Env
Age
EPA-600/8-82
August 19;
SERA
Impact of Man on the
Coastal Environment
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August 1982
Impact of Man on the Coastal
Environment
Technical Editor
Thomas W. Duke
Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Gulf Breeze, Florida 32561
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
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DISCLAIMER
Mention of trade names or commercial products does not
constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.
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FOREWORD
The formation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 ushered in
the first decade of environmental awareness as a total national phenomenon. It was a
decade punctuated by major Congressional mandates to restore the nation's waters,
to reduce air pollution, and to find a comprehensive approach to other environmental
problems—those associated with pesticide use, hazardous waste disposal and toxic
substances. It was a decade underscored by the demand for new technology and
better science to answer environmental questions and to solve environmental
problems.
As the scientific and technical arm of the Agency, The Office of Research and
Development is responsible for advancing the state of knowledge about the environ-
ment such that critical issues and questions can be addressed and answered
effectively, based on the application of state-of-the-art science and technology. In the
years since 1970, The Office of Research and Development has produced manifold
increases in the data base from which environmental decisions are made and in the
sophistication of the understanding which has provided the basis for decisions.
This volume represents our effort to take stock of scientific advances in research
pertaining to the coastal environment since the inception of the Agency and to gauge
what progress has been made and what remains to be accomplished. The essays in
this volume present a range of perspectives on the subject, from the vantage points of
the scientific and technical disciplines which have been carrying out relevant
research. The points of view represented are varied and sometimes conflicting. But
scientific progress depends on just such diversity. The authors at times have
speculated about emerging problems and research needs. Such attempts require
extrapolation based upon informed scientific judgment. The outcome of that process
must, in the final analysis, be recognized as opinion and not fact.
111
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PREFACE
This publication is one of several monographs prepared to commemorate the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's tenth anniversary. It is fortuitous but appro-
priate for the Agency to begin publication of a monograph on "The I mpact of Man
on the Coastal Environment" in 1980, which was officially designated by the Presi-
dent as "Year of the Coast." The Environmental Protection Agency was created in
1970 by Executive Orderto focus, within one agency, all regulatory-related pollution
research conducted by the federal government. Such a mission includes research on
the coastal environment, where human land-based activities often interface with
productive coastal waters. In the context of this monograph, the coastal environ-
ment includes estuarine and marine waters.
The purpose of the monograph is to provide scholarly discussions of some major
coastal problems that were addressed during the past decade. The authors of these
chapters were chosen because of their expertise in specific aspects of coastal ecology
and their accomplishments as marine scientists. They represent various academic
institutions and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
that are concerned with research in the coastal environment. Each was charged to
describe the issues, their significance and context, to develop the state of knowledge,
noting progress through the decade, and to project long-term research needs for the
future. The papers were to be more interpretive than review-oriented. Although the
problems discussed are of interest .to the Environmental Protection Agency, the
authors were asked to base the presentation on their perspective, regardless of the
Agency's involvement or actions.
The Environmental Protection Agency'scoastalresearchactivitiesaredistributed
among three environmental research laboratories located at Corvallis, Oregon;
Narragansett, Rhode Island; and Gulf Breeze, Florida. Each laboratory conducts
research in the coastal zone in which it is situated and participates in national
research programs. Scientists in these laboratories develop and interpret a scien-
tifically sound and legally defensible data base in response to the Environmental
Protection Agency's regulatory needs. Research activities vary from developing
laboratory test protocols to evaluating the effect and fate of toxic substances in
coastal waters and mounting full-scale laboratory-field assessment of the impact of
pollutants on specific ecosystems. Activities during the past decade have included
such environmental problems as the release of Kepone, a highly toxic pesticide, into
the James River and adjacent coastal area; ocean disposal projects in the New York
Bight, Atlantic Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico; assessment of the oiling of south Texas
beaches by crude oil from the Ixtoc oil well blowout in Mexican waters and other oil
spills; and assessment of the effects of various industrial and municipal effluents on
coastal systems.
The Environmental Protection Agency's coastal research efforts, although a small
part of the total federal commitment to marine research and a small part of the over-
all effort in this country, are uniquely tied to regulatory mandates from Congress.
Environmental Protection Agency scientists involved in regulatory research find it
necessary and desirable to communicate with the marine science community, which
includes other agencies. Recent legislation, such as the National Ocean Pollution
Research and Development Planning Act (PL 95-273), encourages communication
among administrators as well as scientists. Under PL 95-273, NOAA was given
iv
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responsibility for preparing the plan in concert with the Environmental Protection
Agency and other agencies.
That law required an assessment of national needs and problems pertaining to
ocean pollution research and development and the development of a national plan
Tor coastal pollution research. It also solicited policy recommendations concerning
ocean pollution research. An interagency committee was formed to develop a com-
prehensive 5-year ocean pollution research plan. To that end, workshops involving
representatives from public and private sectors met and contributed to the plan.
Various subcommittees and workshops sponsored by the interagency committee
identified the following major research concerns for the marine area:
• Description and measurement of critical functional components of undisturbed
and perturbed ecosystems.
• Measurement of rates and interactions associated with processes and fluxes
within individual organisms and in major ecosystems.
* Determination and evaluation of importance of effects (both short- and long-
term) on components, processes, and fluxes that constitute significant alterations
in organisms and ecosystems.
• Definition of the assimilative capacity for degradable materials in relation to
other uses of the marine environment.
• Determination of effects of long-term, low-level, chronic pollution resulting from
spills, production, and operational discharges in development of predictive
models.
• Improvement of curability to choose waste treatment strategies and outfall sites.
Evaluation of nutrient characteristics of particular in-shore marine ecosystems,
separating natural from human-made variations, and accurate determination of
the degree and persistence of change that any proposed municipal discharge is
likely to produce.
The list of future research needs also reflects, and in some instances strengthens,
research efforts started in the past decade in response to pollution incidents that
occurred in the coastal zone as well as continued efforts to maintain and improve the
ecological "health" of the zone. Subjects for the chapters of this monograph were
selected to highlight either events that underscore pollution problems or research
efforts that emerged from them. Defmitjop of tfie assimilative capacity of coastal
waters to human wastes (the subject of the firsjt paper) has received much attention,
particularly d uring the latter part of the decade. Papers dealing with the Chesapeake
Bay and the New York Bighf were chosen to illustrate both the problems and
progress in pollution control of valuable coastal areas and may serve as examples of
sites where capacity to assimilate specific pollutants has tyeen exceeded. Discussions
of the impact of specific pollutants, such as nutrients, oil, and toxic substances, also
are presented.
It is appropriate, as a starting point, to examine the assimilative capacity of the
oceans (Paper I, The Oce^fis end (he Wastes oftfuman Societies). In a sense, this
sets the stage for the following papers. Assimilative capacity is defined as the amount
of a given material that a \yater mass can absorb without resultant unacceptable
impacts, be they upon living organisms qr nonliving resources. This amount is deter-
mined by titration of the polluting sinstance and becomes evident at an endpoint.
(Pollutant concentrations that result in an effect before an endpoint is reached are
referred to as checkpoints.) Radioactivity is used as an example in which unaccept-
able amounts of ruthenium-106 in the seaweed Ptirphyra near the Windscale
Processing Plant in the United Kingdom constitute an endpoint. Examplesare given
of wastes in the U.S. coastal waters in which the assimilative capacity is not fully
reached and others in which endpoints indicate that the capacity is nearing satura-
tion. The role of monitoring in assessing assimilative capacity and the use of physio-
logical responses as indices of adverse effects are discussed.
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The Chesapeake Bay has undergone a period of exceptional change during the
past decade (Paper 2, Pollution in Chesapeake Bay: A Case History ami Assess-
ment). Some of this change was caused by the introduction of human pollutants -
sewage, nutrients, heat, oil and chemical spills, and toxicants. The actual and
potential effects of these pollutants on the Bay are discussed. An evaluation of events
following the release of Kepone. a persistent chlorinated hydrocarbon, in the James
River is presented with documentation of effects on human health and aquatic
species. Although most of the Kepone originally released is buried by recent sedi-
mentation, much of the biota remains contaminated.
The Chesapeake Bay Program, a research endeavor sponsored by the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, emphasi/es toxic materials, submerged aquatic vege-
tation, overenrichment, and improved management of water quality. This study is
about three-fourths completed and involves about 60 principal investigators at 30
agencies and institutions. The Bay research program, as well as other recent studies,
regards the Chesapeakealong with its tidal tributaries asa single entity with physical,
chemical, and biological continuity—the total Bay is treated as an ecosystem. This
treatment was pointed out as an advance for the decade. An assessment of pollution
problems of the Bay indicates new and improved state laws, stronger management
involvement, and increased focus for more sophisticated research, all of which may
have positive effects. However, population growth continues with attendant loading
and introduction of exotic toxicants and other materials which continue to plague
the Bay.
The New York Bight is an example of a coastal area where human influences are
functions of striking increases in population density and energy usages (Paper 3,
Pollution in the New York Bight: A Case History). In earlier times, solid wastes were
dumped on lower value lands to create new land; garbage and refuse were dumped in
the inner Bight, and sediment and sewage sludges were dumped nearby. The dis-
charge of waste in the Bight area is still a concern and has received much attention
during the past decade. Modifications of the Bight ecosystem are difficult to docu-
ment because of limited measurements and large variability in responses to natural
environmental fluctuations. Several environmental issues with attendant impacts
during the past 10 years are discussed and include bathing water quality, oil spills,
and dredged material. In addition, environmental crises (real or imaginary), such as
beach pollution by sewage sludge and btoaccumulation of dredged material, are
presented. Several limitations to statutes and regulations are discussed in relation to
pollution control and management of resources in the Bight. In general, much was
accomplished during the 1970s toward identifying and understanding the causes and
effects of marine pollution in the New York Bight. It is suggested that in the future,
effects of pollution in the Bight be evaluated at the ecosystem level and, ifecological
effects are deemed unacceptable, remedial action be taken without necessarily
attempting to blame or control any single chemical or type of waste.
Domestic sewage contains nutrients that, when discharged into the coastal
environment, have potential for detrimental effects (Paper 4, Man's Impact on the
Coastal Environment: Nutrients in the Marine Environment). Even when sewage
receives secondary treatment to reduce biological oxygen demand before being dis-
charged, the treatment does not remove essential plant nutrients, primarily nitrogen
and phosphorus. Occurrence of these conservative elements in domestic sewage and
the role of sewage in coastal ecology are discussed. The Hudson Estuary is used as an
example of how nutrients introduced into a river or estuary mrght adversely affect
"downstream" coastal waters. Excessive turbidity limits stimulation of phytoplank-
ton photosynthesis in the Hudson Estuary, but nutrients from sewage discharges
into the estuary at least partially nourish photosynthesis over a wide area in the
New York Bight. The Hudson Estuary also was used to illustrate that the distribu-
tion of a conservative element can be predicted readily for steady-state conditions,
but details of distribution and mechanisms that control and produce observed distri-
butions are more difficult to understand. Difficulties encountered in makingsteady-
vi
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state predictions are presented. These include errors in the use of the total volume
versus the freshwater volume of an estuary and the assumption for dilution. The
necessity of considering the coastal system as a whole in calculating assimilative
capacity is highlighted.
Toxic organics, including pesticides, compounds associated with petroleum or its
derivatives, and industrial compounds are introduced into coastal waters and can
adversely affect the biota and environment in which they live (Paper 5, Impact of
Toxic Organic* on the Coaxial Environment). This chapter focuses largely on pesti-
cides and selected organics used in industrial processes. The banning of DDT in 1972
led to the development and use of a variety of new chemical and biological pesticides.
In many instances, these compounds were more specific and less persistent than the
organochlorines used previously. Scientific expertise for development and applica-
tion of tests to measure fate and effects of toxic organics progressed during the
decade from simple static tests, with mortality as the only effect criterion, to chronic
evaluations, with growth, reproduction, behavior, and other sublethal criteria of
effect.
As the assessment methods became more complex, so too did the types and
chemistry of the agents themselves. There emerged a group of materials and
synthetic chemicals known as "third-generation pesticides"that are insect hormones
or mimic the actions of hormones that control growth or metamorphosis. New toxi-
cological and exposure assessment techniques were developed to assess the effect of
these new compounds on coastal species. Sublethal effects of these compounds on
marine species, especially crustaceans, are described. Mention is made of the need to
expand from controlled laboratory tests that rely on conventional techniques to
detect low concentrations of pollutants to tests that measure biological response in
the environment.
Large amounts of petroleum are produced and transported in the coastal zone,
and these activities combine to focus a major impact on this environment (Paper 6,
Impact of Oil on the Coastal Environment). The contribution of petroleum products
to coastal areas through production, transportation, river runoff, and municipal and
industrial wastes, as well as the chemical composition of various mixtures of oil, is
discussed. Evidently, biological and aesthetic damage by chronic or acute release of
petroleum into the environment is a function of the weathering of the oil, which
includes such factors as evaporation, emulsification, photochemical oxidation, and
biodegradation. The biological effects of oil are presented in a matrix, one side of
which represents the level of biological organization (bacteria to fish), and the other,
individual petroleum compounds, various fuel oils, and crude oils. Data are given on
the toxicity of oil compounds to species and communities. Community studies with
plankton in open ocean waters showed that population structure and succession
patterns of plankton may be more useful as measurements of stress than are meta-
bolic functions. Information on the kinds and concentration of petroleum in the
environment has increased significantly during the past decade as a result of
increased petroleum activity and rapid development of analytical instrumentation.
Future research on this subject should include an understanding of the relationships
between the flow of petroleum carbon and the flow of synthetic carbon.
In my opinion, the authors have met the charge previously stated and produced a
publication that will be of value to the scientific community. On behalf of the
Environmental Protection Agency, 1 thank them for taking time from busy
schedules to participate in our Decade Project.
Thomas W. Duke
Editor
Vll
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CONTENTS
Foreword iii
Preface iv
Figures x
Tables xi
The Oceans and the Wastes of Human Societies, Edward D. Goldberg 1
Pollution in the Chesapeake Bay: A Case History and Assessment,
L. Eugene Cronin 17
Pollution in the New York Bight: A Case History, Joel S. O'Connor and
Douglas A. Segar 47
Man's Impact on the Coastal Environment: Nutrients in the Marine
Environment, Bostwick H. Ketchum 68
Impact of Toxic Organics on the Coastal Environment, John D.
Costlow 86
Impact of Oil on the Coastal Environment, Patrick L. Parker and
J. Kenneth Winters 96
IX
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FIGURES
Number Page
Goldberg
1 - Radiation exposure from consumption of laverbread. Radiation
exposure of GI tract lower large intestine from the consumption
of laverbread at 160 g/d. Unshaded blocks-dose-rate based on laver-
bread manufactured from contaminated weed only; shaded blocks-
dose-rate on laverbread manufactured from contaminated weed
diluted by the addition of clean weed. (Preston and
Mitchell, 1973) 4
2 - The depth profile of elemental carbon (charcoal) in a Lake Michigan
sediment. The ages were determined by Pb-210 geochronology 9
Cronin
\ - The Chesapeake Bay 19
2 - Chesapeake Bay region, indicating land used for residential and
commercial activities as of 1973 (Corps of Engineers, Baltimore
District, 1977) 20
3 - Chesapeake Bay region, indicating land used for residential and
commercial activities as projected for 2020 (Corps of Engineers,
Baltimore District, 1977) 21
4 - Environmental impact of domestic wastes on other uses of the Bay
(Ellis, 1973) 23
Ketchum
1 - Comparison of atomic N:P ratios observed in wastewater-seawater
mixtures and in Phaeodactvlum tricornutum (from Goldman,
1976 71
2 - Proportions from different sources of carbon, nitrogen and
phosphorus added to the New York Bight (after Mueller et al.,
1976 81
Parker and Winters
I - Classes of compounds found in petroleum , 98
2 - Distribution of the chemical compounds of a crude oil. (From
John M. Hunt, Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology. W. H.
Freeman and Company, Copyright© 1979.) 99
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TABLES
Number Page
Goldberg
I - Principal Discharge of Liquid Radioactive Waste from
Windscale, 1977 {Hunt, 1979) 5
2 - Pollutants Analyzed in U.S. Mussel Watch 8
Cronin
1 - Chesapeake Bay—Physical and Biological Characteristics, Selected
Usages and Basin Population (Corps of Engineers, 1974; Corps
of Engineers, 1977; Cronin, W., 1971; Lippson, 1973) 18
O 'Connor and Segar
1 - Sources of Pollutants to Hudson-Raritan Estuary and Metals in
Sewage Sludge 63
Ketchum
1 - Availability of Nutrient Elements and of Oxygen in "Average"
Seawater (S = 34.7°/oo; T = 2°C) and the Ratios of Their Ability
and Utilization by Plankton (after Redfield et al., 1963) 70
2 - Contaminant Inputs and N:P Ratios for Selected Ocean Regions
(after Segar, in press) 73
3A - Total Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentration (Median) in Waste-
water Effluents Following Four Conventional Treatment Processes
(after Mancini et al., in press) 74
3B - Typical Wastewater Characteristics (after Mueller et al., 1976) 74
4 - Effect of P-Detergent Ban on P Removal on the N:P Ratio of
Wastewaters (after Mancini et al., in press) 75
5 - Removal of Nitrogen from Sewage Effluents (after Mancini et al.,
in press) 76
6 - Example of Calculation of the Horizontal Volume Flux, Relative
to River Flow R, Through a Cross-Section of a Hypothetical
Moderately Stratified Estuary , 77
7 - Sewage Derived Inorganic Nitrogen (NO3~ + NO2" + NHj) in the
Hudson River Estuary 80
XI
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Number Page
Parker and Winters
1 - Comparison of Estimates for Petroleum Hydrocarbons Annually
Entering the Ocean, Circa 1969-197! 97
2 - Comparison of 96-hr LCJO Values (ppm) for Marine Animals Tested
with Various Oils or Aromatic Hydrocarbons 104
3 - n-Alkanes and Isoprenoids in Trichodemium sp. (Percent
Composition) 109
4 - Concentrations of Fluoranthene and Pyrene in Mussels and
Oysters (ppm-IO'6 g/g Dry Weight) 110
XII
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THE OCEANS AND THE WASTES OF
HUMAN SOCIETIES
Edward D. Goldberg
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California at San Diego
La Jolla, California 92093
INTRODUCTION
The possible loss or restricted use of marine resources as a consequence of
pollutant introduction has been recogni/ed for the past three decades. This under-
standing developed when the use of nuclear energy was in its infancy and the
possibility existed that highly toxic, artificially produced radionuclides could enter
the atmosphere and the oceans. Scientists from several countries sought to define the
acceptable levels of these radionuclides that the oceans might accommodate without
jeopardizing public health or the integrity of marine ecosystems. Discharges of such
materials have been regulated using the most reliable scientific information with the
result that the world ocean does not appear to have dangerous levels of radioactivity.
During these last 30 years, a series of catastrophic events has identified other
polluting materials entering the marine environment. Perhaps most notorious is the
Minimata Bay incident. Mercury and its compounds from the Chisso Chemical Cor-
poration, which manufactures plastics and industrial chemicals, were discharged in
wastes to Minimata Bay and entered the marine food chain. Fishermen, their
families, and their pets ingested methyl mercury chloride and were afflicted with a
serious neurological disease that caused over a hundred mortalities and a greater
number of morbidities. The disease first became apparent in 1953, and the active
agent was identified in 1963 as methyl mercury chloride. Curiously, this compound is
the dominant natural form of mercury in marine fish. Although the financial losses
to the Japanese are difficult to estimate, they appear to be in the hundreds of millions
of dollars.
Kepone, a halogcnated hydrocarbon used as a pesticide, was promiscuously
released by a chemical manufacturing concern to the James River, which drains into
southern Chesapeake Bay. This activity was discovered after workers in the produc-
tion plant became ill through exposure. The carcinogen contaminated the fish and
shellfish in the estuarine environment, resulting in a ban against their commercial
harvesting. Losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to the fishing industry are
estimated.
Thus, as a result of scientific intuition and catastrophes, a large number of
pollutants have been identified within the oceans (NOAA, 1979). This awareness,
coupled with monitoring activities, has reduced the possibility of other catastrophic
events. Few of these identified pollutants cause any apparent damage to the living or
nonliving resources of the sea or to humans who consume fish and shellfish or are
exposed in recreational areas. Regulatory actions have reduced the release of other
pollutants to the oceans.
I
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Our concerns with marine pollution are a part of a much larger and perhaps much
more important problem—a quantification of the ability of the oceans to accept a
portion of the wastes of human societies. The peoples of the world utilize about three
billion tons per year of minerals, food, and forest products. If this tonnage were com-
pressed into a cube, each edge of the cube would be a kilometer long. (In addition,
about 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released to the atmosphere through the
combustion of oil, coal, and other fossil fuels.) Since the solid arid liquid materials
are generally not accumulated but are disposed, the identification of sites to accom-
modate these wastes is of paramount importance, especially if we wish to maintain
environmental resources. The use of the oceans as disposal space has been accepted
throughout history. Yet extreme care must be exercised in regulating the amounts
and types of discharges such that the resources of the oceans are kept in renewable
slates.
Previous investigations of marine pollution problems provide guidance about the
possible disposal of benign and toxic wastes to the sea. Clearly, economicand social
considerations are involved. But the development of scientific protocols for assess-
ment of assimilative capacities of marine waters can proceed upon the basis of past
experience. It is with this view in mind that I will review some of the more important
events in marine pollution and in marine chemistry, and 1 will then present some
concepts used in determining assimilative capacities.
THE SPRINGBOARD - RADIOACTIVE POLLUTION
In the early 1950s, many scientists were concerned about the ability of the oceans
to accept artificially produced radionuclides and especially about the biological
effects of radiation. The mood of the period is well expressed in the following para-
graph (Revelle and Schaefer, 1957):
Among the variety of questions generated by the introduction of radioactive
materials into the sea, there are few to which we can give precise answers. We can,
however, provide conservative answers to many of them, which can serve as a basis
of action pending the results of detailed experimental studies. The large areas of
uncertainty respecting the physical, chemical, and biological processes in the sea
lead to restrictions on what can now be regarded as safe practices. These will
probably prove to be too severe when we have obtained greater knowledge. It is
urgent that the research required to formulate more precise answers be vigorously
pursued.
The regulatory measures that limit the introduction of radionuclides to the oceans
have been formulated over the past decades with the goal of protecting human
health. Perhaps the largest amounts of radioactivity introduced today come from the
nuclear reprocessing plant at Windscale, United Kingdom. The materials enter the
Irish Sea through a pipeline from the various facilities. United Kingdom environ-
mental scientists have developed protocols to regulate such discharges on the basis of
the "critical pathways" technique. Herein, radionuclides that are ingested through
the consumption of algae, fish, and shellfish or the cumulative gamma radiation of
which is emitted from sediments in beach areas and which may achieve levels capable
of jeopardizing human health are monitored. The surveillances are carried out on the
consumed foods or their basic components and at the beach areas of concern.
Supported by assessments prepared by the International Commission on Radio-
logical Protection (ICRP). permissible body burdens of given radionuclides have
been evolved based upon their toxicity. A "critical population" is identified con-
sisting of those individuals receiving the highest radiation dose rates, either from
food consumption or from beach exposure. The acceptable levels are conservative.
with many built-in maximizing assumptions such as those of a lifetime consumption
of the radionuclide in question and the proviso that the living materials eventually
eaten come only from the area adjacent to the Windscale outfall.
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Several classical cases of pollutant management have evolved. The first involved
the release to the oceans of ruthenium-106, which is accumulated by the algae
Porphyra. A small population in south Wales uses the seaweed as a food in the
preparation of a pudding called laverbread. Although the pathway is now essentially
dormant because the consumers no longer receive their algae from the Windscale
area, monitoring is nevertheless still performed (Hunt, 1979), Figure 1 illustrates the
results of monitoring activities for this radionuclide.
