WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT
 AND OCEAN ADVANCEMENT
 FEDERAL WATER QUALITY ADMINISTRATION
                   NORTHWEST REGION
            ALASKA WATER LABORATORY
                       College, Alaska

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WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND OCEAN ADVANCEMENT


                      by


               Richard W. Latimer
               Presented at the

       Commission for Ocean Advancement
    through Science and Technology meeting
          Barrow, Alaska, May 1, 1970
                   for the

     FEDERAL WATER QUALITY ADMINISTRATION

          DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

           ALASKA WATER LABORATORY

              COLLEGE, ALASKA


              Working Paper No. 3

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A Working Paper presents results of investigations
which are to some extent limited or incomplete.
Therefore, conclusions or recommendations—expressed
or implied—are tentative.

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             WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND OCEAN ADVANCEMENT

     Gentlemen, I appreciate the opportunity to meet with  you  here  today  to
explain and discuss the interest the Federal Water Quality Administration
has in the coastal waters of Alaska and throughout the United  States,  and
to share with you some of the current activities that we are carrying  out
in the various programs under our direction.
     The Federal Water Pollution Control  Administration became an agency
on December 21, 1965, when the President signed the Water  Quality Act  of
1965.  It created this new agency within the Department of Health,  Educa-
tion and Welfare.  In February 1966, the President directed that the FWPCA
be transferred from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to the
Department of the Interior.  This reorganization took place on May  10, 1966.
The agency has grown and prospered within the Department of the Interior  in
the past 4 years and has received additional authority and responsibilities
by several amendments to the original Water Quality Act of 1965. The  latest
of these important pieces of legislation was just signed by the President
early this month and is entitled the "Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970."
Among other things, this act did change our name from the  Federal Water
Pollution Control Administration to the Federal Water Quality  Administra-
tion.  And, I expect, as much as anything else, this change indicates  our
broadening of interest from pollution control to all of the aspects of water
quality management.  This phrase, Water Quality Management, is perhaps the key
to multiple use development and conservation of Alaska's coastal resources.
     I would like to just briefly outline the various programs that the
Federal Water Quality Administration carries out and then  we can talk more
specifically about those aspects that deal with the problems and challenges
at hand here in Alaska.

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     First of all, I think the keystone of the massive  clean  water  program
is the provision of the Water Quality Act of 1965,  which  calls  for  all
states to establish water quality standards for their interstate  and
coastal waters.  This provision required states to  make some  crucial  de-
cisions involving the uses of their water resources, the  quality  of water
to support these uses, and specific plans to achieve such levels  of quality.
Alaska's standards were approved by the Secretary of the  Interior in  February
1968.
     A second major area of responsibility is the water quality monitoring
and enforcement program of the agency which goes hand in  hand with  the
Water Quality Standards themselves.  Today, the Federal Water Quality Ad-
ministration, through authorization by the Secretary of the  Interior, can
initiate an enforcement action when:  (1) the water quality  standards adopted
for interstate and coastal waters are violated; (2) the health  and  welfare
of persons in a state, other than the one in which  the  pollution  originated,
are endangered; (3) pollution causes damage to the  health and welfare of
persons within the state i-n which it originates and the Governor  of that
state requests such action; (4) the pollution has damaged shellfish so
that substantial economic injury has resulted from  the  inability  to mar-
ket shellfish products in interstate commerce, and; (5) where international
pollution is involved.
     Another area of major responsibility is the building of waste  treat-
ment plants.  Since most of Alaska's population is  in the coastal areas,
this is a particularly important program.  A community  can get  financial
help in the construction of municipal waste treatment works  with  a  Federal
grant of at least 30 percent of construction costs  and, under certain condi-
tions, the Federal share may be as much as 55 percent.  The  Federal Con-
struction Grants Program is not intended to be a substitute  for State

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and local activity.   Rather, the purpose of this assistance is to encour-
age and support such activity.   The financial  incentives and the benefits
are sizeable.  After many years of subauthorization approprations by Con-
gress in this area of Construction Grants,  it now appears that we will
have rather sizeable portions of money for  this purpose.  In fact, this
year, some 800 million dollars  will be spent in the Construction Grants
Program.
     Another area of responsiblity is technical assistance to local  com-
munities, states and other Federal agencies.  We found that many states
have municipal and industrial waste problems of an unusual nature.  For
help in solving them, they frequently turn  to the Federal Water Quality
Administration.  Technical assistance covers a wide range of activities
from short-term consultation on specific problems, to assistance in conduc-
ting comprehensive investigations and surveys.  Tehcnical experts from FWQA's
Regional offices and field laboratories and research facilities throughout
the country play dual roles as  troubleshooters in dealing with particular
problems and as consultants on  short-range  control measures.
     Basin-wide planning and action is an important aspect of any water
quality program.  To encourage  basin-wide action by state, interstate,  and
local agencies, the Federal Water Quality Administration has launched a
comprehensive planning grants program for river basins which often include
the estuaries.  Comprehensive programming makes it possible to develop basin-
wide programs, to provide technical guidance to basin planning agencies, to
relate state-local planning efforts to Federal planning.  This approach
spurs creation of mutually supporting plans and links the actions of Federal,
interstate, state, municipal agencies, and  industry.  It provides a blue-
print for building water quality management in each river basin system and
it serves as a springboard for enlightened  actions by citizen groups.

