United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Washington, DC 20460 EPA/620/R-00/005n September, 2000 &EPA Coastal Communications NATIONAL COASTAL REPORT CARD COASTAL 2000 - GULF OF MAINE ASSESSMENT ORD/RE<&ION 1/OW i \T2.OOO Gulf of Maine Coastal 2000 Design ME Background As part of the U.S. EPA's National Coastal Report Card's (also known as Coastal 2000) multi-year partnership among EPA's Office of Research and Development, EPA's Office of Water, EPA's Regional Offices, and the coastal States and selected Territories, EPA has developed a coastal monitoring program with EPA Region 1 and the States surrounding the &u\f of Maine. This joint effort will permit, for the first time, a comparison of conditions of coastal resources in the Sulf of Maine with other U.S. coastal regions and provide a nation wide assessment of coastal resources. This effort is being coordinated by the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory's Atlantic Ecology Division in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Coastal 2000 Strategy Coastal 2000 focuses on a strategic partnership with all coastal states in the country. Using a compatible, probabilistic design and a common set of environmental indicators (see Table below), each state is conducting the survey and assessing the condition of their coastal resources independently, yet, these estimates can be aggregated to assess conditions at the EPA Regional, biogeographical, and National levels. All data will be made available for public access on the internet. The map illustrated here shows the sampling sites for the Sulf of Maine coast. Water Quality Sediment Quality Biota dissolved oxygen Salinity, temperature, depth pH Nutrients Chlorophyll Grain size Total organic carbon Sediment chemistry Benthic community structure Sediment toxicity Benthic community structure Fish community structure Fish external pathology Fish tissue analyses Further Information For further information, please contact Ray Thompson at EPA's New England Regional Laboratory at (781)860-4372 or thompson.ray@epa.gov or Jerry Pesch at the National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory's Atlantic Ecology Division at (401)782-3007 or pesch.gerald@epa.gov. ------- |