The laverbread story illustrates effectively the "critical pathways" approach
formulated in the United Kingdom. The guiding principle involves the identification
of the pathways by which a radioactive substance introduced to the environment can
return to the population. In general, for the radioactive isotopes of a given element,
only one or two pathways are of importance. Of further importance isthe identifica-
tion of the critical group within a given population that receives the highest dosage of
the radionuclide. United Kingdom policy explicitly attempts to control the release of
radioactive nuclides to the environment on the basis of protecting the most highly
exposed individual (Preston and Mitchell, 1973).
The population exposed to ruthenium-106 through laverbread consumption
numbered 26,000. The critical group consumed about 160 grams (5.6 ounces) of the
product per day; exposure estimates have been based upon studies of this very small
subpopulation. The Porphyra that accumulated ruthenium-106 from the nuclear
activities at Windscale comprised only a part of the sea weed used by the critical pop-
ulation, although there were times when only the Windscale Porphyra were utilized.
In estimating total exposures of the critical population, the model assumes that no
dilution of the Windscale Porphyra with seaweeds containing no ruthenium-106 has
taken place. The monitoring program covered sites where the seaweed could poten-
tially be harvested at distances up to 40 km (25 mi) from Windscale. At the beginning
of the monitoring program, the dilution of Windscale seaweed with that from other
areas could be estimated, since all of the Porphyra was shipped by rail. Theshipping
records were available up until the late 1960s, after which the use of rail transport
declined. Subsequently, the monitoring of the laverbread itself became necessary.
External exposure of the public to gamma-emitting radionuclides that became
associated with paniculate phases and subsequently entered the beach areas was also
recognized. The nuclides of concern in the past have been 7.irconium-95 and
niobium-95 (Preston and Mitchell, 1973). The critical population for external expo-
sure was revealed to be one salmon fisherman, whose activities were confined to a
single beach at one estuary where the silt and the clay minerals containing the radio-
active substances accumulated. This individual spent some 300 hours per year in his
pursuit of the salmon. This rather unique case emphasizes the need for social as well
as scientific studies.
Another example considers public radiation exposure from radiocesium, which
is highly concentrated in fish and shellfish. The highest exposure to members of the
critical population, based upon their consumption of these marine products, was 31
percent of the ICRP-recommended dose limit in 1977 (Hunt. 1979).
The significant lesson from these British activities is that highly toxic materialscan
be released to the marine environment and can potentially return to impact human
health. With appropriate models and confirmatory monitoring procedures, risk to
the most susceptible individuals can be minimized. Further, of great significance is
the public dissemination of all information and data regarding the radioactive
releases. Table I shows the important releases from Windscale. Here, discharge
limits for individual or collectives of radionuclides are given and the percentage of
the limit utilized in 1977. Such data are issued on an annual basis.
MERCURY AND SOCIETAL REACTION TIMES
In 1963, following the Minimata Bay epidemic and a similar outbreak in Niigata,
Japan, where chemical factories discharged spent mercury wastes into natural
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2.0
1.5
1.0
1.,
Cfl
I.
z
•1
'•J
1
Q
a
LU
:.,.
•'/
LU
0.5
ICRP recommended dose limit
:
9I
1959I 60
61
62
i
63 64
I
65
I
66
67
I
68
69
70
71
Figure 1. Radiation exposure from consumption of laverbread Radiation exposure of
the Gl tract lower large intestine from the consumption of laverbread at
160 g/d. Unshaded blocks-dose-rate based on laverbread manufactured
from contaminated weed only; shaded blocks-dose-rate on laverbread
manufactured from contaminated weed diluted by the addition of clean
weed. (Preston and Mitchell, 1973)
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Table 1. Principal Discharge of Liquid Radioactive Waste from Windscale,
1977 (Hunt, 1979)
Radioactivity
Total beta
Ruthenium-106
Strontium-90
Total alpha
Discharge
limit
{annual
equivalent),
Ci
300,000
60,000
30,000
6,000
TBq
7,132
816
427
46
Discharge
Ci
192,768
22,053
11,534
1,241
OOOf
limit
utilized
64
37
38
21
waters, methyl mercury chloride was identified as the active toxin. During the same
period in Sweden some disastrous impacts upon fish and wildlife through their
consumption of organic mercurial pesticides, often used as seed coatings, alerted
some scientists to study the environmental chemistry of mercury. From such investi-
gations, it was established that uncontaminated fish had a mercury burden primarily
in the form of methyl mercury.
The first group to evaluate systematically the risks in the consumption of fish
containing mercury was appointed in 1968 by the Swedish National Institute of
Public Health in conjunction with the Swedish Board of Health and the Swedish
National Veterinary Board. The group assessed the toxicological evidence from the
Japanese epidemics and the fish-eating habits of both the Japanese and Scandi-
navian populations. Some Swedish individuals who consumed large quantities of
fish and who had no symptoms of Mtnimata Bay disease had mercury concentra-
tions in their hair and blood similar to those of the Japanese who had shown neuro-
logical symptoms of the disease. The results emphasized the varying sensitivities of
individuals to methyl mercury poisoning and the different eating patterns of popula-
tions from different countries. The average daily consumptions of fish per day in
Japan and Sweden are 84 and 56 grams (3 and 2 ounces)/day. respectively, while in
the United States the value is 17 grams (0.6 ounces)/day. The evaluation by the
Swedish Group( Anonymous, 1973) indicated that 10 percent of the Swedish popula-
tion might carry the maximum tolerable level in their bodies through the consump-
tion of fish containing 0.5 ppm of mercury (wet weight). This amount has not yet
produced Minimata Bay disease. A safety factor often is built into the calculations.
The limit of 0.5 ppm of mercury in fish, or modifications of it, has been adopted not
only by Sweden but by many other northern European countries and by the United
States.
The important lesson from the mercury tragedy is that scientists can reach an
understanding of a critical pollution problem in the coastal zone and can propose
remedial action in decades. It took a bit over two decades for the Japanese govern-
ment to halt the discharge of mercury into the coastal zone and for other countries to
define acceptable mercury levels in seafoods. The levels of mercury in fish from the
Baltic Sea were markedly reduced when the Swedish government, acting upon the
advice of its scientists, banned the discharge of mercury wastes from chemical plants.
DDT AND THE INTEGRITY OF ECOSYSTEMS
Whereas the protection of human health has been the goal of regulating the inputs
of radioactive substances and mercury to the marineenvironment, another criterion
for curbing discharges developed after DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbon
biocides were broadcast about the surface of the earth beginning in 1946. This
criterion was the maintenance of the integrity of ecosystems. Several scientists
recognized the potential deleterious impacts of DDT on nontarget organisms very
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early after its initial use. In 1946, Clarence Cottam and Elmer Higgins of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service wrote:
From the beginning of its wartime use as an insecticide the potency of DDT has been
the cause of both enthusiasm and grave concern. Some have come to consider it a
cure-all for insect pests; others are alarmed because of its potential harm. . . .DDT,
like every other effective insecticide or rodenticide, is really a two-edged sword; the
more potent the poison, the more damage it is capable of doing.. .the most pressing
requirement is a study to determine the effects of DDT as applied to agricultural
crops on the wildlife and game dependent upon anagriculturalenvironment. About
XO percent of our game birds, as well as a very high percentage of our nongatne and
insectivorous birds and mammals are largely dependent upon an agricultural envi-
ronment. In such places application of DDT will probably be heavy and wide-
spread; therefore, it is not improbable that the greatest damage to wildlife will occur
there. Because of the sensitivity of fishes and crabs to DDT, avoid as far as possible
direct application to streams, lakes and coastal bays.
Subsequent events have confirmed the observations and predictions of Cottam
and Higgins. For instance, one of the impacts upon marine ecosystems was the
reproductive failure in the brown pelican population on Anacapa Island, off the
California coast, from 1969 to 1972. The accumulation of DDT and its degradation
products, primarily DDE, by marine organisms that were the pelicans'food initiated
the problem. The source of the DDT was allegedly the wastes from a chemical
manufacturing plant in Los Angeles. The result was the production of thin egg shells
that broke easily (Risebrough, 1972).
The general use of DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides was
restricted in the early 1970s by the United States and many northern hemispheric
countries. Of importance in the DDT story is a criterion for the outlawing of its
use, its impact upon nontarget organisms, and the loss of integrity of ecosystems,
both on land and in the sea.
THE MONITORING MODE
Over the past three decades a targe number of polluting substances have been
identified as entering the marine environment (NOAA, 1979). Ingenera! they can be
classified into nine groups:
I. The synthetic organic chemicals, including such halogenated hydrocarbons as
DDT and its degradation products, Kepone, the polychlorinated biphenyls.
and low molecular weight halocarbons such as carbon tetrachloride and
chloroform.
2. The oxidation products from the chlorination and ozonation of waste and
cooling waters. These substances result from the interactions of bromine and
chlorine with organic molecules. Chloroform and chlorophenols are among the
products so tar identified.
3. Artificial radionuclides from the nuclear fuel cycle and from nuclear weapons
testing. This set includes the fission products (strontium-90, cesium-137), the
fuel materials and their alteration products (plutonium-239, plutonium-238.
americium-241), and the induced activities (manganese-54, cobalt-60).
4. Biostimulants, the plant nutrients such as compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus
and silicon, trace metals, and dissolved organics that cause increased plant pro-
ductivity. As a consequence, alteration of the plant community structure and
possibly eutrophication of the waters can come about.
5. Microorganisms, the agents of human and faunal disease, bacteria and
viruses.
6. Trace metals that can inhibit plant and animal productivity or can make sea-
foods toxic. Attention has been drawn to lead, cadmium, copper, mercury, and
arsenic, among others.
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7. Fossil fuel compounds, the hydrocarbons and other organic compounds of
petroleum, natural gas. coal, and oil shale. In addition there are the products of
their combustion and transformation through chemical, photochemical,
microbial, or metabolic actions.
8. Litter, a collective of materials that can be defined as any anthropogenic or
natural solid product that is out of place in the marine environment. The
product may be composed of plastic or othersynthetic organic materials, glass,
wood, petroleum components in the form of tar or grease balls, and natural
articles resulting from improper disposal.
9. Dredged materials that may contain some of the pollutants listed above and
large volume wastes such as sewage sludges and industrial discards.
Clearly, any given coastal water body will not be subject to insult by all collectives
of these polluants. Surveillance activities usually involve only a very few substances.
The tactics of monitoring depend not only upon the pollutants of concern but also
upon economics. Analyses of seawater are expensive. Assaying accurately for most
of the pollutants, especially those in extremely low concentrations, taxes the
resources of even the best analytical facilities. The collection of large volumes of
water without contamination and the subsequent assay schemes require sophisti-
cated sampling equipment and analytical instrumentation. An additional difficulty
with water assays is that they give instantaneous levels, whereas often an average or
integrated value over a longer time period is desired.
The major surveillance programs have utilized sentinel organisms or sediments,
usually directed at members of only one or two of the pollutant sets. The organisms
integrate the pollutant exposure levels for periods of days to years while the sedi-
ments can often reveal exposure levels averaged over a year. In both cases there are
restricted groups of pollutants amenable to measurement. For example, Holden
(1973) directed an international cooperative study of organochlorine and mercury
residues in wildlife, utilizing mussels, herring, pike, and eel as the sentinel organisms
and the eggs of heron, eider, tern, and pelican. Twenty-six laboratories from 12
countries were involved. Butleretal.(Butlerand Schutzmann, 1978and Butleretal.,
1978) have utilized estuarine mollusks and fish to monitor 20 organochlorine and
organophosphate pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in U.S. programs
beginning in 1965.
Perhaps the most extensive program has involved the use of bivalves to survey
annually the levels of chlorinated hydrocarbons, artificial radionuclides, metals, and
fossil fuel compounds at somewhat over a hundred stations around the coast of the
United States (Goldberg et al., 1978).
The collections included the mussels Myiitus edit/is and M. californianus and the
oysters Crassoxirea virginira and Ostrea equestris. Populations of sufficient size
were sampled such that only an insignificant number of the members were used.
Organisms of uniform siz.e were taken, usually 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in) long, although
larger oysters were often utilized. Where possible samples were collected from rock,
sand, or mud environments. Pilings or metal buoys were avoided to minimize uptake
by bivalves of paints, creosote, or other materials that might have been applied to the
substrates. Immediately after collection, the samples were placed in plastic bags(for
heavy metals or radionuclide assay) or aluminum foil (for petroleum hydrocarbons
and synthetic organic assay) and frozen. Samples were airshipped to the partici-
pating laboratories in styrofoam-lined cardboard shipping containers with dry ice.
A single scientist operating from a camper made the collections from June to
December starting in southern California and traversing the west coast of the United
States. Then a trip across the country took him to the east and gulf coast sampling
sites. The use of a single scientist provided uniformity in sampling and preserva-
tion techniques.
Collection costs in 1978 averaged about $1000 per station, including air shipments
to laboratories and the maintenance of library specimens from all stations.
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Analytical costs were: hydrocarbons, $1000 per sample; radionuclides. $550 per
sample; and heavy metals, $50 per sample. The pollutants analyzed are listed in
Table 2.
The program has identified varying degrees of pollution in U.S. coastal waters.
PCB levels at New Bedford Bay, Massachusetts, were so high that bans were placed
upon commercial fishing activities. Here the mussels had the highest PCB contents
measured in the program. High levels of DDT and its degradation products were
found in mussels taken from waters between San Francisco, California, and
San Diego. California. The source of these pesticides was a manufacturing plant in
l.os Angeles, California, between the two cities cited above. Wastes from the plant
were discharged through a sewer outfall to the oceans. There are a number of heavy-
metal "hot spots." Elevated levels appear in mussels from the New York-New Haven
area. The highest concentrations of copper and cadmium occur in organisms
collected in New Haven Harbor, Connecticut.
Table 2. Pollutants Analyzed in U.S. Mussel Watch
Heavy metals: Lead, cadmium, silver, zinc, copper, and nickel.
Mercury was added in 1978.
Radionuclides: Pu-239+240, Pu-238, Am-241, and Cs-137.
Halogenated hydrocarbons: p, p'-DDE and p, p'-DDD
PCBs(1254 and 1260).
Petroleum hydrocarbons: Naphthalene, methylnaphthalenes, C-2
naphthalenes, C-3 naphthalenes.
phenanthrene, methylphenanthrenes, C-2
phenanthrenes, fluoroanthene, pyrene,
chrysene/benzanthracene/triphenylene,
benzopyrene/perylene/benzofluoroanthene,
dibenzothiophene. and methyldibenzothiophene.
Coastal marine sediments, especially anoxic ones, contain historical records of
pollution. Usually, chronologies are developed on the basis of radiometric measure-
ments, such as lead-210 or cesium-I37 assays, or by the counting of varves. Heavy
metals, artificial radioactivities, and halogenated hydrocarbons have been studied
usually over periods of about a hundred years or less (Goldberg et al., 1978). These
historical records have been of greater use in studying the effects of regulatory or
remedial measures to reduce pollutant fluxes to the marine system than as
monitoring tools.
An example of sedimentary records of pollutants and associations with source
functions evolves from some recent studies at Lake Michigan. The area surrounding
the waters is a site of intensive agricultural and industrial activity. Natural and
human-induced combustion processes are responsible for the inputs of a variety of
materials to the lake. Some are toxic to living organisms; others are benign. The flow
of such materials can be followed by the charcoals produced by the incomplete
combustions of woods, coals, and petroleums. The morphologies and surface
characteristics of these charcoals (soot) are indicative of the different burning
processes.
Increased fluxes of the charcoals are evident in the sedimentary strata deposited
after 1900. Charcoal concentrations rose constantly until about 1968, at which time
they reached a maximum(Figure2).Thetin,chromium, nickel, lead,copper,cobalt,
cadmium, zinc, and ironconcentrations in the sediments displayed similar profiles as
a function of age of deposition. The maximum appears to be related to the period
when improved control devices that remove fly ash from the stack gases issuing from
energy-producing and industrial facilities were installed. After 1968 lower levels of
particulates are reported in the atmosphere adjacent to Lake Michigan. In the
deposit, fly ash particles increased in numbers in a fashion similar to that for char-
coal and heavy metals.
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1 1
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1970
1960
1950
1940
1930
1920
1910
1900
1890
1880
1870
1860
1850
1840
1830
% Carbon by Weight
Figure 2 The depth profile of elemental carbon (charcoal) in a Lake Michigan sedi
The ages were determined by Pb-210 geochronology.
On the other hand, one component of the sediments, quartz, thesource of which is
dominantly natural, decreased markedly in concentration in the recently deposited
strata, as compared with pre-industrial revolution values. The fall-off in concentra-
tion amounted to ahout 20 percent and resulted from the increased fluxes of fly ash
and associated debris to the deposit site from industrial activities.
There are a continually increasing number of studies illustrating similar environ-
mental histories of pollutants based upon records in sediments. Of importance is the
knowledge that the historical records are available, especially for those substances
that are recognized as toxic well after the time of their initial introduction to theenvi-
ronment. In addition, knowledge about the persistence of organic materials in the
marine environment can be drawn from their persistence in the sediments
THE STEPPING STONES
In the past three decades, during which the probl
In the past three decades, during which the problems of marine pollution have
been identified, knowledge about the oceans has grown dramatically. A part of this
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knowledge has emerged from pollution studies. For example, the importance of
atmospheric transport of organic materials from the continents to the oceans was
acknowledged following studies on the dispersal of DDT and the polychlorinated
biphenyls. The prevalence of methylated species of metals and metalloids in sea-
waters, sediments, and organisms was recogni/ed from investigations that evolved
from the methyl mercury poisoning epidemics in Japan.
Some of the concepts that emerged during this period have guided many pollution
studies and have provided stepping stones for developing strategies for the disposal
of wastes in the sea. Several of these are considered here.
Bioaccumulation
Some species of organisms have the unique ability to extract from their environ-
ment and concentrate polluting materials that can affect their own health or the
health of the organisms that consume them, including human beings.
The concentration factors for marine organisms, the ratio of the concentration of
a given species in the organisms on a wet weight basis to the concentration in sea-
water, can rise to levels of hundreds of thousands. For example, ruthenium, one of
whose radioisotopes is involved in the laverbread story, has a concentration factor
for phytoplankton on the order of 200,000 (1.owman et al., 1971). As a consequence
of such enrichments, biological transport is an important factor in governing the
distribution of some elements in seawater. 1.owman et al. indicate that the diurnal
vertical migration of organisms, fecal pellet production, moulting, and death have an
overall effect of moving biomass from surface to deeper waters. For pollutants that
are bioaccumulated. the dispersion by vertical transport, especially in highly pro-
ductive waters, can result in their rapid dilution. On the other hand, such mobiliza-
tion can carry pollutants to the benthos where they can impact upon the communi-
ties therein.
Residence Times
It is often essential to know the average period of time that a substance spends in
one of the reservoirs of the marine environment—the water, organisms, and
sediments, for example—in order to predict the fate of pollutants. The concept of
residence time gained momentum during the initialconsiderations of the disposition
of artificially produced radionuclides in the oceans. The marine environment was
envisaged as consisting of a number of reservoirs or boxes, various water masses, the
phytoplankton, and so on. The transfer of materials from one reservoir to another
was assumed to occur through first order kinetics (Craig, 1957).
Of special interest is the concept of biological residence time or half-life. Experi-
ments to determine half-life can develop relationships between an organism and the
environmental concentration. There is a wide spectrum of biological half-lives.
Smaller marine organisms, including phytoplankton and zooplankton, have biologi-
cal half-lives on the order of hours (Lowman et al., 1971), For methyl mercury in a
human being, the value is about 90 days. Values of years or decades might be
expected for transuranics in human bone. Knowing a biological half-life for a sub-
stance and estimating future exposure levels can make possible predictions for future
body burdens.
Studies of the association of a pollutant with a reservoir, be it an atmospheric wind
system or a water body, have emphasized the widespread dispersals of a pollutant in
the marine environment and have provided techniques to calculate residence times.
A pollutant may be injected into the environment in one country and impact upon
another, perhaps even in another continent. Part of the DDT sprayed upon agricul-
tural crops in Africa is transported by the northeast trade winds to the Caribbean.
Radioactive debris from the explosion of a Chinese nuclear device in May 1965 was
detected at sampling sites in Tokyo and Fayetville, Arizona, during two circum-
navigations of the earth. The average velocity of the wind transport was about 16
10
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m/sec (52 ft/sec) in the tropospheric jet streams. The residence time for the debris in
the atmosphere was about 2 weeks. Of importance is the delivery of these materials to
the ocean system along the paths of the prevailing jet streams.
Speciation and State
The speciation and the state (solid, liquid, gaseous, or colloidal) of an element are
important characteristics in governing the residence time and its bioaccumulation.
For example, uranium exists in both dissolved and particulate phases in ocean water.
The two forms in coastal waters can be identified by their U-234/ U-238 ratio(Hodge
et al., 1979). Some organisms such as scallops preferably accumulate the particulate
form, which is a thousand-fold lower in concentration than the dissolved form.
Others such as mussels prefer the dissolved form for uptake. Thus, organismic
concentration factors must be related to the particular form in which the element
occurs.
Where the various states of an element can be determined with relative ease, the
speciation can be a very vexing task. The experimental determinations of the
speciation of most elements are quite limited. The species of lead introduced to the
marine environment following the combustion of lead alkyls in gasolines may be
quite different from the naturally occurring species. As a consequence, their
behavior in coastal waters, especially in regard to uptake by organisms, may not be
predictable from knowledge about those of lead introduced in the major sedimentary
cycle.
Analytical Techniques
In the last half of the 1970s, there has been a minor revolution in our ability to
assay trace metals in coastal waters (Bruland, 1980). Improvements both in the
sampling of seawaters without the introduction of contamination from the ships,
hydrographic wires or sampling devices, and in laboratory analytical techniques
resulted in new wisdom about the concentration and distribution of metals in the
water column. Concentrations of cadmium, zinc, nickel, and copper were found to
be one to three orders of magnitude lower than the values previously reported.
Further, it was found that the seawater concentrations of a number of these elements
were governed by biological processes. Their abundance profiles, in some cases as a
function of depth, appeared to follow those of nutrients such as phosphorus, silicon,
and nitrogen.
The improvement in analytical techniques recalls the work of Haber( 1928) who in
the 1920s reduced the generally accepted values of gold in seawater by about three
orders of magnitude. His laboratory precautions and his sampling techniques
provided a model for future workers. However, the need for care was somehow over-
looked in the following decades until the studies of Claire Patterson at the California
Institute of Technology, who, with his co-workers, established new standards in
analytical techniques and sampling devices that permitted the accurate determina-
tion of lead levels in seawater.
These recent investigations of trace metal abundances have emphasized the impor-
tance of societal contributions to the oceans. The coastal waters of industrial areas
have received greater fluxes of metals as a consequence of industrial and domestic
discharges. But of greater concern is the possibility that marine organisms are
sensitive to slight increases of these very low (nanomolar) levels of metals. Anderson
and Morel (1978), for example, report that the dinoflagellatc Gonyaulax tamaremis
becomes nonmotile at 0.1 nanomolar additions of cupric iron. Nonmotile cells do
not divide or grow larger. These are concentrations that are sometimes found in
coastal waters.
II
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Marine Biochemistry
The increased understanding of the uptake, metabolism, and effects of pollutants
in the marine biosphere has given us a basis for assessing potential effects and
formulating control measures. New definitions of toxicity have evolved and field
measurements for toxic effects on some organisms are now possible.
