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NEW YORK, NY October 02, 2007 —The city has released its long awaited plan to clean up its national park at the end of the A train. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

Jamaica Bay is steadily losing its salt marsh islands because of pollution from local development and dirty water from sewage treatment plants. Following a local law enacted two years ago, the city has now come up with a plan to save the endangered 39 square mile water body.

A big priority is cutting back on nitrogen from the two nearby treatment plants. It's also going to introduce oysters and mussels into the bay, which filter water naturally. To cut back on stormwater runoff, the city is planting more trees in the area and giving local residents rainwater barrels for their rooftops.

But some environmentalists question whether the plan goes far enough. The Natural Resources Defense Council praised the efforts, but says they will only get the city halfway toward meeting its goal of reducing nitrogen discharges by 20 thousand pounds a day. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.