us epa gets tough
Post on 15-Sep-2016
220 views
TRANSCRIPT
PII: S0025-326X(01)00317-4
Ban on boat sewage discharge for New York Harbor
Complex
In a move that will further improve water quality in Long
Island Sound, the US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has approved a New York State Department of En-
vironmental Conservation (NYSDEC) plan to prohibit boats
from discharging treated or untreated sewage into Port Jef-
ferson Harbor Complex in Suffolk County, New York. EPA
and NYSDEC have determined that there are a sufficient
number of pump-out facilities located in the area to receive
sewage from vessels. Sewage discharges from boats affect water
quality and increase levels of coliform bacteria in the waters of
Long Island embayments. The Port Harbor Complex includes
Port Jefferson Harbor, Setauket Harbor, Little Bay, the Nar-
rows and Conscience Bay.
Boat sewage contributes to the overall degradation of
marine habitats, shell fish bed closures and can even lead to
health problems for swimmers. According to the EPA the area
has plenty of pump out stations that boaters can use to dispose
of their sewage, so that there is no need to discharge sewage
into this area of the Sound.
NYSDEC petitioned EPA in November 2000 to establish
this ‘‘no discharge area.’’ Under national marine sanitation
standards, vessels operating in the bay complex are currently
prohibited from discharging untreated sewage, but are allowed
to discharge treated sewage from approved marine sanitation
devices. Now that the ‘‘no discharge area’’ is approved, the
discharge of both treated and untreated vessel sewage is pro-
hibited.
EPA and NYSDEC have previously banned the discharge
of treated boat sewage in Huntington Harbor and Lloyd
Harbor and the greater Huntington-Northport Bay Complex,
which includes Lower Huntington and Northport Bays, Cen-
terport, Northport, Duck Island Harbors and Price Bend.
PII: S0025-326X(01)00318-6
Florida Bay’s confused ecosystem history
Striking changes to plant and animal communities in Flor-
ida Bay during the last few decades are driving massive eco-
system restoration efforts both in the Bay and in the
Everglades on the assumption that the changes are man in-
duced. However, scientific study of the sediments of the bay
paints a far from clear picture. Recent evidence recovered from
the muddy bottom of Florida Bay by a team of US Geological
Survey scientists led by Lynn Brewster-Wingard indicates that
some of the changes in Florida Bay’s ecosystem are natural
and some are not. Cores show a significant increase in the last
20–40 years in numbers of a mussel, Brachidontes exustus, that
is tolerant of poor water quality and a wide range of salinities.
The same cores also show a dramatic decrease in molluscan
diversity during the last forty years. These findings indicate a
system under stress. Ancient evidence, however, suggests that a
major seagrass die-off in1987–88mayhavebeenpart of anatural
cycle. Short cores collected in Florida Bay provide evidence for
natural variability in salinity and seagrass density and abun-
dance prior to significant human activity in the region. Scien-
tists compare these data to that gathered from recent sediments
to establish the component of change that can be attributed to
human activity versus change due to natural cycles.
More recently research efforts have been directed toward
extracting data from mollusc shell growth layers that will il-
lustrate monthly, seasonal and annual changes in water
chemistry prior to alteration of the natural flow of water into
Florida Bay. Results of this work are intended to provide
target data for restoring seasonal water flow into Florida Bay.
PII: S0025-326X(01)00319-8
60 tons of marine debris removed around Hawaiian
Islands
More than 60 tons of nets and derelict gear has been re-
covered from the sea in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands by
teams of scientists and researchers. A 90-day clean-up tour
resulted from a team-up of the National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration (NOAA), the Ocean Conservancy, US
Coast Guard, Hawaii Sea Grant, US Fish and Wildlife Service
and other state and private organizations to clean up the wa-
ters around the Hawaiian Islands. Scientists estimate there are
still more than 100 tons of derelict fishing gear destroying
fragile coral reefs or threatening endangered species such as the
Hawaiian monk seal, as well as sea turtles and a variety of
seabirds and other wildlife. This is the second year of a three-
year plan to remove the backlog of debris.
Teams of NOAA divers spent many hours underwater lo-
cating, untangling, cutting and finally removing the debris.