Extensive work has been performed on the pathways of metals through marine
organisms, and it has been well summarized recently by George (1980). For phyto-
plankton and shellfish, the initial uptake of dissolved phases is consistent with
passive diffusion, i.e.. an initial adsorption to an exposed mucous sheet or cell
membrane, followed by diffusion and binding to intracellular components, Metals
can also be taken up in paniculate form from food, which may be of equal or greater
importance than the accumulation of dissolved forms. Some metals are bound
nonspecifically to cystosolic proteins. Excessive amounts of a metal may be
detoxified in a variety of ways. In some cases they are stored in sulfate or phosphate
granules, or directed to the shell, byssal threads, or carapaces.
The studies on the marine biochemistry of halogenated and petroleum hydro-
carbons have paralleled those of heavy metals. Copepods enzymatically metabolize
petroleum hydrocarbons to hydroxylated forms that are later excreted (Lee, 1975).
These organisms can take up dissolved or paniculate forms of the hydrocarbons
from water or from food. The pollutants concentrate in the livers or gall bladders of
fish and are subsequently discharged in the urine or feces (Lee et al., 1972).
THE TITRATION
Over the past three decades, environmental scientists have identified a large
number of polluting substances entering the oceans and potentially capable of inter-
fering with public health, the vitality of marine organisms, and the nonliving
resources of the sea. Those responsible for the management of the coastal environ-
ment have been able to react in decades or less to available information from the
scientists. Thus, the experiences with marine pollution and with marine chemistry
can act as an information base for considering the abilities of the marine environ-
ment to accept some of the large-scale wastes of human beings. Much of the material
in the following presentation derives from the deliberations of 70 scientists at the
Crystal Mountain Workshop, held in August 1979 (NOAA, 1980).
The assimilative capacity of a marine water body may be defined as that amount of
a given material that can be contained within a body of seawater without producing
an unacceptable impact, be it upon living organisms or upon the nonliving resources.
This amount, essentially determined by a titration of the polluting substances in the
discharged material with the water body becomes evident at an endpoint. Pollutant
concentrations that are determined before the endpoint is reached are checkpoints.
The most extensive set of endpoints for individual pollutants has evolved from arti-
ficial radioactivity studies. For example, the unacceptable concentration of
ruthenium-106 in the seaweed Porphyra, taken from the seawaters adjacent to the
Windscale Reprocessing Plant in the United Kingdom, would constitute an end-
point. The 0.5 ppm level of mercury in fish provides an endpoint that protects the
heavy fish-eating populations of the world.
With the titration concept, models have been constructed to seek out theassimila-
tive capacities of seawater utilizing existing data (NOAA, 1980). Although such
models will be refined with additional data, theirconstructionemphasizesthat there
is a scientific basis for regulating the discharge of wastes to coastal waters.
The overall conclusion from the Crystal Mountain Workshop is that the waste
capacity of U.S. coastal waters is not now fully used. For example, the largest U.S.
industrial dumpsite (Site 106 off the coast of New Jersey), which receives about
800.000 m' (1,048,000 yd')/year of titanium dioxide production wastes, organic
chemical wastes, and water treatment materials, is not used to its total assimilative
12
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capacity. Here the endpoint is defined as an unacceptable disturbance to the
community of marine organisms. The waters of the Southern California Bight have
successfully accommodated the waste discharges from the highly industrialized and
populated (II million people) adjacent land areas for the past 20 years without
unacceptable effects as determined by studies on the marine plant and animal com-
munities. The most important sources of pollutants are five large municipal waste-
water outfalls that discharge about 8 billion I/day (2 billion gal/day). Increased
amounts of metals and nutrients are evident in the Bight waters, as well as in the
sedimentary records. Amounts of organic particulates have also risen as a
consequence of sewage discharges. These organic phases appear to be incorporated
into the planktonic food web without impact.
In two of the studied areas, Puget Sound and the New York Bight, there is evi-
dence that the assimilative capacities for some substances may have been reached or
exceeded.
Twenty million persons live in the lands adjacent to the New York Bight. It is one
of the most intensively used coastal regions of the world. Its assimilative capacity for
dumped excavation dirt and construction debris was exceeded in the late 1800s and
shoaling of the channels interfered with the passage of ships. Four pollutants were
examined for their potential effects upon the Bight: microorganisms, nitrogen-
containing biostimulants, porychlorinated biphenyls, and cadmium. Of these, only
cadmium appeared to have reached unacceptable levels. For this metal, an endpoint
of 5.00 ppb in marine waters has been proposed on the basis that, at this
concentration, some oysters accumulate enough of the metal to nauseate human
oyster eaters. The highest estimates of cadmium now present in the waters are
substantially lower than this amount. Nevertheless, a model using reasonable
partition coefficients between shellfish and suspended sediments indicates that
organisms growing in heavily contaminated dredge spoils might exceed safe limits
for their body burdens of cadmium.
Puget Sound receives about 25 percent of the wastewater from the municipal treat-
ment plant (METRO), which discharges between 470 and 1,279 m3 (611 and 1,675
yd )/day. There is some evidence that the recent toxic dinoflagellate blooms in the
central basin may be related to these discharges as may one incident of oyster larvae
mortality. In previous years, pulp mill discharges caused depressions in oxygen
concentrations, changes in the structure of benthic communities, and toxic effects
upon marine organisms. Increased and effective treatment facilities, combined with
a leveling off in activity, has resulted in reduced environmental stresses.
ENDPOINTS
In pollution monitoring, the endpoints have usually involved a single substance or
a collective of similar substances such as the polychlorinated biphenyls or DDT and
its degradation products. Exposure levels in seawaters are generally determined
indirectly, primarily through the use of sentinel organisms, although concentrations
in waters have been directly determined. For a determination of the assimilative
capacity, often the material to be discharged contains a variety of pollutants, the
analyses of which would be extremely costly. It appears that impacts of such
materials upon the well-being of marine organisms can provide endpoints, especially
those upon animal health. Some biological effects are already well established, while
others will require further assessment.
Bivalves, especially mussels, have several attributes for use as indicators of general
biological stress. First of all, they are cosmopolitan, and often a given species can be
found over a wide latitudinal spectrum. Secondly, they are sturdy creatures and can
endure considerable physiological or biological stress without mortality. Still, when
adaptive mechanisms fail to respond, a measurable impact may be found. A
sampling of such impacts taken from Bayne et al. (1980) will be cited in the following
paragraphs.
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Bayne and his colleagues argue that physiological responses that may be inte-
grated into the ability of the organism to grow have been shown to be effective
indices in both field and laboratory studies. This study of "scope for growth" seeks
measurements of the changes in feeding rate, absorption efficiency, excretion, and
respiration rates and introduces them into a balanced energy equation. A decline in
growth potential is a clear sign of a stress. Any statistically valid evidence of a
decrease might constitute an endpoint.
Metals in excessive amounts are known to interfere with enzyme systems. For
example, cadmium and mercury can displace copper or zinc from metalloenzymes
such that the en/yme is rendered inactive. However, in many organisms detoxifi-
cation activity is a response to metal stresses. This mechanism involves the binding of
the metal to the low molecular weight protein, metallothionen. The amounts of the
metals bound to metallothionen will increase with increasing exposure levels to a
saturation state. At this point, the metals will spill over into the higher molecular
proteins in the enzyme pool. When the binding capacity of metallothionen is sur-
passed, measurable toxic effects occur such as a decreased growth rate. The spillover
point then corresponds to the endpoint. M ussels are known to detoxify heavy metals
with metallolhionen.
The partitioning of metals into lysosomes in kidney, digestive gland, gut, gill, and
blood cells is presented as a detoxifying mechanism for mussels (Lowe and Moore,
1979). As the levels of metals in the lysosomes increase in mussels, the lysosomal
latency decreases. As a result, hydrolytic enzymes are released into the cytoplasm.
Further, as the storage capacity of the lysosome for metals is exceeded, it appears
that the metals are also released into the cytoplasm. Thus, studies on the composition
of the cytoplasm can be revealing of stress resulting from collectives of polluting
metals.
Some empirical measurements seem to reflect the stress syndrome. For example,
Jeffries (1972) indicates that clams reflect pollutant exposures through their taurine
to glycine ratios. Acute stresses are indicated when the molar ratio is greater than 5.
Normal values are 3 or less, while chronic stresses may be described when the ratio
varies between 3 and 5. The theoretical basis for this phenomenon has yet to be
discovered,
Histopathological techniques show great promise in establishing the relative
health of animals (Bayne et al., 1980). Recent investigations with mussels from both
polluted and nonpolluted environments have revealed a variety of conditions that in
general can be identified by different investigators studying the same samples:
(1) hyaline degeneration of the connective tissue of the gills; (2) parasite burdens;
(3) increases in the number of mucous secretory cells; (4) gonadal neoplasms; (5)
hemopoietic neoplasms; (6) granulocytomas; (7) hemocytic infiltration of tissues;
and (8) loss of synchrony in digestive tissues.
Other avenues might be taken to reveal general stress conditions that so far have
been only modestly investigated. Such genetic indices as the breakage of chromo-
somes or chromatids might be useful. So far studies with' marine organisms have
been carried out with pollutant levels that are generally higher than those ever
observed in the environment. Still, such effects might be useful in assessing impacts
upon organisms exposed to increased levels of pollution.
THE FUTURE NEEDS
Past activities in marine pollution provide a substantial basis for the consideration
of waste disposal in the oceans. Clearly, for any given material awaiting disposal.
three options are possible: disposal to the atmosphere, to the oceans, or to land. Each
has its advantages and disadvantages based on scientific, social, and economic
considerations. For example, the burning at sea of toxic halogenated hydrocarbons
and the discharge of the resultant water, carbon dioxide, and hydrochloric acid to
the atmosphere appears to be a rational option. The storage of high-level radioactive
14
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wastes, where possible retrieval is essential, dictates land sites for appropriate recep-
tacles. Clearly, the marine environment has accommodated domestic and industrial
wastes in the past. With increasing affluence in many countries and with an
increasing world population, the disposal needs for societal wastes will also increase.
What additional information do we need to consider oceanic discharge with the
caveat that we maintain the oceanic resources in renewable states?
The simplest answer presupposes increases in our knowledge of the marine
environment, chemical, physical, biological and geological, for all contribute to our
ability to evaluate the ocean's capacity for accepting wastes.
But some specific problems, often pollutant-specific or site-specific, need to be
resolved. Since the impact upon the health of the communities of organisms will
determine most endpoints, clearly we require simple, direct indicators of stress. I
have pointed out that there are general stress indices already available; still, there
remains the identification of specific indices responsive to individual pollutants or
classes of pollutants, say. the low molecular halocarbons or chlorophenols.
Some background problems continue to haunt us. What are the long-term effects
ol low levels of pollutants on life in the sea? What are the synergistic and antagonistic
effects of collectives of pollutants orof individual pollutants? What aretheamounts
and compositions of discharged wastes going to the oceans today? What are the
anticipated amounts for the near future?
But also there are scientific developments that will aid in our study of the
titrations. Remote sensing may be of great value in studying the dispersion of wastes
after introduction and the description of effects, for instance, eutrophication, where
one species of algae is replaced by another. Our abilities to analyze smaller and
smaller amounts of pollutants and to collect environmental samples without con-
tamination have continually developed over the past years. There appears to be no
let-up in this area. Finally, the growing community of political scientists, econo-
mists, and sociologists demands an evaluation of external costs in considerations
of oceanic discharge, information essential to ascertain whether the oceans can
compete with the atmosphere or land in receiving specific societal discards.
REFERENCES
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sis. Limnol, Ocean. 23:283-296.
Anon. 1973. Methyl mercury in fish. A toxicologic epidemiologic evaluation of risks. Re-
port from an expert group. Noridsk Hydienish Tidskrift. Supplementum 4.
Bayne, B., et al. 1980. Mussel health. The international mussel watch, December 1978. U.S.
National Academy of Sciences.
Bruland. K. W. 1980. Oceanographic distributions of cadmium, tine, nickel and copper in
the North Pacific. Earth Planet. Sci. Letters 47:176-198.
Butler. P. A., and R. L. Schutzmann. 1978. Residues of pesticides and PCBs in estuarine fish.
1972-1976. Pesticides Monitoring Journal 12:51-59.
Butler, P. A., C. D. Kennedy, and R. L. Schutzmann. 1978. Pesticide residues in estu-
arine mollusks, 1977 versus 1972. National Pesticide Monitoring Program. Pesticides
Monitoring Journal 12:99-101.
Cottam, C.. and E. Higgins. 1946. DDT: its effect on fish and wildlife. U.S. Department of
Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service Circular II.
Craig, H. 1957. Isotopic tracer techniques for measurement of physical processes in the sea
and atmosphere. In: The effects of atomic radiation on oceanography and fisheries. U.S.
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George, S.G. 1980. Correlation and metal accumulation in mussels with the mechanisms of
uptake, metabolism and detoxification: biochemical and ultrast ructural studies. Abstracts,
VI International Symposium on Chemistry of the Mediierrranean, Rovinj, Yugoslavia.
Goldberg. E. D. 1979. Pollution history of some U.S. estuaries. Proceedings of Aquatic Envi-
ronment in Pacific Region, August 21-23, 1978. SCOPE/Academia Sinica. Taipei. Re-
public of China, pp. 8-18.
Goldberg, E. D., et al. 1978. The mussel watch. Environmental Conservation 5:105-125.
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Goldberg. E. D...I. J. Griffin, M. Koide, and V. Hodge, 1980. The impact of fossil fuel com-
bustion on the sediments of Lake Michigan. Manuscript.
Haber. F. 1928. Das gold im meere. Z, ges. Erdkundc 3; 1-12.
Hodge, V. F., M. Koide. and E. D. Goldberg. 1979. Particular uranium, plutonium and polo-
nium in the biogeochemistries of the coastal zone. Nature 277:206-209.
Holden. A. V. 1973. International cooperative study of organochlorine and mercury resi-
dues in wildlife, 1969-1971. Pesticides Monitoring Journal 7:37-52.
Hunt.G. J. 1979. Radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles, 1977. Aquatic
Environment Monitoring Report Number 3, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Directorate of Fisheries Research ISSN 0142-2499, Lowestoft. United Kingdom.
Jefferies, H. P. 1972. A stress syndrome in the hard clam. Meri-enaria mercenaria. J. In-
vert. Pathol. 20:242-251.
I.ee. R. F. 1975. Fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in marine zooplankton. In: Proceedings of
the 1975 Conference on Prevention and Control of Oil Pollution. American Petroleum
Inst.. Washington D.C. pp. 549-553.
Lee. R. F., R. Sauerheber. and G. H. Dobbs. 1972. Uptake, metabolism and discharge
of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by marine fish. Mar. Biol. 17:201-208.
Lowe, D. M., and M. N. Moore. 1959. The cytolochemical distributions of their zinc
(Zn II) and iron (Fe III) in (he common mussel. Myiilus etlulis. and their relationship
with lysosomes. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc., United Kingdom 59:851-858.
l.owman, F. G.. T. R. Rice, and F. A. Richards. 1971. Accumulation and redistribution
of radionuclides by marine organisms. In: Radioactivity in the marine environment. U.S.
National Academy of Sciences, pp. 161-199.
NOAA. 1979. Proceedings of a workshop on scientific problems relating to ocean pol-
lution. Estes Park. CO, July 10-14.
NOAA. 1979. The assimilative capacity of seawater for society wastes. Proceedings of a
workshop held at Crystal Mountain. WA, July 30-August 4,
Preston, A., and N. T. Mitchell. 1973. Evaluation of public radiation exposure from the con-
trolled marine disposal of radioactive waste (with special reference to the United
Kingdom). In: Radioactive contamination of the marine environment. International
Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, pp. 575-593.
Revelle, R., and M. B. Schaefer. 1957. General considerations concerning the ocean as a re-
ceptacle for artificially radioactive materials. In: The effects of atomic radiation on
oceanography and fisheries. U.S. National Academy of Sciences-National Research
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Risebrough. R. 1972. Cited in: Birds and pollution, an editorial article. Nature 240:148.
16
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POLLUTION IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY:
A CASE HISTORY AND ASSESSMENT
L. Eugene Cronin
Director, Chesapeake Research Consortium, Inc.
1419 Forest Drive
Annapolis, Maryland 21403
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The opinions expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of the Trustees or
institutions of the Chesapeake Research Consortium. The library, excellent pro-
fessional cadre and general experience of the Consortium have been most valuable.
They are highly appreciated. This paper was not prepared on the time of the
Consortium.
POLLUTION IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY: A CASE HISTORY AND
ASSESSMENT
THE BAY
The tidal portion of the Chesapeake Bay system is the largest and most complex
estuary in the United States and the most valuable to human interests. It is a drowned
river valley system with many tributaries. Density gradients drive the two-layered
circulation typical of such estuaries. Detailed description is not appropriate in this
summary, since it has been provided in other publications (Chesapeake Research
Consortium, 1977; Corps of Engineers, 1974; Corps of Engineers, 1977; Cronin, L.,
1967; Cronin, L., 1976; Cronin, L., 1978; Cronin, W., 1971; Kuo et al., 1975;
Lippson, 1973; Schubel, 1972).
Table I summarizes physical characteristics, the human population of the basin,
some of the principal uses, and projections for the future. The tidal Bay system lies in
Maryland and Virginia, but the drainage basin also includes portions of New York,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and West Virginia. The Bay is
complex, highly productive, valuable for many purposes, and subject to rapid
expansion in usages, many of which currently cause pollution or create conflicts. The
Bay is outlined in Figure 1, and the names of places cited in this review are noted.
The Chesapeake is the site and center of rapid change and vigorous human
activity. Most pollution problems are related to the sites of human population and
industrial activity; Figure 2 illustrates the locations of people and industry. While
this report emphasizes history, it is appropriate to include the best available projec-
tion of future distributions in Figure 3. The total population is expected to double,
with related increases in all aspects of pollution.
Even for the last decade, it is not feasible to report the full history of pollution
pressures, water quality, new learning, legislation, and action by government and the
public in a relatively short summary. The more limited purposes of this report are to
identify the principal pollutants, note exceptional progress and problems related to
17
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Table 1. Chesapeake Bay—Physical and Biological Characteristics,
Selected Usages and Basin Population (Corps of Engineers,
1974; Corps of Engineers. 1977; Cronin, W., 1971; Lippson.
1973)
Physical
Length:
Width:
Depth:
Surface area:
Shoreline:
Volume:
290 km 1180 mi)
4-48 km (5-30 mi)
53 m maximum (175 ft)
8.4 m average open Bay (27.6 ft)
6.5 m average including tributaries (21.2 ft)
6,500 kms open Bay (2,500 mi2)
11.500 km3 with tributaries (440O mi2)
13,000km (8,100 mi)
52 billion m3 for the open Bay, low tide
74 billion m3 total, low tide
Biological species: >2700
Usage:
Recreation Activity, days
Commercial shipping, tons
Commercial fishing, kg
Recreational fishing, kg
Water supply through
systems, mgd
Electricity generated, Gwh
Drainage:
Susquehanna River (435 mi)
Potomac River {407 mi)
Rappahannock River (184 mi)
York River (130 mi)
James River (434 mi)
TOTAL BASIN
Range in mean annual flow
Extreme low flow (week of
Sept. 6, 1966)
ca, 1975
59,000,000
1 60.000,000
175,000,000 .
1 75,000,000 n
872
68,000
Drainage area - sq. mi.
27,510
14.670
2,715
2.660
10,102
Estimated
2020
258.000.000
300,000,000
MSY may be exceeded
for many species
2320
882.000
Mean annual flow, cfs
39,235
13,770
2,940
2,660
10,945
64,160* 76,890
49,000 (1965)- 131,800(1972)
4,720
'Exclusive of Bay and tributaries.
each, comment on the general state of the Bay and ol our present comprehension of it
as a system, identify critical research needs for achievement of adequate protection
and enhancement of the uses that are desired of this estuarine system, and,
fortunately, describe several innovative and important improvements that have
occurred during the past decade.
It is relevant to note that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has
completed approximately three-fourths of a 5-year, $25 million Chesapeake Bay
Program sponsored by Senator Charles McC. Mathias of Maryland. Principal
emphasis is on toxic materials, submerged aquatic vegetation, excessiveenrichment,
and on improved management of water quality. About 60 principal investigators at
30 agencies and institutions are involved in about 45 projects. Only a Summary of
Projects (Wells etal., 1979) and one technical report have been published at this time,
although many preliminary data reports are available. Relevant studies will be noted
throughout this report and identified as parts of the "Chesapeake Bay Program."
18
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c-^
Chesapeake Bay
Region
Figure 1. The Chesapeake Bay.
19
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Figure 2. Chesapeake Bay region, indicating land used for residential and commercial
activities as of 1973 (Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, 1977).
20
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Figure 3. Chesapeake Bay region, indicating land used for residential and commercial
activities as projected for 2020(Corpsof Engineers, Baltimore District, 1 977).
M
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On the basis of this review, a general assessment will he expressed on the question
whether efforts to manage pollutants to this estuary are sufficient.
POLLUTION PROBLEMS AND PROGRESS
It is impossible to quantify the total set of pollutants reaching a large estuary under
intensive use. It is difficult even to summarize them in general terms, with reasonable
assurance that all anthropogenic materials and conditions injurious to present and
potential uses of the system, i.e.. all of the pollutants, have been included. A study of
potential industrial chemicals, based on permits issued and on combined knowledge
of chemical engineers, indicates that at least 545 compounds must be "disposed" of
(GCA, 1979), In this case, there is good evidence of the input of hundredsor perhaps
thousands of chemical compounds, plus pathogenic organisms, sediments, solid
matter, color, heat, radioactivity, and materials that place demands on the oxygen
supply in the Bay. The principal detrimental introductions merit comment, with
emphasis on progress achieved and problems remaining.
Polluting materials and conditions are not introduced in neat and discrete cate-
gories. The content of the following subsections necessarily overlaps, but the
groupings may be helpful in reviewing a tangle of issues.
Sewage
The scale of pollution problems from sewage is determined by the size of human
population and related industrial activity, the composition of material entering
sewage treatment plants, the types and degree of treatment, the quantity and pattern
of release of liquid effluents, the placement of solid residue, and the total character of
the receiving waters. All of these factors vary throughout the Chesapeake Bay
system, but there is an increasing body of knowledge about magnitude and effects
from these complex materials. The problems created by increasing release of par-
tially treated sewage into the tributaries and main stream of the Chesapeake have
long been recognized (Corps of Engineers. 1974; Corps of Engineers, 1977; Cronin,
L.. 1967; Ellis, 1973; Fish and Wildlife Service. 1970; McKewen. 1972; Schubel,
1972). They are concentrated near the metropolitan areas at Baltimore, Washington.
Norfolk-Newport News-Hampton, and Richmond, but may appear near any
population center, as in the Patuxent River where no city exists but where treatment
plants concentrate regional wastes and add them to agricultural drainage. The
multiple effects of domestic wastes on uses of the Bay are illustrated in Figure 4 (Ellis,
1973).
The magnitude and trends of sewage input are partially documented. The most
comprehensive description and summary was produced in 1974 for all tidal waters of
the Bay system (Brush, 1974). At that time. 35 plants using primary treatment and
207 employing secondary treatment released 945 million gallons per day (mgd) of
treated wastes into the Bay that, when combined with 360 mgd from the Susque-
hanna, was 2.8 percent of the total fresh water input. The Corps of Engineers'Future
Conditions Report projects that municipal wastewater treatment will increase (for
the defined Bay region) from about 950 mgd in 1975 to about 1,770 mgd around the
year 2000 - an 85 percent increase (Corps of Engineers, 1977). Other numbers are
available, but they are not comparable with these because only the report by Brush is
based on both scanning of permits and direct observation of many of the plants.
The only major sewage treatment system providing advanced waste treatment is at
Blue Plains, near Washington, D.C., with a design capacity of 309 mgd (Corps of
Engineers, 1977). Advanced waste treatment is planned for several other sites, but
review of costs against provable benefits is causing reassessments (Jensen, 1976).