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     From the very start of the National  Water Quality  Program,  Congress
has made it quite clear that the responsibilities  for preventing and  con-
trolling water pollution rests mainly with the States and,  although the
Federal government has been given a greater role,  it is still  up to the
States to bear the major share of the responsibility.  To  handle their job
adequately, the states need money and manpower.   Federal program grants are
available to states and interstate agencies to help them bear  the cost of
needed preventive and control  measures.   These grants are  intended as realis-
tic incentives for the states to spend more money  to expand and  improve their
water quality control programs.
     The problems of water pollution are  so complex, so varied,  and so
numerous, that existing weapons are not adequate to deal with  all  of  them.
This is particularly true here in Alaska, where the environmental  conditions
are sufficiently unique and different that we are  often left without  even
the most meager tools and knowledge to understand  and manage our water re-
sources.  Problems have multiplied faster than solutions in this age  of sky-
rocketing technology.  For example, approximately  every 20 minutes, a new
chemical is added to the market which will eventually find its way into our
water supplies.  This poses a serious threat to the full success of any ef-
fort to enhance our water quality and protect it for a  variety of multiple
uses.
     The FWQA's research activities are carried on in two  ways—directly
through work in its own laboratories, such as the  Alaska Water Laboratory at
College, and indirectly through sizeable  grants and contracts  for research in
colleges, universities and other public and private institutions and  agencies,
     Specific research projects are being pursued  by industrial  firms under
contract with the Federal government.  Research is such a  broad  activity and
is of such importance to us here in Alaska, that I will, in a  few moments,

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outline those areas of research that most closely pertains  to  the  problems
of water quality management and resource development in  our coastal  and
estuarine waters.
     The Federal responsibility fpr pollution control  does  not begin or end
with requiring others to act.   Government installations  scattered  throughout
Alaska and located in almost every city, also have a responsibility  in con-
trolling pollution themselves.   Recognizing this, the President issued an
Executive Order, dated July 2,  1966, to insure that the  Federal  government
provide leadership in preventing and abating water pollution in the  United
States by controlling the pollution from all of its installations  and acti-
vities.  In addition to this earlier order, a new Executive Order  issued
February 5, 1970, strengthens  this responsibility.  This order has a far
reaching impact since it involves a diversity of installations such  as mili-
tary bases, hospitals, national parks, forests, Federal  dams,  and  post offices.
The Federal Water Quality Administration, through a program of review, appro-
val, and technical assistance,  cooperates with all other Federal agencies in
developing water pollution control plans for Federal installations.
     Oil pollution is the most  current and one of the most  vital areas of
concern and discussion in Alaska today.  The responsibility for administering
the Oil Pollution Act of 1924  was transferred from the Secretary of  the Army
to the Secretary of the Interior by the Clean Water Restoration Act  of 1966.
It is now administered by the  Federal Water Quality Administration.
     The whole question of preventing and controlling damage caused  by oil
pollution has been, very recently and dramatically, raised  by such oil spills
as Santa Barbara, the run-away well offshore of Louisiana,  and of  course, our
two recent Kodiak spills and the current ecological disaster that  is under
investigation off the Alaska peninsula.  These disasters have highlighted