Divers were pulled behind small boats, to locate and map
debris. Once nets were located, divers went down either snor-
kelling or on scuba, and cut away the gear, taking great care
not to harm the coral. The debris was then floated up to
smaller boats and transferred to the large vessels, where it was
separated into categories, carefully documented and weighed.
$3 million has been allocated for ocean debris removal. To
date more than 60 tons of nets and derelict gear has been re-
covered by teams of divers after seven expeditions around the
archipelago.
PII: S0025-326X(01)00320-4
US EPA gets tough on sewage discharge
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has or-
dered the city of Haverhill to revise its plan for addressing the
flow of untreated sewage into the Merrimack and Little Rivers.
The city’s wastewater treatment plant treats both sewage
and stormwater runoff. Owing to the lack of capacity, the
pipes, known as combined sewers (CSOs), are designed to
overflow after heavy rains, resulting in wastewater being dis-
charged directly into the two urban waterways. The overflows
from these pipes result in about 69 million gallons of waste-
water being discharged annually into the rivers. According to
the order issued by EPA New England, Haverhill failed to
indicate it has seven CSOs, in addition to the 16 mentioned in a
September 2000 report on its long-term plans for addressing
CSO discharges.
5News / Marine Pollution Bulletin 44 (2002) 3–6
The 23 combined discharge points are a major reason why
the rivers routinely exceed bacteria limits after heavy rains.
CSOs pose a significant threat to water quality, carrying
viruses, bacteria and other biological pathogens as well as in-
dustrial waste and toxic materials.
To address the CSO problem, the city has to revise its long-
term plan for improving CSOs to reflect the new findings by
January 14, 2002. The city must also prepare an environmental
impact report on the plan. Final reports must be submitted by
August 2, 2002. The order also requires the city to finish the
first phase of its CSO abatement programme and reduce the
frequency and volume of CSO discharges by December 1,
2004.
Haverhill is among more than 100 municipalities in New
England that are burdened with outdated CSOs. EPA has is-
sued more than a dozen orders the past several years to address
the problem, with several of them going to communities along
the Merrimack River, including Nashua, NH, Manchester,
NH, Lowell and the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District.
PII: S0025-326X(01)00321-6
News-in-Brief
Nigeria
A proposal to dredge the River Niger by the federal gov-
ernment has been condemned by the local government au-
thority of Baylesa State in southeastern Nigeria on the grounds
that it would cause negative environmental and ecological ef-
fects. In 1998, the federal government decided to dredge the
river near Benue to improve river transport in the country.
However, several environmental organizations and riverine
communities have opposed the proposed plan.
Brazil
A pipeline oil spill in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, in-
itially reported as being minor, has turned out to be more
serious than first thought. The spill occurred after the rupture
of an underwater refinery pipeline and some 100 tonnes of
crude oil escaped. Strong winds spread the oil beyond the port
area towards the beaches of the nearby city of Niteroi, which
lies across the bay from Rio. The spill is the second biggest
after a pipeline in the bay was ruptured in January 2000 re-
leasing around 1000 tonnes of crude into the sea.
Arctic Ocean
Scientists have successfully mapped geological and biologi-
cal features of the Gakkel Ridge beneath the Arctic Ocean.
Last summer a research team aboard the US Coast Guard’s
newest icebreaker, Healy, used sonar to map the ridge at a
level of detail hitherto thought impossible from a working
icebreaker. The team discovered evidence of hydrothermal
activity along the ridge, including a field of deep sea vents, and
dredged up sponges and other marine species not previously
known to survive in cold arctic waters.
Lithuania
A small spill of oil from a loading buoy caused the Baltic oil
terminal at Butinge to be closed down whilst divers brought it
back to shore for inspection. About 10 tonnes of Russian
Slavent crude was released during the loading a Norwegian
tanker, the Caterin Knutsen. Butinge is an onshore terminal
with a floating buoy with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes per day
and Butinge was closed for about a week last March because of
an oil leak, after heavy seas broke a hawser connecting another
Norwegian tanker to the buoy.
6 News / Marine Pollution Bulletin 44 (2002) 3–6