In specific tributaries, estimates have been made of total loading. About 25
percent of the freshwater at the mouth of the James River is from sewage outfalls
(Austin, 1979). For the Patuxent River, one estimate indicated that 74 percent of the
low freshwater flow to the estuary in 1980 consisted of treated sewage. This is likely
to increase to 84 percent by the year 2000 (Wilson, 1977).
22
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(Residential \
Development I
^\L
Domestic
Wastes
7
(Recreation \
Development /
Septic
System
Collection
& Treatment
Systems
Direct
Discharge
Flow to
Surface
Waters
Water
Supply
Figure 4. Environmental impact of domestic wastes on other uses of the Bay (Ellis, 1973).
Recreation \
/ Fisheries \
Wetlands
Preserves
-------
The components of sewage effluents are, as always.-diverse in response to inputs.
Nutrients in many forms are present and so are trace metals, synthetic organic com-
pounds, chlorine, detergents, paniculate materials, and unnumbered other minor
components. Washington, a residential and office-related city, produces at least 6
metric tons of phosphorus and 10 metric tons of nitrogen per day, but there are rela-
tively few metals or other constituents of industrial origin (Schubel, 1972). Baltimore
and the Norfolk area release larger relative quantities of nonnutrient chemicals.
The effects and management alternatives for some of these materials have been
studied in the Chesapeake Bay region. Sewage sludges may not be deposited over-
board in the system, and the potential alternatives of landfill, incineration, spraying
for agricultural use, drying or composting with wood chips for land application, use
as fuel, and dumping at sea have all been explored. Some are used, but no economi-
cally accepted and environmentally satisfactory method or set of methods for
dealing with increasing quantities on a long-term basis has been found for the large
population centers. The effects of sewage sludges on estuarine and freshwater fish
have been summarized (Tsai, 1975).
Bacteria and viruses are introduced from septic tank overflow, overloaded treat-
ment systems, and co-mingled sewage and surface water, usually during heavy rain-
fall. In the Chesapeake, the states maintain routine monitoring of shellfish beds,
swimming beaches, and other sites by standardized coliform-based techniques
supplemented by other testing. The area of shellfish beds closed because of exces-
sive coliform counts has declined from about 385,000 acres in 1970 to about 240,000
acres in 1980; Maryland reduced its closure areas from 320,000 acres to 70,000 acres
in that period (Garreis, 1980 and Wiley, 1980). Lowered numbers indicate both
improvement in preventing contamination and reduction in the impact on the
shellfish industry. The standard indicator techniques are recognized to be useful for
some purposes, although both scientists and health officials recognize their
substantial limitations (Colwell, 1977; Colwell and Kapper, 1978).
Recent research has partially documented the presence of potential human patho-
gens in the estuary, apparently from sewage sources (Colwell, 1977). Fecal coliforms
can be very abundant, 24.000/100 ml of water, in Baltimore Harbor; Salmonella is
frequently associated with fecal coliform organisms and is widespread, especially
near cities. Clostridium botulinum, the agent of botulism, has been found at random
sites over the Bay in sediments. Enteroviruses have received attention, but their signi-
ficance in the Bay is not established. Many antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been
observed in samples from shellfish and water. Fish have yielded preliminary evidence
of contamination and possible infection by human pathogens near areas of sewer
outfalls (Janssen and Meyers, 1968).
The principal impression from review is that, while efforts are made to protect
human health, understanding of bacteria and viruses in the Chesapeake Bay is primi-
tive and inadequate, both for those from sewage and those endemic to the system
that play extremely important roles in the processes of the Bay (Cotwell, 1977;
Cronin et al.. 1977). There are dangers in that situation.
Nutrients
The effects of nutrients on the Bay system and the costs of wise management of
them present some of the most pervasive, complex, and perplexing of pollution
problems. Nutrients arise from natural decay and runoff, from industrial activities,
from disturbed land used for agriculture or development, and from sewage treatment
plants. The present and potential effects of excessive enrichment have frequently
been cited as a "major" problem or "the most serious" problem threatening the
health and usefulness of the Bay system (Cronin, L., 1967; Cronin, L, et al., 1977;
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, 1969; McKewen, 1972; Perkinson
et al., 1973; Pritchard, 1971; Schubel, 1972).
The national and global literature on nutrients is vast, and a large number of
surveys, monitoring observations, research projects, and analyses have been
completed in the Chesapeake Bay region (Champ, 1977; Corps of Engineers, 1974;
24
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Corps of Engineers, 1977; Flemer and Heinle, 1974; Hydroscience, 1975; Jaworski,
1981; Jensen, 1976; Kuo et al., 1975; Laniak, 1979; Lippson and Lippson. 1979;
Pheifferetal., 1972; Roberts et al., 1975; Schubel, 1972; Sullivan etal., 1977; Tsai,
1975; Williamson, 1972). It would be inappropriate to detail all of these here;
summary comments will be presented instead. Fortunately, much information has
been synthesized in the last decade, so that highly useful analyses exist. These and
several unusual specific cases will be reviewed.
An ambitious effort has been made to review all of the useful field data from the
total Chesapeake Bay since 1913-1916, when the first were obtained (Heinle etal. .in
press). This review demonstrates the great difficulties inherent in such an effort.
Records are lost; analytic techniques have been revolutionized; very few studies are
sustained for decades; computerized sets are often incompatible, etc. It is possible to
provide the following summary, however:
• The various portions of a large estuary differ fundamentally in components and
processes related to nutrients and cannot be successfully lumped together under a
single criterion or set of standards.
* The inherent variability of the estuarine system in response to rainfall, tempera-
ture, storms, and other factors vastly complicates interpretation of long-term
data.
• Water quality in much of the total Chesapeake system has changed in recent
decades because of increased nutrient enrichment.
* In the upper and middle Chesapeake Bay proper, and in several tributaries,
nutrient content and algal concentrations have increased and light penetration
has decreased.
• In some tributaries, available oxygen in deeper waters has been reduced, and
annual variations in concentrations of oxygen are now more extreme.
• The lower Bay has been little affected, although the effects of enrichment have
progressed down the main stem and tributaries over time.
• If concentration of Chlorophyll-a is used as the best available, albeit imperfect.
gross indicator of threat from nutrient enrichment, the following guidelines can
be stated for the Chesapeake Bay system:
I) Estuarine waters of salinity less than 8 to 12 percent are moderately en-
riched if they have summer chlorophyll levels of 30 to 60 ngj I'1; they are
highly enriched, with potential of damage, if summer levels exceed 60
2) Waters of salinity higher than 8 to 1 2 percent are moderately enriched at
20 to 40 /ug/ 1"1 in summer, and highly enriched at levels above 40 /zg/ 1"'.
• The quality of algal populations may be as important as quantity, and each may
at times be an objective in management.
* Reduction of nutrient input in the Potomac system has been demonstrated to be
effective in improving the lower river and upper estuary.
• Either nitrogen or phosphorus may control production ratio in various areas of
lower salinity, but nitrogen appears to dominate the mid- and lower Bay.
• The Bay has indeed been affected, but not yet to a critical degree except in some
tributaries.
• Demographic projections and the present evidence of undesired effects are
portents of possible serious future losses of quality and usefulness of parts of the
Chesapeake Bay system.
A d ifferent, recent, brief summary has emphasized the very great role of sediments
in the nutrient sequence in the Chesapeake Bay and other estuaries (Bertine et al.,
1980).
Much of the nutrient entering the system becomes associated with the sediment
and is deposited but may be regenerated from that sink at later dates. The processes
involved are partially understood and include sediment deposition, biological
activity in the sediment, resuspension, and interface transport. In the Chesapeake,
25
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the sediments return much of iheir nutrient burden to the aquatic systems, but a
portion remains in the long-term sink.
Only limited and comparatively trivial efforts are yet underway to recapture
nutrients and use them advantageously, despite the abundance of soil in the region
impoverished by long cultivation of corn and tobacco.
Efforts to model and budget the nutrient sequence in the Chesapeake and its tribu-
taries have been progressive and promise value in management. Among them:
• A two-dimensional quasi-linearized steady-state model of nutrient-phytoplank-
lon interactions in the upper Bay was constructed to guide allocations (Hydro-
science, Inc.. 1975). It indicates that phosphorus is the controlling nutrient above
the Potomac and that the primary nutrient sources are the Baltimore
metropolitan area and the Susquehanna River. Much of the introduced nutrient
is retained in sediments near the source.
• A one-dimensional tidal-time model was employed. Its purpose was to assist esti-
mation of the environmental effects resulting from complete implementation of
the Water Quality Control Act of 1972 and its amendments (Kuo et ah, 1975).
• Applying model results to projection of biological impacts from changing the
loading of nutrients and from oxygen-demanding pollutants yielded estimates.
But this application also demonstrated the overwhelming complexity of such
efforts (Roberts et a)., 1975).
• From elementary raw data, a mass balance nutrient budget for the total Chesa-
peake Bay was constructed on a monthly basis {Laniak, 1979). Yearly loadings of
nitrogen and phosphorus from point sources (the principal source of phospho-
rus), the tributaries (principal for nitrogen}, and the air were estimated, as were
outputs by advection and ocean loss. Seventy percent of the 1.212 X 10? kg/yr
(2,666 X I05 Ib/yr) of total nitrogen received and 99 percent of the I64X 105 kg/yr
(360 X I0? Ib/yr} of total phosphorus apparently remain in the Bay. Substantial
seasonal variation occurs. The results are interpreted in relation to adequate
monitoring of nutrient-related materials and processes.
• A major analysis of the sources of nutrients and the scale of "eutrophication"
problems in estuaries included, among others, consideration of the external
budget of the Chesapeake (Jaworski, in press). In 1971,41,400 kg/day (91,080
Ib/day) of phosphorus (69 percent from wastewater discharges) and 297,900
kg/day (655.380 Ib/day) of nitrogen (68 percent from upper basin land runoff)
entered the system. Variation between months and years, changes in the forms of
nitrogen and phosphorus, and the gradients with distance downstream are dis-
cussed and related to a suggested scale of "eutrophication"and related to parts of
the Bay and the total system.
From its inception, the Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay
Program has recognized and emphasized the importance of excessive nutrients in the
Bay system. Under the inappropriate term "eutrophication" it has arranged for an
important and valuable series of studies and research projects. None of the final
reports are yet available, but the studies include (Weliset al., 1979 and Davies, 1980):
• Definition of Chesapeake Bay Problems of Excessive Enrichment or Eutrophi-
cation
• An Assessment on Nonpoint Source Discharge, Pequea Creek Basin. Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania
• Evaluation of Water Quality Management Tools in the Chester River Basin
• Intensive Watershed Study (Patuxent River Basin)
• Evaluation of Management Tools in Two Chesapeake Bay Watersheds in
Virginia
• Modeling Philosophy and Approach for Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed
Studies
* Fall Line Monitoring of the Potomac, Sustjuehanna, and James Rivers
• Assessment of Nutrients from Various Sources
26
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• Land Use and Point Source Nutrient Loading in the Chesapeake Bay Region
• Chesapeake Bay Circulation Model
• Water Quality Laboratory for Chesapeake Bay and ItsSubestuariesat Hampton
Institute
• Chesapeake Bay Nutrient Dynamics
• Chesapeake Bay Circulation and Water Quality Mathematical Models (two
projects)
• Development of Assessment Tool to Evaluate Nutrient Transport and Fate in the
Lower Susquehanna River
• Intensive Watershed Study (Chester River Basin)
• A Water Quality Modeling Study of the Chesapeake Bay Watersheds.
Growth in understanding and in the ability to manage nutrients rationally in the
Chesapeake Bay region will be substantial. Since the population is predicted to
double within about 40 years—with probable further subsequent increases—the
need for adequate knowledge and effective management remains urgent.
Sediments
As in every estuary, there is continuous input of materials that become sediments.
These arise from transport from the total basin by river water, from erosion of
shores, from the products of biological activity, and, in some cases, from the sea.
Sediments are deleterious to uses through filling of channels, progressive deposition
in headwater areas, interference with light penetration, and smothering of benthic
biota. Smothering is an occasionally serious event (Chesapeake Research
Consortium, 1976), and reduced light penetration is under evaluation as a
contributor to the extensive diminution of submerged aquatic vegetation over much
of Chesapeake Bay since 1971 (Stevenson and Confer, 1978).
Inputs into the Chesapeake system are not precisely known, but the main stem of
the Bay has been estimated to receive about 1.07 X 10fi tons per year from the Sus-
quehanna, .60 X 10A tons from shoreline erosion, an unknown quantity from bio-
logical sources, and about .20 X 10* tons from the ocean (Schubel and Carter, 1976).
The large tributaries are sinks for their own materials, and part of the Bay load
moves into them. The Bay is filling at an average rate of about .8 mm/year—about
3.5 to 4.0 mm/year at its head (Schubel and Carter, 1976). The reservoirs of the Sus-
quehanna River dams were long considered to be sinks, but Tropical Storm Agnes
flushed much of the accumulation in 3 days (Chesapeake Research Consortium,
1976).
The contribution of human activity to the input, dispersion, deposition, and resus-
pension and redeposition of sediments is not clear. Ingeneral, land clearing for agri-
culture or construction increases riverine input. Excessive nutrients increase plank-
ton biological production, and wakes from ships and boats add to natural shoreline
erosion, Particulate industrial wastes and urban runoff add sediments, and upland
alterations that modify the "flashiness" of river flow will affect the sediment input
and distribution. These have not been quantified for this estuary, but some of these
human effects have been discussed (Schubel and Williams, 1976; Schubel and Wise,
1979).
The most important problems related to sediments are those associated with the
continuous and external filling of channels where shipping or boating is desired and
with the remarkable affinity of sediments for chemicals. Sediments have long been
recognized as the source of large-scale economic and, more recently, environmental
problems in the Chesapeake Bay region, where major cities (Baltimore, Washington,
Richmond) lie on the fall line, above sites of natural deposition (Federal Water
Pollution Control Administration, 1969). Channels must be wide and deep enough
for shipping, and the beam, depth, and number of ships continue to increase (Villa et
al., 1977). Maintenance of depths is a cost of pollution to the degree that the
accumulating sediments result from human activities. In the Chesapeake, present
channels require maintenance dredging of about 7,600,000 m'/yr (10,000,000
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yd'/year). Proposed new channels and enlargements would generate about
197,600,000 m' (260,000,000 yd'), including about 76,000,000 m' (100,000.000 yd')
for the authorized completion of a 15m (50 ft) channel from Baltimore to the
Atlantic Ocean (McGarry, 1976; Villa et al., 1977). Although dredging can release
suspended sediments and sometimes associated chemicals, the greatest associated
problems are related to placement of the dredged materials. On-land sites are
expensive and limited. The states of Virginia and Maryland as well as federal
agencies object strenuously to wetland placement. Overboard placement is only
conservatively permitted—and only for relatively clean materials, not defined as
contaminated. And the season and dredging techniques are controlled. In Maryland,
it is specifically illegal to place any of the sediments from Baltimore Harbor,
containing large quantities of many pollutants as the result of centuries of casual use.
overboard in the waters of Chesapeake Bay (Tsai et al., 1979). Longand acrimonious
arguments have followed a proposal to create a large diked containment structure at
Hart and Miller Islands to receive about .19.520.000 m"1 (52.000.000 yd')i of
contaminated sediments— and the project has not yet received full approval.
Proposals to place contaminated sediments on old spoil sites and dewater them to
produce useful land have not been enthusiastically received. Special concern has
been expressed over the chemical characteristics of the water released. Meanwhile.
Virginia has utilized a large diked area at Craney Island in the James River, but the
capacity of that facility may soon be saturated (Villa et al., 1977).
Potential pollution from the dredging and placement of sediments has therefore
become a principal issue in the Chesapeake Bay region, as in all coastal areas where
major shipping occurs. This has been ranked as a major regional issue for the North
and Mid-Atlantic regions (Horn et al., 1980). The input of sediment continues, but
adequate accepted long-term solutions have not yet been found.
Sediments have, however, a different important relation to pollution in the Chesa-
peake Bay and other estuaries in that they are frequently associated, physically or
chemically, with chemical materials introduced to or present in the estuary.
Nutrients, heavy metals, pesticides, and many other inorganic and organic elements
and compounds sorb to or chemically react with sedimentary particles. The source.
routes, rates, and effects of these materials are largely determined by the related
processes for the sediments.
The general components and processes for some sediment-related chemical
materials are known for the Chesapeake Bay system, but new investigations are
underway in the Chesapeake Bay Program (Office of Research and Develop-
ment/EPA, 1980). These include intensive studies of the processes of nutrient
deposition; nutrient modification in and release from sediments; research on the dis-
tribution, physical properties, budgets, and rates of sediments and sedimentation;
research on the transport, fate, and transformation of metals related to suspended
and deposited sediments; development of improved techniques for extraction and
analysis of organic compounds in sediments and tissues; studies of the chemistry of
pore waters; and examination of the relationships among sediments, associated
chemicals, and the organisms living in the sediments. Only preliminary reports are
presently available from these system-wide studies. They should make enormous
contributions to the understanding of sediments and pollutants in the Chesapeake.
Flow Alteration
Modification of the (low into an estuary has not traditionally been considered as
possible pollution, but it falls under a somewhat extended interpretation of intro-
duction of deleterious conditions as the result of human activity. The many impor-
tant influences of freshwater input upon estuaries were recently reviewed in an exten-
sive literature summary (Snedaker et al., 1977) and were the subject of a major
symposium (Coastal Ecosystem Project, 1980). Both demonstrate that substantial
changes in the quantity or pattern of input can have enormous effects on the
physical, chemical, and biological content and processes of an estuary—and there-
fore upon the human uses of it.
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The Chesapeake was subjected to the effects of Tropical Storm Agnes in June of
1972. The storm, which had been of hurricane strength before it reached the Mid-
Atlantic region, was obviously not a human activity, but it is relevant because it
affected pollutants and revealed fundamental patterns of pollutant behavior and
effects. Average basin rainfall over a 3-day period was in excess of 12 cm (5 in), with
approximately one-third of the area receiving 30 cm {12 in) and isolated locations
recording 46 cm (18 in) (Chesapeake Research Consortium, 1976). The effects of this
100- to 200-year storm event were dramatic, and observations were exceptionally
thorough because the scientific community and, later, the management agencies
recognized the importance of the event and arranged for extensive detailed observa-
tion. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Chesapeake Biological Labora-
tory of the University of Maryland, and Chesapeake Bay Institute of the Johns
Hopkins University were especially prompt and effective in their research, and the
Corps of Engineers provided essential financial assistance. Highlights of observa-
tions include:
• The dominating Susquehanna had 7-day flows 15,5 times greater than normal,
peaking at 1,130,000 cfs. The James flowed at as much as 24.4 times normal and
the Potomac at 19.7 times normal.
• The Susquehanna debouched more sediment in 10 days than during the preceding
10, perhaps 25 or more, years, about 3! million metric tons against an annual
average of one-half to one million tons.
• Dissolved nitrates and nitrite were 2 to 3 times normal in the northern half, but
little affected downstream. Phosphate remained near normal. The nutrients were
rapidly lost to the sediments.
• Trace metal and pesticide concentrations were not drastically changed. Oil input
was substantial.
• Soft-shell clams, oysters, and some aquatic plants suffered heavy mortalities. Fin-
fish, crabs, and hard clams were relatively unaffected.
• Bacterial contamination forced temporary closure of the Chesapeake Bay and its
tributaries to the harvest of shellfish, but reopening was possible within weeksor
a few months.
• The entire biological community was disrupted, but most effects had disappeared
after 2 years.
• The Chesapeake Bay ecosystem demonstrated great resilience to this extreme
natural event.
• The storm increased heterotrophic activity in parts of the Bay. reduced phyto-
plankton in the upper Bay but stimulated greater production in the lower Bay,
raised nitrogen in the lower estuary, moderated algal production in some areas by
shading, and was followed by reduction in dissolved oxygen concentration
(Chesapeake Research Consortium, 1976).
The studies are detailed in the last-named reference by a large number of authors
who cannot be individually credited here. They provided a remarkable record and
achieved important advances in estuarine science.
An artificially constructed waterway, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, was
dug in 1829, converted from a locked sequence to a sea-level canal in 1927, and
enlarged from 8 by 75 m to 10 by 135 m (27 by 250 ft to 35 by 450 ft) in the period
between 1958 and 1972. In 1974. nearly 11,000 vessels carrying 12,400,000 tons
transited the canal. Concern over the possible environmental effects of enlargement,
including possible diversion of targe volumes at periods of low flow, resulted in
extensive research and analysis of the hydrologic patterns created and of effects on
the biota (Cronin. 1977). It was concluded that the physical hydrography, chemical
environment, and biotic populations of the canal and areas of approach had been
substantially altered. Long-term net transport from the Chesapeake was estimated
to increase from 900 to about 2,450 cfs in a highly complicated hydrologic sequence
with eastward and westward maximum flows of about 48,800 and 37,900 cfs. A new
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site for intensivespawning of striped bass was created by building the sea-level canal,
but it may transport eggs and larvae into unfavorable water. Biota are generally
diverse and abundant. Later analysis has shown that longer periods of hydrographic
observations than those of this study are required for accurate estimation of the net
transport in this very dynamic pipeline between estuaries. The best present estimate
is that there is probably little long-term net transport despite massive short-term
movement in response to tides and meteorological events (Pritchard, 1980).
Future modifications in freshwater flow are of serious concern. Demand for
consumptive loss from the principal tributaries for irrigation, consumptive
industrial uses, and modest export for water supply outside of the Chesapeake
watershed may reach 5,360 cfs in summer by 2020 {Robinson, 1980). In contrast,
the low flow of record, experienced in 1966, was 4,720 cfs and the long-term average
for the driest month, September, is 28,400 cfs. The Baltimore District of the Corps of
Engineers has initiated extensive studies involving the Chesapeake Buy Hydraulic
Model and contracted biological analysis to estimate the changes in salinity that
might result from future losses and the effects on specific biota and on the uses of the
Bay system (Shea etal.. 1980; Withers, 1979). At the time of writing, the effects have
been simulated in the huge model, the largest estuarine hydraulic model in the world,
but analysis has not been completed.
Heat
Heat, in the form of wasted energy from large power plants fired by fossil fuels or
nuclear energy, caused some of the most vociferous arguments in the Chesapeake
Bay region in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. They focused on the proposals to
construct nuclear facilities at Calvert Cliffs near Cove Point and at Douglas Point in
the center of the striped bass spawning areas of the Potomac River. Concern
centered on effects of heat on migratory aquatic species and on entrainment losses
from the combined impacts of mechanical, thermal, and chemical stresses.
It is not appropriate to detail here the long and convoluted efforts to achieve
adequate environmental protection along with adequate supplies of electricity.
Several principal events and trends have emerged:
• High temperatures have been precluded by general restriction of thermal rise
across condenser systems to 10°F. This has, however, required enormous
quantities of water—Calvert Cliffs requires an estimated 5,500 cfs of Bay water,
making it the fourth largest "tributary" of the Bay.
• Large areas are warmed. Calvert Cliffs warms about 500 square miles of water
less than 10° F as heat moves through the water to the atmosphere. Against high
natural variation in termperature, any effects are difficult to identify and
evaluate.
• More recent permits have required cooling towers rather than pass-through
cooling, precluding heating effects on the open system and reducing, but not
eliminating, aquatic losses.
Maryland has had a Power Plant Siting Law since 1971, which provides a tax of
. 1-.3 mil per kw of production. The resultant fund of about $5 to $6 million per year
has been applied in a wide variety of research projects related to generating opera-
tions and their effects as well as in evaluation of proposed sites, monitoring, and
acquisition of potential sites for utilities. About 290 research and study reports have
been supported, most of which deal with estuarine questions. The Second Thermal
Workshop of the U.S. International Biological Program was held at the Chesapeake
Biological Laboratory of the University of Maryland and focused on research in the
Chesapeake Bay and other estuaries (Mihursky and Pearce, 1969). Twenty-nine
papers and workshop summaries were presented. It is not yet possible to determine
whether or not the management of generating plants has eliminated significant
injury to estuarine uses, but it is clearly based on a large and expanding body of
relevant knowledge.