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our technical  inability to cope with such problems  and  indicate  the  inef-
fectiveness of the Oil  Pollution Act of 1924.   Since  the Act applies only
to discharges  which are grossly negligent, or  which result  from  willful
spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, or emitting  of oil.  The Act  also
does not apply to spills from fixed installations such  as pipelines, oil
deposits, refineries, or manufacturing  plants  using large quantities of
oil.
     I'm happy to say that Congress has recognized  this deficiency and has
included a strong section in the new Water Quality  Act  of 1970 which will
greatly increase our enforcement and control measures for handling oil
pollution.
     Alaska's  huge coastline and corresponding estuarine areas are one of
the most important resources we have.   Estuaries  must rank  with  forests  and
rivers as vital natural resources.   Neither of the  latter two can  match  the
fertility and  versatility of the estuary.  A wide variety of fish  and shell-
fish spend all or part of their lives in estuarine  waters.  For  a  large  group
of marine life, they serve as nurseries, as spawning  grounds and feeding
grounds, and as passageways between river spawning  areas and the pastures of
open ocean waters.  It is estimated that three-quarters of  the commercial
seafoods—fish, clams, oysters, shrimp, crabs, and  lobsters—are nutured in
the estuaries.  Estuaries also provide  shelter and  food life for birds and
other wildlife.  The estuarine zones act as buffers against the  ravages  of
violent storms.  They provide the harbors and  transportation routes  for  com-
merce, and some of the best sites for industrial  plants.  Too, estuarine
waters offer a wide array of recreational opportunities for fishermen,
swimmers, boaters, water skiers, birdwatchers, and  hunters.  It  is thus
clear that estuaries are rich, distinctive, aquatic centers which  man can
little afford to use carelessly and destructively.

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     Perhaps the most significant of the Federal  actions  taken  to  insure
proper utilization of estuaries is the Comprehensive  Study  authorized  by
Congress in the Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966.   This  legislation has
specifically directed the Department of the Interior  to study estuarine pol-
lution and to prepare a report to Congress which  will  document  and analyze
various aspects of estuarine pollution, make recommendations for a compre-
hensive national program for the preservation, study,  use and development
of estuaries, and recommend the respective roles  of Federal, State,  and
local governments and public and private interests.
     Conducted by the Federal Water Quality Administration, the study  in-
volves the gathering and review of data information relating to a  number of
areas among which are:  social, economic, and ecological  trends; the effects
of pollution, including sedimentation, on many beneficial uses  of  the  estu-
aries; and the effects of demographic trends, industrial  development,  and
other activities on the quality of estuarine waters.
     Hearings were held in Juneau and Anchorage in June of  1968, to secure
the information necessary to complete the national  study.   The  study was
submitted to Congress in November 1969, and a copy was sent to  the State
of Alaska.  The recommendations were, in general, that there is a  national
interest in the estuarine and coastal areas of this country; that  the
multiple use concept should prevail; and that some system should be de-
vised and set up by the states to plan and zone for the wise management of
the estuaries.  This study has served as the basis for two  bills now pending
in Congress that would allow for Federal support'and financing  of  state
plans that would create coastal management authorities to carry out the
findings of this act.
     Another important piece of legislation passed in August 1968, which
was known as the National Estuary Protection Act.  This legislation calls

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for the Department of the Interior to study and inventory the  nation's
estuaries with a view to determining whether it would  be  feasible  and
desirable to develop and administer a nation-wide system  of estuarine
areas, protected and supported through Government management.   The study
was carried out by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries within the Department  of
the Interior, and was closely coordinated with the National  Estuarine Pol-
lution Study by the Federal  Water Quality Administration.  The study is
complete and the copies will soon be available.
     Now let me turn back to the question of research.  The Federal Water
Quality Administration does carry out a comprehensive  research program
based upon in-house research through one of its eight  research labora-
tories throughout the country and a number of associated  field sites.
Secondly, contract projects, primarily with industry,  and third, grant
projects with universities, industries, states, and municipalities.  The
funding level for all FWQA research will be about $45  million  in FY 1971.
     Our in-house program is predicated on the assignment of specific
areas of technical responsibility to each of our laboratories.  For example,
the National Coastal Pollution Research Program is headquartered at the
Pacific Northwest Water Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon,  and is concerned
with defining the fate of pollutants in coastal waters, estuaries, the
Continental Shelf, and deep ocean areas, and to improve programs for pol-
lution control in these waters.  Research projects include the study of
the transport and diffusion of various wastes and the  physical, chemical,
and biological interactions of pollutants in the marine environment.  Re-
search results will be used in improved discharge or disposal  designs,  lo-
cations, and operating practices at existing or planned sources to coastal
waters.   Lessening the pollutional impacts of coastal engineering projects
such as marinas, breakwater construction, and dredging activities  is also