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Future projections suggest increase in "demand" for electricity for the Chesapeake
Bay Market Area of approximately 13.5 times from about 1975 to 2020 (Corps of
Engineers, 1977). While this projection may be modified by changes in priorities and
costs for fuel, it is clear that effective protection of water quality must indeed be
based upon well-informed and careful management of the facilities.
Spills
Accidental spills and deliberate releases are never fully documented at large
centers of shipping and industry like Baltimore and Norfolk-Newport News, but the
recording and response to these locali/ed accidental releases and to accidents in
transit are improving under 1970 federal direction to the U.S. Coast Guard and im-
proved cleanup programs by Virginia, Maryland, and involved industries.
Petroleum products and toxic chemicals cause the greatest concern, but hundreds of
other materials are sometimes released into the system. The general topic of "Preven-
tion and Control of Spills" was treated extensively by a workshop report and
extended discussion at the Bi-State Conference on the Chesapeake Bay in 1977 (Hess
et al., 1977). In 1975 and 1976 an annual average of 740 spills releasing 334,700
gallons of materials were reported. Petroleum products provided 72 percent, mostly
heavy oils. Several serious groundings and other accidents have occurred, and the
workshop report and others at that Conference stressed the critical importance of
adequate operating requirements for vessels, safe techniques for transfers, improved
vessel traffic management, better data management, and increased public concern
and action (Hess et al.. 1977; Villa et al., 1977).
Petroleum products have been the center of increased attention. Bulk oil traffic,
about 39,000.000 short tons in 1970. has been projected to double by the year 2020
(Corps of Engineers, 1977). Spills of up to 240,000 gallons in this nearly enclosed,
slowly flushed, biologically useful system have prompted much concern. Drawing
from research and experience both within the Chesapeake region and from other
sources, several summaries and general analyses of probabilities, fate, and effects of
oil spills have been developed. (Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 1977; Cronin, L., 1976;
Farrington, 1977; Hess et al., 1977; Rose, 1974). At least one reviewer noted that oil
spills in the Chesapeake are far below a reported world average of. 16 percent of total
transport and attributed this fact to care in navigation, piloting, handling in port.
and other effective methods of prevention (Cronin, 1976).
The fate of a hypothetical oil spill near the center of the Chesapeake Bay was
modeled with estimation of the sites, kinds, and magnitudes of effects (Kelly, 1976).
A 120.000-gatlon crude oil spill might contaminate 144 to 320 km (90 to 200 mi) of
shoreline and substantially damage wetlands, waterfront, and commercially
valuable invertebrates over at least 2 to 4 years. The Bay appears to be on borrowed
time, and a major spill and very serious damage seem inevitable within a decade or so
(Cronin, 1976; Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 1977).
Only one oil refinery is operated in the Bay region, at Yorktown, Virginia. No
catastrophic effects have been reported, but there has been strong opposition to a
refinery proposed in the Baltimore area, a refinery at Portsmouth, Virginia, and a
large oil terminal at Piney Point in the Potomac River. Objections have been based
on the dangers of spillage from transfers and operations, the existence of critically
important aquatic resources near each of these sites, and the probability that delete-
rious effects would last for many years. The Baltimore and Potomac proposals have
been defeated or withdrawn, but the Portsmouth terminal and refinery has, at this
time, passed many local, state, and federal hurdles. It has not yet been constructed
(Chambers, 1979).
Toxicants
Metals and other chemicals that can be detrimental to uses of the Bay are intro-
duced in sewage and also from industry, accidents, surface runoff, and from the
tributary rivers. One study found that sewage treatment plants introduce about as
much cadmium, copper, /inc. and lead to the Bay system as is received from the
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tributary rivers (Huggett et al., 1974), For manganese, iron, cobalt, and nickel, the
river inputs substantially exceed treatment plants. Near one large sewage outfall.
concentrations of heavy metals in sediments were 10 to 100 times those in uncon-
taminated areas, indicating that most of the metals were deposited near the source.
Other surveys and studies of heavy metals could not identify the sources, especially in
Baltimore Harbor and Elizabeth River, where large quantities of metals are present
in sediments, but both industries and sewage treatment plants have contributed
(Cronin et al., 1974).
Potentially toxic chemicals are frequently, perhaps continuously, introduced into
the Chesapeake Bay from sources other than sewage treatment plants. They have
been identified as one of the three most serious threats to the health of the Bay
(Huggett et al.. 1977; Cronin et al., 1977). Substantial efforts have been made to
preclude introduction of toxicants, as in the Federal Toxic Substances Control Act
of 1976, Maryland's Safe Disposal of Designated Hazardous Substance Act. and
similar legislation in Virginia (Huggett et al., 1977). While it is by no means certain
that industrial and domestic wastes meet present standards of National Pollution
Discharge Elimination System permit statements, every new industry is required to
assure compliance. Principal problems appear to arise from old industries, old
sewage treatment systems, and the vast accumulations of metals, oils, and
unidentified pollutants in the sediments of Baltimore Harbor, Elizabeth River, and.
to a lesser concentration, other sites (Jaworski. 1981; Office of Water Planning and
Standards. 1977; Tsai et al., 1979).
The Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program gave early and
high priority to some of the problems of toxics in the food chain. They have sup-
ported or are supporting projects on:
• Sedimentology of the Chesapeake Bay
• Baseline Sediment Studies to Determine Distribution, Physical Properties, Sedi-
mentation Budgets, and Rates
• Chesapeake Bay Sediment Trace Metals
• The Characterization of the Chesapeake Bay: A Systematic Analysis of Toxic
Trace Elements
• Investigation of Organic Pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay
• Interstitial Water Chemistry
• Sediment and Pore Water Chemistry
• Monitoring Particle-Associated Toxic Substances and Suspended Sediment in
the Chesapeake Bay
• Fate. Transport, and Transformation of Toxics: Significance of Suspended Sedi-
ment and Fluid Mud
• Animal Sediment Relationship
• The Biogenic Structure of Chesapeake Bay Sediments
• Inventory and Toxicity Prioritization of Industrial Facilities Discharging into the
Chesapeake Bay Basin
• Chemistry of Wet and Dry Fall to Lower Chesapeake Bay
• Aqueous Effluent Concentrations for Biotesting
• Toxic Point Source Assessment of Industrial Discharges to the Chesapeake Bay
Basin
• Biofractionation of Industrial Discharges
• Evaluation of Bioassay Methodology for Application to Chesapeake Bay and
Other Estuaries (Davies, 1980; Office of Research and Development, 1980).
Excellent descriptions of the chemical burden of waters, sediment, and biota will
result, and much is being learned about the sources. Only the last project is directed
toward improved comprehension of the biological effects of toxicants in this and
other estuaries- a critical area for future studies.
Chlorine is the most widely used biocide to disinfect the effluents from sewage
treatment plants, some food processing plants, and other materials. It is also
employed to minimize sliming and fouling in the tubes and pipes of generating
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stations for production of electricity. Recent figures in Maryland indicate that
chlorine release to Bay water (assuming no degradation) is about 12 million kg, yr
(27 million tb/yr) from sewage treatment plants and I million kg/yr (2.2 million
lb, yr) from power generation (Davis and Middaugh, 1977). Perhaps I percent of this
becomes halogenated organic compounds and persists in the system. The toxicity of
chlorine and of chlorine-produced oxidants has been established for some Chesa-
peake species, and the larval stages are generally the most susceptible(Bertineetal..
1980; Chesapeake Research Consortium, 1977: Davis and Middaugh, 1977; Roberts
et al.. 1979).
Massive kills of four species offish in the James River in 1973 resulted in vigorous
cooperative studies and analyses by state agencies (Douglas, 1979;Virginia Marine
Resources Commission, 1979). Chlorine and its derivatives were clearly implicated.
Operational improvements in treatment plants, dechlorination, and perhaps the use
of bromine chloride, an effective disinfectant of lower estuarine toxicity, are useful
in reducing mortalities—which were in fact lowered to acceptable levels (LeBlanc et
al., 1978; Douglas, 1979). A chlorination workshop in 1977 provided 16 summaries
of available knowledge of the fate and effects of chlorine, the problems and
techniques involved in analysis of chlorine and residual chemicals, uses in cooling
systems, bioassay of plants and animals, and the behavioral and physiological
responses of estuarine organisms (Block and Helz. 1977).
Recently, concern for chlorine effects has again surfaced, and controversy over the
balancing of protection of public health versus injury to valuable estuarine species is
receiving fresh attention (Morton, 1980). A public conference titled "Chlorine-
Bane or Benefit?" is scheduled for the spring of 1981.
Herbicides have been used for agricultural purposes, especially in no-till practices,
in increasing quantities in the last decade. No-till practices, which reduce runoff but
require the use of herbicides, began about 1969, and by 1977 application of triazines
in the Bay region reached 1,500 to 15,000 tons, depending upon the estimator (Citi-
zens' Program for the Chesapeake Bay, 1978). A small percentage, on the order of 1.5
to 2.0 percent, may be carried off into water. Some reaches the estuary. In the same
period, submerged aquatic vegetation progressively declined in abundance over
much of the Chesapeake system—about 50 percent in the number of sites (among
625) that were vegetated in Maryland, and extensively in Virginia (Citizens' Program
for the Chesapeake Bay. 1978). The coincidence has been noted and argued
extensively (Cronin et al.. 1977). An extensive summary of knowledge about such
vegetation in the Bay noted that these chemicals can injure such plants in laboratory
experiments, that the extent of damage in the Bay system is unknown, and that a
considerable number of other factors may affect submerged aquatic vegetation
(turbidity, salinity, fauna, temperature, sediments, chlorine, nutrients, boating,etc.)
(Stevenson and Confer, 1978). The Chesapeake Bay Program includes related
projects on (Wells et al.. 1979; Davis, 1980):
• Distribution of Submerged Vascular Plants in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland—
1978 and 1979
• Distribution and Abundance of SAV in the Lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia—
1978 and 1979
• Zustera marina: Biology, Preparation, and Impact of Herbicides
• Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay: Its Role in the Bay Eco-
system and Factors Leading to Its Decline
• Assessment of the Potential Impact of Industrial Effluents on Submerged
Aquatic Vegetation
• Effects of Recreational Boating, Turbidity, and Sedimentation Rates in
Relationship to Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
• Factors Affecting and Importance of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Chesa-
peake Bay (Wells et al., 1979; Davis, 1980).
There are also valuable projects on the functional roles of aquatic vegetation and
their use as habitats for important species.
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It is to be hoped that the important uncertainties about possible relationships
between valuable agricultural activities and valuable estuarine resources will be
definitively resolved and either corrected or dismissed, as may be appropriate.
Chlorinated hydrocarbons were the subject of both concern and research, and the
knowledge of their effects was brought before Chesapeake Bay interests {Walsh.
1972). Concern has declined along with use. although decay products have been
reported in Bay sediments. Special problems have arisen with the storage of PCBs in
inadequate facilities, the transfer to improved containment, and proposed incinera-
tion, but no serious pollution is known to have occurred.
Radioactivity has not been shown to be detrimental to the uses of the Chesapeake
Bay. There are two nuclear generating stations on the estuary. The well-known Three
Mile Island is in the middle of the largest source of freshwater. Completion of a series
of nuclear plants is underway with some in the series operative and some proposed
on the Susquehanna. Cleanup and decontamination of Three Mile Island have not
been completed, and 2,646,000 1 (700.000 gallons) of highly contaminated water
must be disposed of. Public agencies and the citizens of the Chesapeake area are
deeply concerned but hopeful that the established safety levels for radionuclides are
valid.
The Kepone Saga
Release into the James River of a relatively unknown pesticide developed to
control ants, cockroaches, and Central American banana root borers created an
estuarine catastrophe that will last indefinitely. The later stages of the sequence are
well documented and may be summarized as follows (Associated Press. 1980; Cronin
et al., 1979; Huggett and Bender. 1980; Huggett et al.. 1980; Lunsford et al.. 1980:
Nichols et al., 1979):
• From 1966 to 1975, Kepone was discharged into the environment, the sewage
treatment system, and the tidal river at Hopewell. Virginia, on the James River.
• Recognition of dangers occurred when employees displayed serious health prob-
lems and subsequent investigation uncovered heavy contamination of soils.
water, and estuarine sediments, and threatening quantities in benthicand pelagic
organisms.
• Kepone is toxic to many aquatic species, concentrated in a number of species, and
transferred through the food web.
• About 140 kg (308 Ib) of Kepone are concentrated in the biota of the system.
» An estimated .5 metric tons now remain in or near the source area. 10.4 metric
tons are distributed in the sediments of the estuary over a distance of 88 km
(55 mi).
• All major components of the James estuary contain Kepone—biota, water, and
sediments. The pathways of cycling have been approximated and include plants.
benthos, plankton, nekton, and birds.
• Kepone is highly persistent, and a wide variety of proposed corrective measures
(stabilizations in sediment, covering of sediments, incineration, etc.) are costly
and unfeasible. The least expensive plan would cost over $3 billion.
• The economic impact is enormous, since the river was closed in 1976 to the entire
valuable recreational and commercial fisheries.
• Modest improvement has occurred, and recreational fisheries are now permitted
to retain their catch and short-exposure fish such as shad can be retained. Medical
tests are reported to show that humans can eliminate Kepone more effectively
than test rats and mice.
• Kepone is slowly buried by more recent sediments in areas of high sedimentation.
but high contamination persists in much of the biota.
• Reexamination of old analytic data and archived samples revealed the early
history of introduction when the problem was unsuspected (Cronin et al., 1979).
Documentation of the fate, effects, costs, and possible remedial measures has been
exceptionally thorough. Involved investigators have noted that "our ability to
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correct such widespread contamination is extremely limited both technically and
economically"{ Huggett and Bender, in press) and that "Kepone is an example of but
one of thousands of potentially toxic new substances being manufactured every
year" (Nichols et al., 1979).
Ultimately, recommendations for dealing with Kepone rest with the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, working in coordination with Virginia and Mary-
land. This is a massive burden to have resulted from inadequacy in operation, moni-
toring, and regulation.
RECOGNITION OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AS A SYSTEM
With increasing emphasis, the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries are being
regarded, studied, and managed as a single entity with physical, chemical, and bio-
logical continuity. In an estuarine system of this size, diversity, political subdivision,
and complexity, the approach has been achieved slowly and despite parochial reluc-
tance. The earliest recognition of the Bay's unity came to those navigators who used
the great single transportation network it provided. Subsequently, the scientific
community studied the physical system, the migratory species of invertebrates, fish,
and birds, the chemical continuity, and other aspects that required consideration of
its totality (Chesapeake Research Consortium. 1976;Cronin, L.,etal.. I97l;Cronin.
W.. 1971; Huggett et al.. 1977; Kuoetal.. 1975; Lynch etal., 1977; McErlean et al.!
1972; Schubel, 1972). There is now broad but incomplete acceptance that "an
ecosystem must be ordered and husbanded within its own terms"( Hedgepeth, 1972),
and that the total Chesapeake is indeed such an ecosystem.
Approach to the entity has been demonstrated in several areas in the last decade. A
series of conferences, supported by the states, citizens'groups, professional societies.
federal agencies, and several coalitions of state and federal agencies all focused on
the total Chesapeake Bay system (American Water Resources Association, 1976;
Bergoffen. 1971; Chesapeake Research Consortium, 1977; National Aeronauticand
Space Administration, 1972; National Aeronautic and Space Administration, 1978;
State of Maryland, 1968; Washington Academy of Sciences. 1972). The reports from
these contain valuable overviews and integrated summaries.
Research analysis and planning have become more comprehensive. The Chesa-
peake Research Consortium, Corps of Engineers, and Environmental Protection
Agency have developed broad program statements and implemented them (Beers et
al., 1971; Office of Research and Development, 1980; Prentiss, 1972). The design of
research for some of the species considers the full estuary (State of Maryland and
Commonwealth of Virginia. 1980). Analysis of important issues and of the
application of research in their resolution has employed the complete Bay region as
the target (Douglas. 1979). Total system models have been attempted for nutrients
(Hydroscience, Inc., 1975; Jaworski, 1981; Kuoetal., 1975; Laniak, 1979)andone
conceptual ecological model for Chesapeake Bay has been prepared (Green. 1978).
The largest estuarine hydraulic model, a fixed-bed geometrically distorted model at
1:1000 horizontal scale and 1:100 vertical scale, has been constructed, verified, and
employed in an initial series of studies (McKay, 1976). The model occupies about 9
acres on Kent Island. Numerical analogues for hydrographic behavior and
containment dispersion in one-, two-, and three-dimensional models exist for
various portions of the Bay and for the system (Ulanowicz. 1976). Further
development and application of two- and three-dimensional models are
incorporated in the Chesapeake Bay Program. Models are essential for theoretical
and practical purposes, and these values are being employed and will be enhanced.
Data systems abound. Twelve institutional systems have been identified ( Kohlen-
stein. 1972), and a large number of files exist for specific purposes. Quality control
varies as well as purpose and scope, and no unifying solution has yet been effected.
The most optimistic possibility for unification appears to be in a Primary Chesa-
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peake Bay Data Bank, employing common and accepted data units, terms, and
programs, plus local or institutional specialized data systems as compatible as
possible with each other and with the Primary Bank (Cronin et at., 1979). This has
not been achieved and is not in sight.
The most recent effort to unify consideration and study of Chesapeake Bay is the
"Chesapeake Bay Research Coordination Act of 1980" introduced by Senator C.
McC, Mathias and Representative Robert Bauman, both of Maryland. It is
intended to assure effective research planning and coordination of all Bay-related
research supported by federal funds (Congress of the United States, 1980). The law
did not go into effect until October 1981.
Summaries and syntheses are increasingly available. In addition to, or as part of,
the conference reports noted above:
• Individual authors have presented overviews of the physical, chemical, and bio-
logical knowledge of the Bay and commented on its condition (Cronin, L., 1967;
Cronin, L., 1978; Cronin etal., 1977; Lippsonand Lippson, 1979; Pheiffer et al.,
1972; Schubel, 1972).
• Two atlases have been completed, presenting general data on the biota and envi-
ronment of the Maryland portion of the Bay and detailed information on the
Potomac River estuary (Lippson, 1973; Lippson et al., 1980).
• Teams have developed concensus summaries, interpretations, and recommen-
dations on various problem areas and on the "condition" of the Bay (Cronin et
al., 1977; Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, 1969; Fish and
Wildlife Service, 1970; Hess et al., 1977; Hugget et al.. 1977; Lynch et al., 1977;
Sullivan et al., 1977).
• Historical trends have been examined (Heinle et al., in press).
• One valiant description has been completed of the present (ca. 1973) and future
(2000 and 2020) conditions of the Bay "including, but not limited to the
following: navigation, fisheries, flood control, noxious weeds, water pollution,
water quality control, beach erosion, and recreation" (Corps of Engineers,
Baltimore District, 1974, 1977).
Federal law treats the Chesapeake Bay as a unit, but administrative practices do
not always do so. The tidal Chesapeake system is in one region (111) for many federal
agencies, divided between two in several, and split into three districts of the Corps of,
Engineers (Friedlander, 1979). The State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of
Virginia know well where the boundaries are, but each frequently refers to its portion
of the system as "the Chesapeake Bay" (Wallace et at., 1972).
IMPROVED MANAGEMENT OF POLLUTION
Since implementation of The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (PL
92-500) and its amendments, major changes have occurred in the management of
pollutants in and around Chesapeake Bay. Maryland and Virginia are "designated"
states, with programs accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and
therefore hold primary responsibilities for water quality. Virginia created a State
Water Control Board in 1972 that has expanded substantially and has vigorously
attacked Bay problems. Maryland has undergone several administration changes,
and primary responsibility for water quality was recently placed in a new Office of
Environmental Programs in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which
is also responsible for air quality, hazardous substances, and waste management.
Both states are negotiating agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency for more efficient planning, management, and technical assistance. Efficient
meshing of federal and state responsibilities, action, and funding is difficult, but it is
being seriously attempted.
In the last decade, the federal government has made three major attempts to
improve understanding and management of water quality in the Chesapeake region.
The Corps of Engineers' Chesapeake Bay Study, authorized in 1965, assembled its
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Existing Conditions Report in 1974 and Future Conditions Report in 1977, sup-
ported three years of hydrographic study of the Bay, constructed the Chesapeake
Bay Model, and began its use with outside support for some of the studies (Corps of
Engineers. Baltimore District, 1974, 1977; McKay, 1976; Shea et al., 1980; Withers,
1979). The National Science Foundation, through its program on Research Applied
to National Needs (RANN), funded the operation of the Chesapeake Research
Consortium, established in 1972 by The Johns Hopkins University, University of
Maryland, Smithsonian Institution, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science to
conduct interdisciplinary and interinstitutional research on principal problems, and
supported that effort over a period of about 4 years. In fiscal year 1976, Congress di-
rected the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a 5-year, $25 million
Chesapeake Bay Program of research directed to assess the principal adverse factors
impacting the Bay's environment, improve related data systems, and assist in better
management of the system (Office of Research and Development/ EPA, 1980). The
products of the RANN investment are completed and widely disseminated; the
Corps' reports are readily available, but the model studies have not been completed;
and the results of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's program are
beginning to appear. Such uneven federal funding of relatively short-term attention
to long-term problems has important value, but is inadequate in meeting the needs of
the region (Cronin, 1979).
Other important federal and state-federal programs were also initiated. Both
Virginia and Maryland established Sea Grant Programs and Coastal Zone Manage-
ment Programs in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Sea Grant Programs appear to be well established. Maryland has
established a Coastal Resources Division as a permanent center for coastal zone
efforts, while Virginia has chosen to forego federal support and leave these matters
as tasks of various agencies.
Research efforts have escalated, albeit unevenly and largely in response to funding
opportunities. The Chesapeake Research Consortium functions through the four
largest academic centers, with about two-thirds of the non-federal scientists of the
area and the principal research facilities. It exists to identify the problems of the
region, to conduct multi-institutional research toward their solution, and to assist
management agencies. The Smithsonian Institution has established a Chesapeake
Bay Center for Environmental Studies, and the University of Maryland has re-
grouped its Bay-related programs to create a Center for Environmental and
Estuarine Studies as a new branch of the University. All of these and a large number
of other federal laboratories, academic institutions, consulting firms, and other
organizations have participated in research related to pollution and the Bay eco-
system (Chesapeake Research Consortium, 1978).
The states of Maryland and Virginia have undertaken cooperative ventures that
are highly innovative in this region where state rights are rigorously protected. As the
result of a study by the Chesapeake Bay Legislative Advisory Commission, created
by legislative action in 1978, a permanent Chesapeake Bay Commission was estab-
lished in 1980 by the two states. Present roles are limited to review of long-term
needs, advisement of state legislative and executive branches and the federal govern-
ment, and assessment of coordinated efforts between the states and with the federal
government (Gartlan et al., 1980). In 1979, a complementary Bi-State Working
Committee was established for continuing direct interaction between the executive
agencies of Virginia and Maryland. The Commission and Committee may be highly
important in assessment and control of pollution.
It is appropriate to note that a Susquehanna River Basin Commission and Inter-
state Commission on the Potomac River exist, so that there are now complementary
commissions for the entire watershed. The managerial network would appear to be
in place. The achievements obviously lie in the future and cannot now be assessed.
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PUBLICITY, EDUCATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, AND
PERCEPTIONS
Notable improvements have occurred in the availability of reliable information
about Chesapeake Bay, media attention, and in the involvement of its many publics
in the processes of management. The Chesapeake Bay in Maryland an Atlas of
Natural Resources, presenting extensive material in readable narration and excellent
graphics, is widely used in schools as well as by scientists and managers (l.ippson.
1973). An Environmental Atlas of the Potomac Esluary contains similar graphics.
detailed summary of many aspects of this sub-estuary, text-like presentations on the
physical, chemical, and especially the biological aspects of estuaries in rich detail.
and a set of folio maps on cultural landmarks, topography, sediments, aquatic vege-
tation, benthos, spawning region migrations, wastewater, and boat waste discharges,
(l.ippson et a!.. 1980). This is the finest estuarine treatment of this type. No single
complete description and interpretation of Chesapeake Bay has yet been achieved,
but interest has been expressed.
Movies, slide shows, booklets, and other formal educational materials are
increasingly available, as are newsletters, brochures, and periodic information from
citizens' groups, agencies, and commissions. Some school systems have units on
Chesapeake Bay. Frequent press attention is given to news and views about the Bay.
and major features appear from time to time in local and regional papers, on tele-
vision, and in the National Geographic and other magn/ines( Fisher, 1980; Hoffman,
1979; Kanigel, 1979; Perkinson et al.. 1973). These usually deal with specific
problems (Kepone. nuclear power plants), appreciation of the Bay. the simultaneous
fragility and resilience of the ecosystem, active programs, or general assessment of
conditions and needs.
Public involvement is substantial in several forums. The Chesapeake Bay Foun-
dation (a member organization). Citizens' Program for Chesapeake Bay (an um-
brella for groups), and the Maryland and Virginia Conservation Councils are highly
active. The Chesapeake Bay Program includes one of the largest federal investments
in public participation, supporting extensive forums, mini-grants, information ex-
change and a Citizens' Steering Committee to advise on the program (Wells et al.,
1979; Davis. 1980).
Public opinion on water quality problems and other environmental issues is being
assessed. Pollution was considered in 1971 to be of the greatest importance among
Bay problems, especially from domestic wastes, industrial wastes, pesticides, and oil
spills. Marylanders rated air and water pollution asseriousenvironmental problems
in 1979, with water pollution the more critical (Baltimore Environmental Center.
1980). A Sea Grant-sponsored telephone survey in 1979 found pollution to be the
overriding concern of the citizens sampled with 69 percent ranking it first in relation
to Chesapeake Bay (Florestano and Rathbun, 1980). Seventy-two percent disagreed
with the statement that the Bay is in good shape. Eighty-four percent feared that an
increase in waterfront industry would injure air and water quality. Vigorous punish-
ment for dumping and pollution was supported. Among other results, the authors
concluded that interest groups are generally in consonance with citizens'opinions,
that few citi/en users know about the active interest groups, and that many "interest
groups" are in fact quite small sets of people organized to convey their views to
agencies and to the media. An additional survey indicated that air and water
pollution are of the greatest concern in Maryland, that industrial wastes are thought
to be the major cause of water pollution, that nuclear facilities on the Bay were
opposed by a majority, that citizens are uncertain whether improvements in
environmental conditions have occurred in the past 10 years, but that they expect
improvement in the next 10 (Rathbun and l.inder, 1980).
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RESEARCH NEEDS
There have been several catalogues of research needs for Chesapeake Bay. in-
cluding those related to pollution (Beers et al., 1971; Chesapeake Research Con-
sortium. 1977; Corps of Engineers. 1977; Ellis, 1973; Office of Research and
Development'EPA, 1980). Eight areas of research and related activity merit
emphasis:
I. Improved comprehension of the component sand fundamental processe.s of the
total Chesapeake Ray system. The physics, chemistry, and biology of the Bay
have received much attention, but there are serious gaps that preclude the
understanding necessary as a basis for adequate management. The routes,
rates, sinks, and effects of materials entering the systems, including pollutants,
arc not sufficiently known. The food webs and flows of materials and energy in
them are only grossly described. Knowledge of the requirements of the organ-
isms of the Bay is so meager that only a small number ot the 2,700 species larger
than microorganisms can be carried through their full life history in laboratory
culture.
2. Development of technical methods for converting wasted resources from pol-
lutants to useful mall-rials. Wasted heat and nutrients, chemical wastes.
channel sediments, and the byproducts from processing of wood and foods are
all large-scale pollutants of the Chesapeake Bay with such potentials.
3. Research responsive to the needs recognized hy management agencies for
application in meeting short-term ami long-term needs. Competent and objec-
tive investigation of a large number of practical and managerial problems is
needed. It must be protected from use as a cosmetic, mere defense ol stated
position, and the prostitution of the process of objective research.
4. Improved understanding of the social and economic characteristics of the Bay
region and improved capability to predict the effects of alternative practices.
Pollution control and other management efforts areantnropocentric. but there
is a limited understanding of the social and economic needs, wishes, and trends
of the region. Without it. the danger of misdirected management is great.
5. Research to assist protection and enhancement of the desired conditions and
products of the Bay. and to minimize undcsired ones, hy means consistent with
the capacities and limitations of the ecosystem. Improvement of fisheries by
intelligent protection of their critical areas of spawning, nursery use. feeding.
and migration is possible, but the knowledge base is very limited. Control of
disease, of vegetation that interferes with use, of sea nettles, and of other com-
ponents undesired by some users may become feasible, but we have at least
learned that they must be approached in the context of balanced use and the
total effects on a complex system. Knowledge is not yet sufficient to permit
these achievements.
6. Improved capability to predict the possible effects of proposed chemical intro-
ductions, physical alterations, biological modifications, and resultant environ-
mental conditions in the Bay is essential for adequate management. For
example, we cannot state with sufficient precision to guide management
agencies the effects, full costs, and full benefits of doubling or halving nutrient
loads; releasing small quantities of toxicants or stimulants; cumulative con-
struction of bulkheads, groins, small channels, and piers; large-scale extraction
of commercially useful species; development of resistant bacteria; diminishing
the freshwater flow from tributary rivers or altering the annual cycle of fresh-
water flow; or many other changes that have been, are. and will be proposed.
Present knowledge can be very valuable in evaluation of such proposals, but it
is not sufficient. Such research will involve basic studies, improved models of
many kinds and, especially, improved means of experimentally testing t
effects of change prior to risking a portion of the Bay. One of the most urge •
needs for improving prediction of effects in Chesapeake Bay (and oil i
39
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estuaries) lies in development or abilities to perform feasible laboratory bio-
assay tests and to predict realistically the impacts of the tested chemical or
conditions on the principal organisms of the Bay and on the ecosystem. Present
standard tests do not provide such prediction, except in very gross terms.
Testing for acute and chronic effects, behavioral and physiological response
measurement, extension of laboratory results to predict responses in the
estuary - these and other difficult research areas must be explored far more
fully.
7. Development, testing, ami permanent maintenance of excellent inventory and
monitoring of the Bay. Inventory of components and proper monitoring are
needed to provide long-term descriptions, detect important changes, assist
effective enforcement, and indicate vacancies where additional research is
required. The vital signals of the system must be tracked for the total system
and for the significant subdivisions—individual tributaries and inherently
different segments of the open Bay.
8. Development anil use of comprehensive systems for the management and
distribution of data ami information. Massive quantities of data are required
and are now being produced. Better approaches are required, however, if they
are to be adequate in scope, efficiently integrated, and readily available for
retrieval, interpretation, and use. Similarly, technical and popular information
must be better assembled, expressed, and distributed to users.
Assessment
The decade of the 1970s has been a period of exceptional change in pollution
aspects of Chesapeake Bay, much of which favors improvement in protection of
water quality. Notable federal legislation and a substantial body of recent state law
has set new goals and established new mechanisms for regulation and enforcement.
New and stronger management agencies have been created. Related research has
been conducted at unpredicted levels of funding and sophistication. Analytic capa-
bilities have improved until they sometimes threaten to overwhelm with informa-
tion. Fresh assessments have been made of water quality in the estuary and in the
watershed, and comprehensive projections have been essayed for the future40 years.
Maryland and Virginia have progressed from occasional reactive cooperation to
establishment of positive and continuing interaction on Bay problems and needs at
both executive and legislative levels. Public awareness and concern have been
enhanced and support high environmental quality in the Bay.
However, not all changes in the 1970s demonstrate or promise improvements in
environmental quality. Population growth continues at many sites, some of which
are already heavily loading the estuary. Exotic toxic organic chemicals, to which the
Bay biota is quite vulnerable, are continuously generated and sometimes released.
The Kepone tragedy is a frightening example of failure of agencies and procedures
established to protect the environment and a disturbing case of the extensive and
enduring damage that is possible. Spills and near-spills (for example, the Maria
Costa) continue, and shipping is expanding. A severe tropical storm demonstrated
the capacity of natural events to overwhelm treatment facilities and management
programs. Nuclear generating systems on the estuary and on the tributaries
exemplify the very large scale of potential engineering changes and the massive
uncertainties of the environmental effects of failure of a nuclear operation. Battles
over power plant and refinery siting, placement of toxic dredged material and sewage
sludge, and the management of sewage have not provided guarantees that
environmental quality will be assured in these and other matters.
A principal protection device, the National Pollution Discharge Elimination
System, appears to be grossly inadequate in describing or controlling pollution from
industrial and domestic systems. Nutrient concentrations of threatening levels have
been shown to be progressing down the tributaries and the main stem of the Bay.
Conversion of wastes to useful resources has not been adequately accomplished.
40
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Several hangovers from the past exist. The long-term accumulations of known
toxicants and probably of unknown ones, especially in Baltimore Harbor and the
Elizabeth River, exist as complex reservoirs of pollutants, readily available for
release and access to the biota, as does Kepone in the James. In old domestic and
industrial systems, some ancient pipes, valves, outfalls, and practices are difficult to
correct and expensive to replace. At many sites waste treatment capacity and
practice fail to stay ahead of loading. Substantial reduction has occurred in the 1970s
in numbers of important Bay plants and animals, and the role of water quality has
not been determined.
Uses are not yet rationally zoned in accordance with the primary characteristics
and capacities of the Bay system, and means for controlling the distribution and
density of human populations are limited and local. The enormous role of land usage
in affecting water quality is rather dimly seen and does not yet affect many decisions
to permit or refuse various land-based activities.
There is no continuing source of funding for long-term research and monitoring
designed to comprehend the Bay and assist in its management.
On balance, the potentials for achieving and sustaining high water quality in the
tidal system of the Chesapeake Bay have been greatly enhanced and they may
possibly be realized in the next decade or two. However, very serious problems
remain, and the obstacles to such achievement are formidable.
The vast values of the Chesapeake, for many uses merit conservative guarantees.
within the limits of human capability, that the environmental quality, inherent
processes, and biological health of the Chesapeake Buy will indeed be assured for the
indefinite future. Almost every important and desired use depends on that
achievement. Recent progress is impressive. Further progress is imperative.
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POLLUTION IN THE NEW YORK BIGHT:
A CASE HISTORY
Joel S. O'Connor
Office of Marine Pollution Assessment
Northeast Office
Old Biology Building, SUNY
Stony Brook, New York 11794
and
Douglas A. Segar
President, SEAMOcean
P.O. Box 1627
Wheaton, Maryland 20902
DESCRIPTION OF THE BIGHT
Physical Features
Geographically, the New York Bight is a relatively sharp angle in the northeastern
U.S. continental shelf south of Long Island, New York, and east of New Jersey. The
shelf is about 180 km (112 mi) wide and has an a real extent of about 39,000 km2
(15,000 n mi2). Depths over much of the Bight are between 30 to 60 m (98 to 197 ft),
and the shelf break is defined at a depth of 200 m (656 ft). The broad, gently sloping
shelf of the Bight is bisected by the Hudson Shelf Valley.
The morphology of the Bight floor and the distribution of its surficial sediments
are controlled by sea-level fluctuations from continental glaciation over the past
several million years. At the time of the last major ice advance, the North American
ice sheet extended from Canada to Long Island and northern New Jersey. Sea level
was lowered to about 145 m (480 ft) below the present level about 15,000 years ago;
hence, the continental shelves became dry land. Since then, the ice has been melting
and the shoreline has retreated over the shelf to its present position. Many features
on the shelf today are the result of this fall and rise of sea level (Freeland and Swift,
1978).
Extensive sampling of surficial sediments has provided rather detailed knowledge
of grain size distribution. The dominant material on the shelf floor is sand, 0 to 10 m
(0 to 33 ft) thick, resting on Holocene clays. Unconsolidated fine sediments are regu-
larly resuspended and ultimately carried back into the estuaries or off the shelf edge.
Some persistent areas of muds or fine sediments occur in tow areas, in the Christiaen-
sen Basin, Hudson Shelf Valley, and in smaller "mud patches" near Long Island. The
muds accumulate in relatively quiet, deep areas because these regions have less in-
tense wave and current energy. Nearshore mud patches develop because high con-
centrations of suspended sediments are available for deposition during calm periods
(Freeland and Swift, 1978).
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Fine sediments enter the Bight by discharge from rivers and tidal inlets, and by
dumping, particularly of dredged materials that have accumulated in New York
Harbor. Domestic and industrial wastes from land also contribute to elevated con-
centrations of organic carbon and toxic metals (Swanson, 1977) and a wide variety
of synthetic organic compounds (O'Connor, J.M., et al., 1981) in the sediments.
Water movements in the Bight are highly variable. Over the middle and outer
shelf, waters generally move to the south-southwest, parallel to the bathymetric con-
tours. The average flow is about 5 cm/ s (0.1 knots) near the surface, reduced to about
1 cm/s (0.02 knots) near the bottom. On the outer shelf, storm-induced winter cur-
rents of 3 to 10 days are common (Mayer, et al., 1979). Water temperature follows
the well-known seasonal cycle of heating and stratification in summer and vertical
homogeneity in winter.
While boundaries between the inner and outer Bight are poorly defined and con-
stantly changing, the inner Bight does have two important features that tend to limit
its capacity to flush contaminants to the open ocean:
I. The two-layer flow near the mouth of New York Harbor is dominated by flow
from the Hudson-Raritan estuary. The less dense surface layer flows seaward,
generally parallel to the New Jersey coast. The lower, denser water of the Bight
flows into the estuary. Fine sediments that are rich in pollutants and organic
carbon tend to sink, be entrained in the bottom waters, and undergo the par-
tially closed cyclical transport common in estuaries.
2. East of the region of strong river influence, a clockwise circulation gyre is evi-
dent for part of the time. Its western edge tends to be located over the head of
the Hudson Shelf Valley. While water flow can be up or down valley, up-valley
flow has been measured for extended periods of time (Beardsley, et al., 1976).
These impermanent up-valley flows and the clockwise gyre tend to reduce the
flushing of contaminants from the inner Bight or apex.
Historical Changes
The broad historical trends in human influences on the Bight are functions of
striking increases in population density and energy usage. The human population of
the counties bordering the Bight increased exponentially from about 10,000 in 1675
to over 16 million in 1970. Population stabilized in the period from 1970 to 1980 for
the first time since American Indians were driven from the region by Europeans in
the 1600s (O'Connor, J.S., 1981).
From the 1850s to 1940, energy usage very gradually increased in the coastal fringe
of the Bight. Even in the early 1800s, however, the New York metropolitan region
was established as the rapidly expanding focus for development inthe United States.
By 1810, New York City's population exceeded that of Boston, and the city became
the largest in the nation. Prosperous European nations invested heavily with capital,
goods, and technology in North America, and New York was a principal beneficiary
of this investment through trade, services, and manufacturing (Squires, 1981). The
Port of New York reached its peak in 1871 as an import/export center, handling 71
percent of the nation's foreign trade, but as this share declined. New York's commer-
cial, financial, and industrial growth continued (Boddewyn, 1981).
Beginning in the 1940s, energy consumption soared. This spurt of energy con-
sumption coincided with continuing growth in population and (with some excep-
tions) industry and services through the 1960s (O'Connor, J.S., 1981).
Until the mid-1700s, garbage and other wastes were dumped into open gutters,
rivers, or onto land to feed pigs and chickens. These practices continued into the
1850s in some areas while sewers and cesspools were being constructed. By 1806 it
was clear to the New York City Board of Health that more extensive sewers needed
to be constructed throughout the populated areas and that the city aquifers could no
longer provide enough potable water (Loop, 1964). By 1842 the original Croton
aqueduct carried water to the city from 60 km (37 mi) to the north. This aqueduct was
48
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replaced and extended to ISO km (90 mi) from the city in 1915, and another aqueduct
brought freshwater from the Delaware basin by 1944. The system's 11 reservoirs
provide apparently safe yields of at least 565 m2/s (1,290 mgd) even during the
1961-1967 drought. Per capita consumption of water has increased from 380
1/capita/day (100 gcd) in 1900 to 660 led (175 gcd) in 1977 (Gunnerson, 1981). This
rapid increase in usage of water for domestic and industrial purposes has led to
increasingly difficult wastewater disposal problems.
By 1972 separate and combined sewers were serving most of the New York/New
Jersey metropolitan area and parts of the New Jersey coast. These sewers contributed
114 m'/s (2.6 mgd) of municipal discharges to the Hudson-Raritan estuary and New
York Bight. Industrial discharges were 27 m3/s (0.61 mgd) of which 47 percent went
through municipal systems. Total wastewater flows (domestic, industrial, and urban
runoff) to the Bight averaged 173 m'/s (3.95 mgd). These wastewaters represented
about 22 percent of the total freshwater flow (790 mj/s or 18 mgd) to the Bight
(Mueller, et al., 1976).
So-called solid wastes, some of which are primarily water, have historically been
dumped on (then) lower valued lands to create new land through shoreline exten-
sion, and at harbor and ocean dump sites at increasing distances from population
centers. Prior to 1970 about 1.4 billion m3 (1.9 billion yd3) of total waste solids were
dumped in New York waters. This amount exceeded the suspended sediment dis-
charge of all the Atlantic coast rivers (Gross, 1976).
Street sweepings, garbage, and refuse were dumped first in New York Harbor and
from 1900 to 1934 in the inner Bight. However, in response to the garbage washing
up on the beaches, a Supreme Court decision forbade further ocean discharge of gar-
bage. Since 1934 these floatable wastes have been incinerated or landfllled (Gross,
1976).
Sediments have been dredged from ship channels of New York Harbor since at
least the early 1800s. Sewage sludges and acid wastes dumped in the Bight are pri-
marily liquid. They contain about 5 percent and
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from several sources. Phytoplankton productivity of the apex, for instance, averages
about three times higher than that of the outer Bight (Malone et al., 1979).
The predominantly sandy and muddy sand sediments of the Bight are particularly
hospitable environments for four groups of larger benthic invertebrates: bivalve
molluscs, annelid worms, the echinoids (sea urchins and sand dollars), and
crustacean shellfish. Both the total numbers of benthic invertebrates and their total
weight decrease markedly from nearshore to the edge of the continental shelf.
Benthic biomass depends as well upon sediment type, increasing by a factor of
almost 20 from sand-gravel (94 g/m2) to silty sand (1,800 g/m:) (Wigley and
Theroux, 1976).
As a consequence of long-term carbon and toxicant loadings to the inner Bight, an
area of sediments greater than 240 km2 (93 m2) in the apex is enriched with carbon,
toxic metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, and synthetic organic compounds. These
same sediments typically contain depauperate benthic communities, with very high
standing crops of a very few species. Organic enrichment of fine-grained sediments
seems to be the major factor altering the preexisting competitive balance among
many species whose feeding strategies differ. The high standing stocks and reduced
species diversity observed in parts of the apex may be caused by this mechanism.
Additional stresses that may contribute to these effects include the production of
toxic sulfide ions and resuspension of other toxicants that tend to exclude predators
and reduce cropping. Until recently, observations of benthic community alterations
had been restricted primarily to the benthic macrofauna. However, recent studies
have shown parallel disturbances in meiofaunal species assemblages of affected
sediments (Tietjen, 1980).
Fish populations of the Bight are dominated by migratory species. Temperature is
a strong stimulus for the migration of most coastal fishes, and temperature changes
also stimulate spawning. The abundance of individual fish species within the Bight
has commonly fluctuated by a factor of four in the past 25 years. White the major
cause of year to year fluctuations is climatic variability, sport and commercial fishing
caused serious declines in nearly all commercially important species from I960 to the
mid-1970s. From 1967 to 1974 the total biomass of finfish caught by bottom trawls
declined by more than 50 percent in the region from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras.
Sport fishing has also increased rapidly. Recreational catches are estimated to be
about as large or larger than domestic commercial catches for striped bass, bluefish,
weakfish, summer flounder, winter flounder, black sea bass, cod, and mackerel.
Since 1974 more restrictions have been imposed to reduce commercial fishing levels,
and fish stocks as a whole have increased (Grosslein and Azarovitz, 1981). The most
significant finfishes in the Bight for commercial and sport fishing demands include
cod, summer flounder, bluefish, striped bass, Atlantic mackerel, winter flounder.
black sea bass, and weakfish.
Shellfish are also important commercial and recreational resources. Based upon
sampling in 1976, the estimated biomass of ocean quahogs was 2,450,0001 of meats;
surf clam meats were estimated at 875,0001. Sea scallops are another major offshore
resource for which biomass estimates are not available.
The food webs built up from plant material and detritus lead to continual
replenishment of harvestable fish and shellfish resources of the Bight. However,
within the Hudson-Raritan Estuary several fish and shellfish species no longer grow
and reproduce adequately to sustain exploitation. Even those species maintaining
harvestable densities within the estuary contain PCB concentrations that approach
or exceed FDA limits and cannot be harvested commercially. Filter feeding shellfish
within the estuary and the inner Bight contain concentrations of coliform bacteria
that prohibit commercial exploitation.
The massive discharges of paniculate material from the tfew York metropolitan
region both limit the primary productivity within the estuary and stimulate the
detrivores that feed upon organic particles. However, the limited information
available indicates that the rates of carbon degradation within the estuary have not
50
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increased commensurate with increases in historical organic carbon loadings. The
excess organic carbon has both accumulated in the estuarine sediments and been
transported to the Bight. The aesthetic and recreational value has been compromised
by oil sheens, floatable wastes, and odors that are widespread within the estuary. To
a lesser extent, oil sheens and floatable wastes are frequent features of the Bight as
well.
The most important economic function of the Bight and estuary is as a vehicle for
coastal and foreign transport. The total foreign and domestic waterborne commerce
to and from the Port of New York was about 175 X 10* t/yr during the 1970s.
RECENT MODIFICATIONS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
Environmental Issues — 10 Year Changes
Few striking trends over the past 10 years are evident in the structure or function of
the ecosystem. This lack of evidence may well be due partially to the combination of
limited measurements and the large variability in biotic responses to natural environ-
mental fluctuations. Only a few attributes of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary were
monitored over the past decade, and limited monitoring of the Bight did not
begin until 1976. Also, research measurements during the 1970s were seldom con-
ducted over time periods long enough to detect possible trends. However, a few
ecosystem features are known well enough to document the existence or probable
absence of significant decadal trends. Changes are evident in the community struc-
ture and commercial catch of demersal fishes and shellfish (Grosslein and Azarovitz,
1981). However, no major trends are noticeable in bacterial measures of water
quality nor in the locations of contaminated sediments of the inner Bight. It would
not be surprising if additional trends in contaminant loadings and ecosystem impacts
did occur during the 1970s but went undetected.
Bathing Water Quality—In the New York and New Jersey coastal zone, swim-
ming is the most popular outdoor recreation (Carls, 1978). The City of New York has
increased its public beachfront from l.6km(l mi) in 1933 to 29 km (18 mi). Increas-
ing sewage loadings to the New York Harbor since the 1800s have caused widespread
closures of bathing beaches (Suszkowski, 1973). Despite continuing efforts to man-
age sewage wastes since the early 1900s, the entire inner harbor is not classified as
acceptable for bathing. Of the 12 recognized beaches in Lower Bay, most were open
to bathing, with intermittent closures, during the late 1970s (New York City, 1979).