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a program objective.   The program includes the development of scientific
equipment and analytical'methods for pollution studies  to  provide  a  more
precise marine water quality standards.
     National marine water quality criteria and standards  are being  con-
tinually developed and reviewed by our laboratory in West  Kingston,  Rhode
Island.  This is a big research effort which is geared  to  developing suit-
able water quality requirements for industrial and recreational  use  as  well
as requirements for important marine organisms.  These  requirements  include
such parameters as dissolved oxygen, temperature, and salinity for marine
organisms and toxicity levels of a variety of substances and compounds.  The
third major area of research within the organization, which has direct  appli-
cation to Alaskan coastal waters, is industrial pollution  control  technology.
Techniques and processes must be developed and demonstrated to achieve  effec-
tive and economical control of pollution from such industries as petroleum,
chemical products, pulp and paper and industrial  wastes from seafood pro-
cessing.  These are all important industries in the economic and social
fabric of Alaska.
     The Alaska Water Laboratory has the research mission  to develop waste
treatment and pollution evaluation techniques which apply  to cold  climate
water pollution control.   I will outline some of the studies and investiga-
tions that have been conducted here in Alaska that are  relative to the  coast
and estuarine areas.  First of all, we have conducted studies on the effects
of pulp mill effluent wastes on the waters of Ward Cove and Silver Bay.
This study is now complete and reports are in final preparation.  In general,
we have found a rather serious degradation of water quality due to the  in-
adequately treated wastes that come from these two industrial operations  in
Southeast Alaska.  If these estuarine areas are to serve other important
uses, water quality will  have to be improved.

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     Preliminary studies have also been made on another important  industrial
waste here in Alaska—the seafood processing waste.   Alaska  ranks  as  one  of
the leaders in the United States on the tonage of seafood  landed and  processed.
A large percentage of the shellfish processing is done in  one  location, Kodiak.
The discharge of raw wastes into Kodiak Harbor has resulted  in degradation  of
the water quality and impeded the various other important  and  economic  uses
of that body of water.  The Federal Water Quality Administration has, in
March of this year, awarded a demonstration grant to the City  of Kodiak for
"Pollutional Abatement and By-Product Recovery in Shellfish  Processing."
This project will, hopefully, provide the technology to efficiently use the
huge quantities of valuable seafood that are presently being wasted and,  in
the process, protect our valuable  estuaries.
     One of the vast areas where good information is minimal is that  area of
the coastal environment which surrounds us here in the Arctic. The Insti-
tute of Marine Science has requested and has just received a grant offer
from the .Federal Water Quality Administration to carry out a baseline study
of the Alaskan arctic estuarine environment.  This is-a'n important first
step in understanding the economic and ecological importance of this  great
area of arctic coastline.  A study that is currently underway  by the  Alaska
Water Laboratory ties in very closely with the Institute of  Marine Science
grant project.  This in-house effort is the study of the Sagavanirktok
River Basin.  The study was initiated for the purpose of investigating the
basic physical, chemical and biological nature of this river system.   To
more fully understand how the river system functions, we have  just conducted
a winter field trip to the basin to sample and analyze those water quality
parameters that are important for the protection and proper  utilization of
the Sagavanirktok River.

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     Perhaps no area of water quality management and control  is  of more
  v.^
importance to us now than the area of oil  pollution.   Surely, as  we  look
ahead in the future of Alaska and in the development of our coastal resources,
we must foresee and forestall the-great danger of pollution from oil  and other
hazardous materials.  The Federal Water Quality Administration has maintained,
for three years now, an office dealing with oil  pollution control  and techni-
cal assistance to the State and industry in the Cook Inlet area.  Since  the
great discoveries of oil on the North Slope, and the proposition of an 800-
mile pipeline to bring this oil out to an ice-free port in Central Alaska,
this operation has to be expanded if we are to protect, conserve,  and fully
utilize the estuarine and coastal resources that we have here in Alaska.
The national responsibility for oil pollution control  technology rests, with
our Edison Water Quality Laboratory in New Jersey.  This laboratory is moving
ahead in research on a wide front of oil pollution control techniques.  I
brought with me a few of their recent publications, as you see;  "Chemical
Treatment of Oil Slicks," "Biological  Effects of Oil Pollution," "Oil Samp-
ling Techniques," "Restoration of Oil  Contaminated Beaches," and "The Santa
Barbara Oil Pollution Incident."  The technology that is being  investigated
and developed through the efforts of the Laboratory and with grants and  con-
tracts needs to be applied to our specific problems here in Alaska. Some of
what is being developed will not apply; therefore, it is so important that
we here in Alaska seek out, with our own resources and our own  devices,  an
understanding of the problems that confront us and workable solutions to
solve these problems.  Otherwise, the septer of ecological disaster will
always hang over our head.  We must, through all our efforts, create  a
policy to protect, improve and manage our estuaries and coastal  areas through
research, planning, legislation, and operational programs.

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     Today we must act with what we  know,  even  while  we  learn more effective
water quality management.   This requires  a cooperative effort between  Federal,
State and local  governments, private and  public bodies,  professions of every
kind, and the public.
     I commend you for your efforts  and extend  our  resources and our coopera-
tion in the development and protection and conservation  of  our estuaries and
coastal areas of Alaska.
     Thank you very much.

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