There is no evidence of serious disease associated with swimming in the harbor since
1920, but upper respiratory inflammations and gastroenteritis have been associated
with swimming in recent years. The bacterial or viral agents of these diseases are not
yet identified, but the probability of illness among swimmers can be predicted rather
reliably from concentrations of appropriate indicator bacteria in bathing waters.
Based upon epidemiological observations at beaches of Coney Island and western
Long Island, Enierocoi-cus and Escherichia coli were the best indicators of swim-
ming-associated gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, or stom-
achache). The probability of contracting such symptoms was generally higher at the
Coney Island than at the Long Island beaches. These studies also documented an
appreciable incidence of gastroenteritis from swimming in approved bathing waters
(Cabelli, 1981).
There is no evidence that municipal waste discharges from Long Island have
diminished water quality beyond existing bathing standards. Municipal wastewatcrs
from New York City and the New Jersey coast seldom cause coliform densities to ex-
ceed bathing water standards, at least along the open coast (Cabelli, 1981).
Although bacterial and other water quality data for the 1970s over the Bight re-
gion are incomplete and not exhaustively analyzed, there seem to have been no
striking wide-scale trends in bathing water quality since 1970 (Gunnerson, 1981;
Cabelli, 1981).
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Shellfish Sanitation—Concentrations of total and fecal coliform bacteria, indi-
cators of human pathogens, have been high enough for several years to require clo-
sure of most Hudson-Raritan Estuary waters to shellfish harvesting. Even the New
York Harbor waters classified for shellfishing use (Raritan and Sandy Hook Bays)
have not met the New York State or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency coli-
form standards for shellfishing in recent years (New York City, 1979). Similar clo-
sures were instituted in the apex in 1970 and extended geographically in 1974
(Vcrber, 1976). Measurements in the water column of the apex indicate that coliform
bacterial concentrations from sewage sludge dumping reach background levels with-
in 3 to 5 km (2 to 3 mi) of the barge discharge site, whereas elevated concentrations in
the estuarine plume extend much farther into the apex (O'Connor, D.J., et al.,
1977).
Petroleum Pollution—Petroleum hydrocarbons have been identified as a class of
contaminants of concern within the Bight region. Of particular concern are the poly-
nuclear aromatics (PNAHs) such as the benzenes, naphthalene, and benz-anthra-
cenes. Because of their toxicity, carcinogenicity, and relatively high concentrations
in the ecosystem, the PNAHs have been characterized as "major perceived threats
that require continued study" in the Bight region (O'Connor, J.S., and Stanford,
1979). Petroleum hydrocarbons have also formed surface slicks, have fouled
beaches, and have tainted fish and shellfish.
The daily chronic input of oil and grease to the Bight region has been estimated at
8701 / day (Mueller et al., 1976). Assuming that 60 percent of this material constitutes
petroleum hydrocarbons (NAS, 1975) with an average density of 0.95, the average
daily oil input would be about 5201 or 550 m'/d (0.15 mgd). This estimate does not
include atmospheric inputs from fossil fuel burning that have been estimated at 17 to
42 m'/d (Gibson et al., 1979). Thus, total chronic petroleum hydrocarbon loadings
are estimated at 570 to 590 m'/d (0.15 toO. 16 mgd). The quantities lost from routine
ship operations are unknown.
Individual oil spills can release large quantities of oil in small regions, resulting in
major impacts. However, the average quantities released from spills appear to be
much less than those from chronic oil losses to the Bight region. The U.S. Coast
Guard Pollution Incident Reporting System (P1RS) records that all known spills of
petroleum hydrocarbons from 1974 through 1979 have averaged 0.01 m'/d (0.003
mgd), i.e., much less than I percent of all petroleum hydrocarbons introduced to
the Hudson-Raritan Estuary and New York Bight.
Despite the substantial dispersal of petroleum hydrocarbons by dissolution, evap-
oration, and degradation, large quantities are found in the Bight region. A large pro-
portion of the introduced petroleum hydrocarbons reach the sediments. Sediments
with high hydrocarbon concentrations are particularly evident in the Hudson-
Raritan Estuary. Concentrations of PN A Hs alone in sediments of the estuary range
from 3 to 180 jug/g dry wt. The hydrocarbons in particularly high concentrations are
naphthalene, phenanthrene, and fluoranthene (Anderson. 1981). Concentrations of
all petroleum hydrocarbons in sediments of the Bight range from 500 to 3,000 ^g/g
dry wt. in fine sediments of the apex to about lOjug/g dry wt. on the continental shelf
(Farrington and Tripp, 1979).
The organisms analyzed appear to accumulate naphthalene and biphenyl more
than the other PNAHs. Digestive glands of lobsters accumulate higher concentra-
tions and a broader spectrum of PNAHs than any of nine other species analyzed
{MacLeod et al,, in press). The degree of hydrocarbon tainting in food species and
chronic effects on biota require further analysis (Anderson. 1981).
The above estimates are based upon data gathered throughout the 1970s. Avail-
able data do not permit any reliable assessment of trends in petroleum hydrocarbon
input rates or accumulation in the ecosystem over the past 10 years.
Dredged Material—The large quantities of natural riverborne sediments and
anthropogenic paniculate inputs are rather effectively trapped in New York Harbor.
These sediments tend to accumulate in the 386 km (240 mi) of federally maintained
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channels and commercial/ recreational channels required for vessel traffic in the har-
bor. Dredging of these channels has removed an average of about 8 million m'/yr (10
million yd /yr) from the harbor during the 1970s and only slightly less per year since
1930. During the 1970s most of the dredged material has been disposed of at the
"mud dump" site in the apex.
Because most toxicants introduced to harbor waters tend to adhere to particles
and settle to bottom sediments, concern has long been expressed over the distur-
bance and ocean dumping of contaminated sediments. The degree of dredged mate-
rial contamination varies greatly. One assessment indicates that about 10 percent of
the material dredged from the harbor is clean sand and at least 10 percent is highly
contaminated and cannot be dumped into the ocean under existing regulatory
criteria (Gordon et al., 1981).
For several years, the wide variety of organic and inorganic toxicants in dredged
materials has stimulated concern about effects upon the ecosystem of the Bight and
toxicant accumulations in marine food resources. This concern has heightened since
1976, when large quantities of PCBs were identified in sediments of the Hudson
River. From 200,000 to 300,000 kg (440,000 to 660,000 Ib) of PCBs remain in the sed-
iments of the Hudson from discharges by capacitor manufacturing plants about 400
km (250 mi) upstream from Manhattan. Although the rate of transport of this PCB
reservoir to the harbor has not been estimated, there is a high probability that large
proportions are being carried to the harbor (O'Connor, J.M., et ah, 1981). While
additional measurements of PCB inputs to the Bight will be required for reliable
estimates, it appears that dredged materials are already a major source of PCBs to
the Bight and that these materials may accumulate significantly higher PCB concen-
trations than existing ones from the Hudson River (O'Connor, J.M., et al., 1981).
Environmental Crisis—Real or Imaginary
At the outset of the 1970s, public awareness of environmental problems was in-
creasing rapidly and an intense review was taking place aimed at identifying and
eliminating the unacceptable or unnecessary impacts of human activities on the envi-
ronment. During this period attention was focused most sharply on the more imme-
diately visible sources of pollution such as the automobile and its smog-producing
ability and floatable materials from sewage discharges. In the New York region, at-
tention became focused on the large quantities of sewage sludge barged out to sea
and dumped in the ocean. During the seventies several environmental crises oc-
curred in the New York Bight, each of which was linked in its own way with the
ocean dumping issue.
Sewage Sludge: Beach Pollution and Anoxia—Public concern over the impacts of
ocean dumping in the New York Bight grew out of a series of observations of envi-
ronmental damage. The most important of these observations was the detection of
high concentrations of coliform bacteria in waters near the dredged material and
sewage sludge ocean dumpsites(Buelowetal., 1968) as a direct consequence of which
an area of radius II km (7 mi) around the sewage sludge dumpsite was closed to
shellfishing in May 1970. This was apparently the first instance of shellfish habitat
closure on any open U.S. continental shelf. At the same time, the Congress was con-
sidering the need for legislation to regulate and control ocean dumpingand dumping
in the Great Lakes. Media accounts prompted by the early stage of the Congressional
consideration of this legislation contained reports that the dumping had created a
"dead sea" in the Bight, that the contaminated area, then SO km" (20 mi"), was
"growing rapidly," and that this could necessitate closing New York City area
beaches in the coming (1970) summer (Madden, 1970). AH these contentions were
unsupported by the meager scientific information then available and were seriously
misleading. However, the public accounts did detail the indications of environmen-
tal degradation that did exist, including evidence of depauperate benthic fauna, dis-
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eased fish and shellfish, unusually high coliform bacterial counts in Bight waters and
sediments, and high metal concentrations in the sediments.
Later in 1970 the Council on Environmental Quality {CEQ) published a report on
ocean dumping. This report reviewed the limited scientific information available at
that time, much of which was contained in unreviewed technical reports, and con-
cluded that ocean dumping was "not a serious, nationwide problem," but that "in
some areas the environmental conditions created by the ocean disposal of wastes are
serious"(CEQ, 1970). This latter conclusion was substantially qualified in the report
itself by the statement that "knowledge of ocean pollution is rudimentary, and gener-
ally it has not been possible to separate the effects of ocean dumping from the
broader issue of ocean pollution (CEQ, 1970). This statement is particularly relevant
to the Bight because there are so many sources of pollution. Despite the considerable
acknowledged uncertainty and lack of adequate data, the CEQ report made strong
recommendations that ocean dumping should be subject to regulation and that
ocean dumping of sewage sludge and polluted dredged material should be phased
out (CEQ, 1970).
In response primarily to the call of the CEQ report for strong national legislation
to regulate ocean dumping, the Congress enacted the Marine Protection Research
and Sanctuaries Act, which became law in October of 1972(33 USCS140I et seq).
The Act states that:
The Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States to regulate the
dumping of all types of materials into ocean waters and to prevent or strictly limit the
dumping into ocean waters of any material which would adversely affect human
health, welfare or amenities or the marine environment ecological systems or eco-
nomic potentialities. (PL-95-532, 33 USC SI40I)
Immediately before and after the passage of the Act a number of research pro-
grams were initiated to investigate more fully the effects of ocean dumping in the
New York Bight. In December 1973 and early in 1974, the popular press obtained
preliminary unpublished observations from limited sampling that constituted the
early results of such studies. Press accounts that followed included references to: 1) a
"dead sea" from the sewage sludge dumping (Sharov, 1973), 2) migration of the
sludge "bed" to within one-half mile of Long Island bathing beaches (Bird, 1973), 3)
predictions of the sludge would soon begin to wash up on the beaches (Bird, 1973;
Pearson, 1974; Carroll, 1974), and 4) warnings about potentially serious public
health hazards from heavy metals, bacteria, and viruses (Carroll. 1974; Kline, 1974;
Pearson, 1974).
Other accounts claimed that the existing sewage sludge dumpsite could be used for
only one more year because the "dead sea" created by sludge was moving toward
Long Island beaches. This ominous prediction for onshore displacement of the
sludge bed gained credibility because it was attributed to "an authoritative EPA
source" (Pearson, 1974), that is, to a responsible regulatory agency. During this
period of time, stories and predictions of environmental disaster such as those cited
above appeared in national magazines and more than 100 newspapers, including
newspapers from the West Coast, and were heard on radio and television (Kidder,
1975; Souci, 1974). In addition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency itself
issued a report stating: "We clearly recognize that the practice [of ocean sewage
sludge dumping] over the past 45 years has created a dead sea in the general area of
this site" (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Briefing Report, 1974).
In response to the public and political pressures to take some action concerning
the newspaper media reports of impending environmental disaster caused by con-
tinued sewage sludge dumping, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1974
notified the municipalities responsible for dumping sewage sludge that they would be
expected to use an alternative offshore sludge dumping site within 2 years. During
the months following this announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency
evaluated the available scientific information concerning sludge dumping in the
ocean in order to develop an environmental impact statement in which moving the
existing sewage sludge dumpsite to alternate sites further offshore was considered.
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The draft of this environmental impact statement (EIS) was issued in February of
1976 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EIS, Draft, 1976; Final Report,
1978). The conclusions of the draft, which remained unchanged in the Final EIS
issued in September 1978, include the following:
• Sewage sludge dumping at the existing site has not significantly affected the
water quality off Long Island or New Jersey beaches.
• Dumping of current volumes of sewage sludge will not have a significant effect
on the rather limited benthic community at the existing site. The benthic com-
munity would not recover in the near future if theexistingsitewereabandoned.
Furthermore, areas now closed to shellfishing would not be reopened in the
near future, even if the existing site were abandoned.
• Continued dumping of present volumes of sewage sludge at the existing site will
not have a significant additional effect on the water quality in the Bight apex.
• Small quantities of floatables derived from sewage sludge are present at the ex-
isting dumpsite for short periods immediately after dumping occurs. There is
no direct evidence that the wash-up of floatables on Long Island and New
Jersey is attributable to sewage sludge dumping. The probability that these
materials result directly from sludge dumping activities is low.
These conclusions led the Environmental Protection Agency to recommend that
the existing sewage sludge dumpsite should continue to be used, although they be-
lieved that the development and implementation of land-based alternatives that are
environmentally acceptable, technically feasible, and economically reasonable
should be carried forth as expeditiously as possible. At the same time, this draft envi-
ronmental impact statement contained references to several ongoing and completed
studies that indicated sewage sludge was only a minor contributor to the overall pol-
lution problem within the New York Bight apex (Mueller eta I., 1976; MESA, 1975;
Segar and Cantillo, 1975; Segar et al., 1975; Drake, 1974).
In J une 1976 almost all of Long Island's major public ocean beaches were closed to
swimmers for varying periods of time because of floating trash and pollutants.
Waterborne debris has been a constant irritant to beach users in recent years, but the
concentrations during June 1976 were the heaviest ever known. The unprecedented
closings began with the restriction of 32 km (20 mi) of Fire Island beaches on June 15,
1976. By the third week of June 1976, most of Long Island's south shore beaches were
closed. By July 1. 1976, these beaches were again opened, but during the interval,
normal summer beach use decreased, causing inconvenience and annoyance to pro-
spective swimmers and economic loss to local businesses. The problem was such that
on June 23,1976, the area was declared a disaster area by the Governor of the State
of New York. Because much of the material washing up on the beaches appeared to
be derived from sewage, there was public suspicion that the source of the material
was the sewage sludge dumped into the ocean off the shore of Long Island. This sus-
picion persisted despite the Environmental Protection Agency's finding in the envi-
ronmental impact statement that floatables from the sewage sludge dumping were
negligible in quantity. In February 1977, a detailed analysis of the Long Island beach
pollution incident was reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration (MESA, 1977). This report concluded that no source could be identified
as the single major contributor of floatables. However, the report continued, most of
the material was probably derived from the outflow of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary
and, although sewage sludge dumping was a possible source of floatables, the contri-
bution from it was "relatively minor."
In July 1976 fishermen reported large numbers of dead surf clams and other bot-
tom-dwelling organisms in an 8,600 km2 (3.320 mi2) area off the New Jersey conti-
nental shelf. The phenomenon continued through October of that year. The mor-
talities were caused by extremely low concentrations of dissolved oxygen and by
hydrogen sulfide poisoning in some bottom waters. At the height of the event, dis-
solved oxygen values in the water approached and in some instances reached zero in
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an area lying 10 to 100 km (6 to 62 mi) off the coast between Sandy Hook and Cape
May. Mortalities were greatest among surf clams, ocean quahogs, and other bent hie
animals. Lobster catches declined almost 50 percent during the period. These events
have been described in detail by Swansonand Sindermann(1979). As a result of this
crisis, in November 1976, the federal government declared the New Jersey coast a re-
source disaster area. Estimates of losses to the commercial and recreational fishing
industries and related processing and service businesses were as high as $550 million.
Local fishermen were also concerned about the long-term impact of this event on
their fisheries. Despite the fact that the sewage sludge dumping was known to con-
tribute only a small proportion of the oxygen demand within the New York Bight
apex (Segar and Berberian, 1976), once again sewage sludge dumping became the
object of suspicion among the public.
Here then in 1976 in the floatables incident and the oxygen depletion event were
two environmental disasters of just the nature that had been predicted in the early
1970s. What could be more natural than for the public to conclude that the earlier
investigators had been correct and that the sewage sludge dumping was indeed
responsible for these two environmental events? Public pressure for government ac-
tion to prevent the happenings of 1976 from recurring was extremely strong. The real
causes of these two events were floatables entering the rivers from diverse sources in
the New York region (MESA, 1977) and natural changes in the physical and biologi-
cal characteristics of the waters of the New York Bight, augmented by nutrient inputs
from the estuary and ocean outfalls and to a lesser extent from ocean dumping
(Swanson and Sindermann, 1979). Therefore, the Congress reacted in 1977 by
enacting an amendment to the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act that
established a mandatory deadline of December 31, 1981, for the termination of
"harmful"sewage sludge dumping in the ocean. This Congressional action was based
largely upon public misconceptions rather than scientific fact and did not consider
the impacts of land-based alternatives as fully as ocean dumping alternatives. The
deadline established by the 1977 amendment was not absolute but applied only to
sewage sludge that would "unreasonably degrade or endanger human health, wel-
fare, amenities or the marine environmental ecological systems or economic poten-
tialities" (PL 95-153, 33 USC SI40I). Despite this clear statement by the Congress
that dumping of some sewage sludges into the ocean after 1981 was acceptable,
provided that unreasonable degradation did not occur, the amendment has been
consistently misinterpreted in the public arena as an absolute ban on all dumping of
all sewage sludges.
As we have described, during the period between 1970 and 1976 two real environ-
mental crises preceded by one imaginary environmental crisis occurred in the New
York Bight. Sewage sludge is an inherently aesthetically displeasing substance to our
society. Therefore, it is not surprising that the media were able to generate consider-
able public concern when it appeared likely that the sewage sludge would affect Long
Island beaches. The technical information gathered and reviewed when the moving
of the dumpsites was considered indicated that sewage sludge dumping in the New
York Bight apex contributed only a minor portion of the contaminant inputs causing
environmental degradation and the potential for environmental crises (U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, 1978). The institutional response to the 1976 oxygen
depletion and beach pollution events did not take into account this technical infor-
mation, since the single governmental action was to establish a statutory deadline for
phasing out ocean dumping of sewage sludge. While stoppage of sewage sludge
dumping will diminish inshore eutrophication minimally and reduce toxicant
loadings to some extent, the other anthropogenic sources dominate impacts upon
the Bight. There has been no comparable regulatory action to minimize the discharge
of floatable materials or toxicants to the estuary and Bight.
Dredged Material I Bioaf cumulation—The waters in New York Harbor are natu-
rally shallow, and dredging is required to maintain channels deep enough for the safe
navigation of ships. For about 200 years, open water disposal sites located near the
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entrance to New York Harbor have been utilized to receive materials from dredging
of the harbor's access channels and ship berths. The disposal sites have been moved
several times, the present disposal grounds in the New York Bight being approxi-
mately 10 km (6 mi) east of Highlands, New Jersey, and 16 km (10 mi) south of
Rockaway Beach (Gross, 1976). Dredged material consists of natural material orig-
inating in the watersheds of the Hudson and other rivers entering the harbor; solid
material entering the waterways through sewage treatment plant discharges, storm
sewers, and other outfalls; and material brought in with tidal flow from the Atlantic
Ocean. Dredged material varies from clean sand with very low organic content and
extremely low concentrations of trace metais and synthetic organic contaminants to
contaminated sediments containing several percent of organic matter and high con-
centrations of trace metals and synthetic organic compounds. The ongoing issue of
the environmental impact of disposal of large quantities of dredged material with
associated quantities of toxic metals and synthetic organics has been discussed
above. However, ocean dumping of polluted dredged material has created a recent
environmental "crisis." Although the "crisis" addressed only a portion of the over-
all problem, it focused public attention on this issue.
The dumping of dredged material in the ocean has been regulated under the
Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act since 1972. In view of the lack of
understanding of the environmental impact of solid wastes disposed in the ocean, the
regulations pursuant to the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act were
amended in January 1977, so that criteria for determining whether a material is suit-
able for ocean disposal are based on the use of bioassay techniques and bioaccumu-
lation tests (40 CFR Part 227; 42 Fed Keg 2476-89, January 11, 1977). Implementa-
tion of the bioassay procedures began early in 1978. All dredged materials from the
New York area were found to pass the new bioassay-based criteria as these were
interpreted by the Corps of Engineers, although significant questions have been
raised concerning the Corps' interpretation of the criteria. This issue is the subject of
an ongoing lawsuit brought by the National Wildlife Federation (Kamlet, 1981).
Bioaccumulation testing was required after February 1979. When bioaccumutation
data began to become available for dredged material, it became apparent that, at
least with respect to PCBs, many contaminated dredged materials could not pass the
bioaccumulation criteria as interpreted by the Environmental Protection Agency
and that under existing guidelines, no permit for ocean disposal could be issued for
these dredged materials.
This situation raised the serious question of whether parts of the Port of New York
and New Jersey would be forced to close, since without an ocean disposal permit,
there was no reasonable means of disposing of material resulting from maintenance
dredging of essential ship channels. The potential economic and social disruption
that would have been caused by such a closure was sufficient to generate consider-
able.public concern, and the issue of dredged material disposal in the ocean became
an environmental "crisis." During the early months of 1979, several permit applica-
tions for maintenance dredging in the Port of New York and New Jersey were sus-
pended while the Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency tried to
decide whether or not these permits could be issued in view of the positive findings of
the bioaccumulation tests for PCBs. Channel and berth siltation, meanwhile, contin-
ued, and the availability of adequate berths was in doubt for the liners Queen Eliza-
beth II, Rotterdam, and Norway due to arrive in April and May. The necessary
dredging permits were finally issued in March.
Under the ocean dumping regulations, certain specified contaminants including
PCBs can be ocean dumped only when present in ocean dumped materials "in such
forms and amounts .. . that the dumping of the materials will not cause significant
undesirable effects, including the possibility of danger associated with the bioaccu-
mulation in marine organisms" (40 CFR 227.6b). The Environmental Protection
Agency/Corps of Engineers' implementation manual that specifies the bioaccumu-
lation test procedures states that "in order to ensure environmental safety, it must be
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assumed that any statistically significant bioaccumulation relative to animals not in
dredged material but living in material of similar sedimentological character, is
potentially undesirable" (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/Corps of Engi-
neers, 1977). The manual further recommends "the environmentally protective
approach of assuming that any statistically significant differences in tissue concen-
trations between control and exposed organisms area potential cause for concern."
However, noting that at present "tissue concentrations of most constituents in most
species cannot be quantitatively related to biological effects," the manual calls upon
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engineers to "objectively
consider the magnitude of bioaccumulation shown, the toxicological significance of
the material bioaccumulated, the proportion of sediment sampling sites which
produce uptake, the number of different constituents bioaccumulated from the sedi-
ments in question, the position in the human and nonhuman food webs of the species
showing uptake, the presence of motile species at the site which might serve as trans-
portation vectors removing bioaccumulated materials from the disposal area, and
other factors relative to the particular operation in question."
In a January 9, 1979, letter to the New York District of the Corps of Engineers,
Environmental Protection Agency Region II adopted the following position on
interpretation of bioaccumulation test results: "In view of existing FDA criteria
limiting the parameters to be tested in the bioaccumulation studies and thereby
identifying them as potential threats to public health and welfare, and consistent
with the intent of Section 226.6 [c] of the regulations and the COE/ EPA Manual,
paragraph G32, any statistically significant bioaccumulation would be considered
cause for denial, unless such.statistically significant difference is shown to have no
significant adverse effect on public health and welfare."
Early in 1980, the Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency
formed a joint task force that was charged with preparing a matrix for developing
more interpretive guidelines to evaluate the PCB problem. Meanwhile, the various
dredging permits concerned were being held in abeyance. The task force developed
an interpretive matrix under which dredged materials could be considered for
approval for ocean dumping if a statistically significant increase of PCB concentra-
tions occurred in a bioaccumulation test. This bioaccumulation test used three
organisms: a worm, a clam, and a shrimp. If statistically significant increases occur in
all three test organisms, then the material is not in compliance with the criteria and,
therefore, cannot be ocean dumped. If a statistically significant increase occurs in at
most two of the test organisms, the material is considered in compliance with the
criteria and can be ocean dumped without constraint, provided that the level of bio-
accumulation (final tissue concentration observed) in both of the" organisms showing
statistically significant increase is below specified threshold values. If a statistically
significant increase occurs in at most two of the test organisms and the magnitude of
the uptake exceeds these threshold values, the material is considered to be unsuitable
for unconstrained ocean dumping. On a case by case basis, the acceptability of ocean
dumping this material under certain circumstances (for example, when it is capped
by clean material) remains open.
This rather complex matrix is an expression of the difficulty in interpreting bio-
accumulation data, because information concerning the ecological significance of
bioaccumulation of toxic components in laboratory organisms is scarce. This is a
limitation inherent in applying any laboratory bioassay or bioaccumulation test to
the determination of the potential for environmental impact. While the development
and use of such laboratory tests is less expensive than field data collection and anal-
ysis, the use of such tests alone, as exemplified by the dredged material problem, is
often unsatisfactory and leads to poor decision making.
At present the dumping of dredged material in the ocean is still controlled by
criteria requiring bioaccumulation tests and a matrix approach to interpreting the
results of those tests. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engi-
neers have stated that this matrix is only to be used on an interim basis and that
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attempts will be made within the immediate future to review the ocean dumping
criteria and to develop new criteria that might more accurately reflect the potential
for environmental degradation. Such revised criteria should take into account the
need for an assessment of ecological effects in the region of the dumpsite itself either
to replace the laboratory bioassays and bioaccumulation tests or to supplement these
laboratory results and facilitate their interpretation. Criteria revised in this manner
would not only allow the current bioaccumulation test controversy to be resolved
but would also aid in better identifying the nature and extent of the overall environ-
mental impact of dredged material ocean disposal.
LIMITATIONS OF STATUTES AND REGULATIONS
Historically, the seventies will be viewed as the decade of environmental legisla-
tion. The decade began with the signing into law of the National Environmental
Policy Act [NEPA] on January 3,1970. After NEPA came the Clean Air Act of 1970
and then, in the 92d Congress, six new statutes came into being: the Federal Water
Pollution and Control Act; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act;
the Marine Mammal Protection Act; the Marine Protection Research and Sanctu-
aries Act; the Noise Control Act; and the Coastal Zone Management Act. The 93d.
Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the
Deep Water Port Act. The 94th Congress enacted the Toxic Substance Control Act
and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The 95th Congress passed major
amendments to the Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Safe
Drinking Water Act, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
One major drawback to the piecemeal approach taken to environmental protec-
tion in the 1970s is that it resulted in a disjointed management of the environment by
medium, rather than an integrated approach to dealing with environmental prob-
lems. Regulations promulgated pursuant to the various environmental laws each
adopt substantially different approaches to determining whether discharge or dis-
posal of a material is acceptable under each given Act. As a result instead of compar-
ing waste disposal options in different media and selecting the optimal option on
environmental, social, and economic grounds, an industry or a municipality faced
\vith the need to dispose of its wastes will often seek to find the option that is least
stringently regulated. One particularly notable example of this problem relates to the
disposal of dredged material, which is regulated under the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act for inland waters and the territorial sea (40 CFR S230), and under the
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act for the territorial sea and contig-
uous ocean (40 CFR S220-229). The regulations for ocean disposal are significantly
more stringent than those for inland water disposal, thus encouraging inland water
disposal, which may be more harmful than ocean disposal. Aside from the problems
caused by fragmentation of statutes and regulations, additional problems occur be-
cause of inexperience with environmental law and regulations and their operation.
Ten years is simply too short a time for a body of case law to be laid down sufficient
to identify all the problems with existing legislative and regulatory approaches let
alone to permit amendment and modification of the approaches such that they result
in efficient application.
Our ability to efficiently and effectively manage and control pollution of the envi-
ronment in general and the ocean environment in particular is constrained by the
lack of conformity among the various environmental statutes and also by short-
comings in the regulatory framework built around those statutes. During the next
decade it should be our aim to learn to apply the existing statutes, to modify them so
as to bring a degree of uniformity and efficiency into their operation, and, as an out-
come, to produce optimal solutions to environmental problems. The areas where
such amendments to statutes or to regulations will be needed are numerous. It is
instructive to review a few of these areas as they apply to problems within the New
York Bight.
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NPDES and SPDES Inadequacies
The New York Bight is contaminated predominantly by discharges either directly
into the ocean or into the river and estuary system through pipelines. The contami-
nants enter the New York Bight directly through ocean outfalls, or after they are dis-
charged through an estuarine or river outfall and carried out to sea by the estuarine
outflow. They may also enter the Bight as a component of dredged material taken
from the channels within the estuarine system. Pipeline discharges to the ocean or
river and estuarine system are regulated under the Clean Water Act and are subject
to the permit procedures of this Act, known as the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) or the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(SPDES), where a state assumes permitting responsibility under the terms of the
Act.
The NPDES program relies on the direct control of waste discharges through a
series of effluent concentration standards in order to achieve the desired ambient
water quality characteristics. Central among the issues concerned with the NPDES
strategy and its implementation is the effectiveness of relying on uniform national or
regional effluent standards. The adoption of uniform effluent standards is advanta-
geous, particularly given the ease of the negotiation process between government
and a discharger (Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc., 1975). However, the
adoption of uniform national standards has led inevitably to numerous cases in which
variances from these standards may be justifiable because erf local environmental
conditions or constraints, or economic considerations, but no adequate mechanism
for granting such variances exists. At present any variances must be granted through
statutory exemption (Blumm, 1980). Such variances have been granted on a class by
class basis rather than on an individual discharger basis. The formal variances that
currently exist are those for power plants (Section 316 [a] of the Clean Water Act of
1977) and exemptions of municipal wastewater treatment plant discharges from the
secondary treatment requirement if discharge is through an ocean outfall where a
large amount of dilution is probable (Section 301 [h] of the Clean Water Act of
1977). It is likely that more variances will be requested as other parts of the Clean
Water Act. such as toxic substances controls, are implemented (Blumm, 1980) and as
more information concerning local environmental conditions becomes available. If
these variances from the national standards do in fact proliferate, particularly if they
are justified largely by local water quality conditions, then it has been suggested that
this would constitute a de facto movement back to standards based on water quality
and water use as opposed to the current technology-based standards (Blumm
1980).
One shortcoming of the NPDES system is the problem of monitoring compliance
with permit conditions. Little hard information is available to enable the dimensions
of this problem to be adequately identified. However, it appears likely that because
of the self-monitoring aspects of the permit procedures and the limited data that the
permit procedures require, significant violations of permit conditions may take place
without detection.
One of the major difficulties in applying the current national effluent standards
approach is that the standards are established on an industry by industry basis and,
where combinations of discharges occur or where unique plant or process streams
are concerned, the effluent stream may not fit into one of the categories for which
standards have been promulgated. In this case the effluent discharge limitations in-
cluded in the permit must be designed specifically for the particular discharger. This
situation leads to the possibility that a particular industry or process stream can ob-
tain a de facto variance from the effluent standards by establishing that the process
stream or plant concerned is unique and that different effluent standards should then
be written for it.
A major inadequacy in the current NPDES program is the limitation of the
NPDES system in controlling toxic substances. Prior to the 1977 Clean Water Act,
the NPDES program and its predecessor concentrated primarily on conventional
60
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pollutants, though the permit applications often listed all of the characteristics of
Wastewater discharges including toxic substances. While the 1972 Act did require
toxic substance standards to be developed and implemented through the NPDES
system, this plan never came to fruition for reasons related to the complexity of set-
ting toxic standards and industry resistance (Blumm, 1980). The Clean Water Act
has intensified the emphasis of the statute on toxic substance standards. Instead of
adopting widely applicable toxic effluent standards, implementation of regulations
concerning these substances in waste process streams will take place through tech-
nology-based standards for NPDES discharges, pretreatment standards for dis-
charges through publicly owned waste treatment plants (where toxic substances
prove to be incompatible with plant operation), and specific standards for new
sources (Blumm, 1980). It is not clear that this essentially complex system will be suc-
cessful in substantially reducing the load of toxic substances entering the waterways
of the New York region and thereby entering the New York Bight.
Nonpoint Sources of Contaminants
Although the many existing statutes of environmental law control the placement
of waste materials in all media including the oceans, the atmosphere, the land and
underground water tables, and the release of contaminants from specific point
sources such as industrial plants to the atmosphere and the water and land environ-
ment, a multitude of nonpoint sources of contaminants to the environment still exist
that are not adequately regulated. In a coastal ecosystem such as the New York
Bight, these nonpoint sources are limited to atmospheric fallout and precipitation,
erosion of and runoff from the land, together with the many minor events of uncon-
trolled and undocumented disposal of wastes by the public or small businesses, and
discharges from the many vessels utilizing the New York Bight. The quantity of con-
taminants introduced to the ocean by these nonpoint sources can in some instances
be quite large. Duce et al. (1976), for example, have estimated that up to 13 percent
of the lead, 8 percent of the zinc, 5 percent of the iron, and I to 2 percent of the cad-
mium entering the New York Bight may do so by way of the atmosphere through
paniculate fallout and rainfall. Kneip ct al. (1981) have similarly estimated that the
contribution of PCBs through atmospheric fallout to the New York Bight is signifi-
cant compared to other sources.
The most important nonpoint source of contaminants to the estuarine and ocean
system appears to be the runoff of storm water, washing contaminant-laden material
off the streets and the land. Street and land runoff contain diverse contaminants such
as agricultural chemicals, hydrocarbons from crankcase and other waste oils, and
synthetic organics including PCBs and trace metals from a multitude of diverse
sources. In urban areas such as the New York-New Jersey region, where sewer sys-
tems and storm drain systems are combined, much of the material from nonpoint
sources entering the water environment does so through combined sewer overflows
during periods of rainfall, as discussed in more detail below.
Although the nonpoint sources of contaminants entering the New York Bight are
at present small compared to the direct sources, they will constitute a growing pro-
portion of the total contaminant load as the concentrations or loadings of toxic con-
taminants in direct sources are brought under control by the various environmental
statutes. For at least some contaminants, it is certain to prove necessary or desirable
to reduce contaminant loadings to levels that will require control of the nonpoint
sources. This is particularly likely for petroleum hydrocarbons. At present, the ex-
isting environmental statutes do not adequately address the need or the means to
reduce such nonpoint sources and the technological problems that exist with devel-
oping such legislation and control practices are difficult. The lack of regulations to
control nonpoint sources of contaminants is a potentially serious environmental
problem. The development of such regulations and technologies whereby the regula-
tions can be implemented should be a matter of priority.
61
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Treatment Plant Inadequacies
Although almost all municipal and industrial waste discharges into the aquatic en-
vironment are now regulated, large quantities of contaminants are still contained in
the permitted waste discharges owing to operational and maintenance inadequacies
of treatment plants that restrict the degree to which permitted discharge rates can be
maintained. Over 70 percent of the sewered areas in the New York metropolitan
region have combined sewers. During dry weather they function as sanitary sewers,
conveying all flows to the treatment plants. During wet weather, large volumes of
rainfall runoff enter the system—the average storm triples the normal dry weather
flow, but peak flow cart be as much as 50 times the normal flow. Waterfront regula-
tors are built into the sewage systems to act as relief valves to prevent flooding of
treatment plants during wet weather. These regulators allow no more than twice the
average dry weather flow to reach the plants so that even during the average storm a
large proportion of the combined flow is simply discharged through the regulators
without treatment. In addition many of the regulators are not in good operating con-
dition and leak during dry weather.
Table 1 shows the average daily quantities of various contaminants released by
New York and New Jersey municipal wastewater treatment works. The New York
City raw bypass is untreated sewage discharged where no treatment plant has yet
been constructed and where several treatment plants were closed for construction.
The noncontrolled discharges (regulator leakage, combined sewer overflows, and
storm runoff) contribute a large proportion of the total amount of the various con-
taminants released. Although there are plans to upgrade and repair regulators and to
partially treat combined sewer overflows, it is unlikely that these inputs can be sub-
stantially reduced and maintained at a low level unless major technological progress
is made or major new treatment capabilities constructed.
For comparative purposes, the total quantities of the same contaminants in
sewage sludge generated by the New York-New Jersey treatment plants are also in-
cluded in Table I. The quantity of the metals released through the effluents of oper-
ating treatment plants, not even considering storm runoff, combined sewer over-
flows, and regulator leakage, far exceeds the quantity retained in the sewage sludge
and barged for ocean dumping. This is an important point, since at present the laws
and regulations governing wastewater treatment and disposal emphasize more
strongly the elimination of ocean sewage sludge dumping than control of the other
treatment plant discharges and storm runoff. This may not be the optimal strategy
for achieving the maximum immediate environmental benefit through use of the
limited funds available for environmental improvement.
The general areas of regulatory shortcomings briefly discussed above are only
three of many. The process of amending our young body of environmental laws and
regulations into a coherent and effective whole will take several years, but further ef-
forts should be made in the interim either to enforce or rescind existing regulations
not being implemented.
In the realm of regulatory techniques or strategies, it is clear that there are con-
straints on monitoring compliance, particularly when regulating the large numbers
of small sources or nonpoint sources not now regulated or ineffectively regulated. In
recognition of these constraints, a system of incentives must be developed to ensure
that the discharger seeks to maintain good management practices, not simply to
avoid possible detection and prosecution of violations that the discharger knows are
unlikely but out of self interest. Designing such a scheme of incentives may well be
the greatest environmental challenge of the 1980s.
One of the most vital scientific information needs for improved environmental
management is the determination of the capacity of natural ecosystems to assimilate,
or otherwise cope with, various wastes and waste components (Goldberg, 1979).
Such knowledge is essential not only to enable limits to be placed on the quantities of
contaminants released to the environment but also to allow for the management of
the releases themselves in the most environmentally sound and cost effective manner.
62
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Table 1. Sources of Pollutants to Hudson-Raritan Estuary and Metals in
Sewage Sludge*
BOD
Susp.
solids
(1000(1000
lbs/d)lbs/d)
Sewage plant effluent
Regulator leakage
Combined sewer overflow
Storm runoff
Raw sewage bypass
Sewage sludge
711
35
182
95
524
440t
905
81
275
574
505
990t
Total
Kjeldahl
nitrogen
dOOIbs/d)
2622
48
301
114
846
37f
Fecal
coliform
(MPN/d)
3
6.6
1.7
1.2
1.2
3.6
X
X
X
X
X
X
1017
1015
1016
1015
10'7
1013t
Cu
2700
56
390
1600
910
780
Cr .
2600
41
170
840
540
370
Metals
Ni
2200
53
170
490
690
90
(Ibs/d)
Zn
8300
110
670
2100
1100
900
Pb
1000
32
420
1900
290
770
*1975 data from New York City 208 Study, 1978. Task 516/526: Baseline/Alternatives Summary, Tables
1 -1 through 1 -38. Prepared by Managing Consultants, Hazen and Sawyer, New York, NY.
fFrom Mueller, et al., 1976, Table 11.
-------
THE LAST TEN YEARS
The past 10 years have seen a dramatic awakening of public and institutional inter-
est in the effects of our society on the environment, including the oceans. Nowhere
has this awakening been more clearly felt than in the New York-New Jersey metro-
politan region.
The problems of the New York Bight are but one component of a spectrum of envi-
ronmental scares that have entered the public conscience during the decade. However,
the problems ot the Bight have included a number of dramatic incidents that have
taken on the dimensions of environmental crises. Some of these perceived crises were
not real but did illustrate the extent to which dramatic outbursts of public concern
can lead to widespread misunderstandings. Nevertheless, real crises did in fact take
place, ranging from chronic beach pollution incidents to the major oxygen depletion
and beach closure of 1976. Were these crises of the 1970s more numerous and more
serious than had occurred in prior decades or was it that situations were much the
same and we simply looked and saw more? This is a difficult question to answer in
view of the poor documentation prior to 1970. However, our best estimate must be
that there are elements of truth in both views, that environmental crises were more
frequent and severe during the seventies, but that the perception that these only be-
gan to occur during the seventies is also quite wrong.
During the seventies we have achieved much toward identifying and under-
standing the causes and effects of marine pollution in the New York Bight. In addi-
tion, much progress has been made in establishing the legislative and regulatory
framework within which we ran manage these causes and effects and prevent further
degradation. One might even expect that the rates of pollutant discharge to the estu-
ary and Bight may have decreased somewhat in response to implementation of the
New York and New Jersey pollutant discharge elimination systems. However, we are
not aware of any empirical evidence regarding trends in total pollutant loadings
during the 1970s.
There is equally inadequate evidence for 10-year trends in water quality of the
Bight. While an earlier study seemed to detect a slight downward trend in summer
concentrations of dissolved oxygen in bottom waters of the apex from 1949 through
1974 (O'Connor, D.J., et al., 1977), Swanson et al. (1979) found that dissolved oxy-
gen concentrations in recent years did not indicate a trend. Existing information on
toxicants in Bight waters or sediments is inadequate to assess trends during the
1970s. Trends in biotic effects would be even more difficult to detect, and no such
trends are evident. Somewhat more extensive measurements of bacterial pathogen
indicators do not illustrate marked trends in their concentration or distribution.
We have now reached a point where many hard choices have to be made con-
cerning the next steps to be taken in managing the New York Bight ecosystem with
respect to pollution. The New York-New Jersey metropolitan area is a region of ex-
treme stress in terms of both economic resources and intensity of land and water use.
Therefore, mistakes in simply shifting pollutant loads from the ocean to land or air
can have particularly high monetary and environmental costs. While some adjust-
ments in the disposal media of existing wastes may be appropriate, it seems probable
that the most useful improvements in waste management strategies must involve tox-
icant control and recycling or burning for energy use before the toxicants are greatly
diluted in water. Given the increasing value of reclaimed energy and toxic materials
and inexpensive reclamation technologies now available, all waste generating facili-
ties, including households, should be induced to practice such source control.
While environmental science can be expected to provide openly some of the infor-
mation required for waste management decisions, reliable information on more
readily measured features of waste management is not always available. For in-
stance, the quantities of pollutants liberated by specific industries or regions are of-
ten estimated incompletely and roughly; and reliable costs for, and effectiveness
measures of, treatment processes are often difficult to gain. Wise decisions regarding
64
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waste management depend upon reliable knowledge of treatment effectiveness and
costs just as importantly as upon knowledge of fate and effects in the Bight. Regula-
tory agencies should have adequate authority and resources to compile and maintain
this information on a regular basis. The U.S. Coast Guard's Pollution Incident
Reporting System is an illustration of such a reliable data base for oil and hazardous
wastes spilled from vessels.
Although continuing insight can be expected in our knowledge of pollutant im-
pacts, unrealistic expectations must not be used as the basis for deferring manage-
ment actions. For instance, if an ecological or public health impact is judged unac-
ceptable, it is seldom useful in the Bight environment to ask which pollutant or which
pollutant source is "responsible." The New York Bight receives polluting wastes
from an unusually large number of sources, and they are effectively mixed in coastal
waters, sediments, and biota. Essentially all pollutants from all pollutant sources
contribute to the observed biotic effects in the Bight: all pollutant sources are there-
fore responsible for ecosystem degradation. Their relative importance is a function
of the quantity, toxicity, and biological availability of their pollutant composition.
Thus, apart from exceptional situations, it will not be possible to identify a single
chemical or pollutant source as responsible for an observed effect. If ecological ef-
fects in the Bight are viewed as socially unacceptable, effective remedial action can,be
taken without unrealistic attempts to first fix blame upon any single chemical or type
of waste.
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MAN'S IMPACT ON THE COASTAL ENVIRONMENT:
NUTRIENTS IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT
by
Bostwick H. Ketchum
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
INTRODUCTION
The waste of human metabolism is rich in organic matter and in the fertilizing
nutrients essential for plant growth. Civilized people dilute this potentially valuable
natural resource with excessive volumes of carefully purified drinking water, add a
witch's brew of toxic chemicals, collect the resultant mixture from large areas of
densely populated land to concentrate it in one small location for disposal, and then
complain bitterly that it is expensive, if not impossible, to discharge the product into
the environment without damage to the ecosystem. For over a century the hazards
posed to public health by sewage have been recognized, and it is sterilized to prevent
the spread of waterborne disease. It was also early recognized that this mixture con-
tained large amounts of organic matter and that excessive discharge into an isolated
part of the aquatic environment would remove all available oxygen from the water
and lead to putrefaction and the production of hydrogen sulfide with its obnoxious
odor. Treatment plants were built to solve these two problems. The sewage was sep-
arated into a relatively clear though not drinkable effluent and a watery quasi-solid
containing much of the paniculate organic material and a major share of the toxic
materials that were added in the collection system. In this way, two disposal prob-
lems were created in place of one.
In retrospect, it appears that little has been accomplished that is admirable or
desirable, though it is obvious that modern cities could not exist without their sewers.
Today it is known that the apparently clear and innocuous effluent contains most of
the elements essential for plant growth that were in the original mixture. This ef-
fluent is a biostimulant or fertilizer, and when this is added to the aquatic environ-
ment, the natural plant populations quickly produce about the same amount of
organic material as that which was removed at great expense in the treatment plant.
The semisolid sludge, which contains most of the organic material present in the
original mixture, could be used as a soil conditioner and fertilizer except that the
excessive toxics it contains make this disposal option impractical.
Thus the human population finds itself in a dilemma. Efforts to solve one set of
problems have created other problems that are at least as serious. These problems are
not confined to any one country; they are global in extent and are found wherever
people gather together into densely populated urban areas. If the human popula-
tion were spread uniformly over the entire habitable area of earth, there would be
little problem. For large areas, the "night-soil1' would increase agricultural produc-
tion, albeit with the hazard of disease propagation. For more fastidious people, on-
site disposal is practical so long as each family unit is far enough removed from its
neighbors. Obviously, demands of modern civilization make this option impractical.
68
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The world oceans have long been considered a valuable resource for the disposal
of human waste materials based on the philosophy that "the solution to pollution is
dilution." As Goldberg points out in this volume, it is critical to assess the assimila-
tive capacity of the marine environment in order to avoid making foolish mistakes.
To provide perspective on this problem, it can be estimated that it would take about
twenty thousand years to double the total available nitrogen content of sea water if all
of the sewage from today's human population were discharged into the ocean. This
assumes complete worldwide mixing and that there would obviously be local con-
centrations greatly in excess of the average where the material is discharged. It as-
sumes, furthermore, that there would be no biological adjustment of the system, such
as by the sequestering of some of the added materials to the sediment or by de-
nitrification. And, of course, the problem would be exacerbated by further growth
of the world population.
The fact that there is a large capacity does not answer the fundamental question.
How much of this capacity can be safely used? Would doubling the available nitro-
gen content of the sea be acceptable? Would 10 percent? 1 percent? Would the added
nutrients in sewage stimulate marine productivity so that the harvest from the sea
could be increased? Could enough material be harvested to keep the system in a con-
tinuous steady-state balance?1" How can local deleterious concentrations that upset
the natural ecosystem and do more damage than they do good be avoided?
THE NATURAL NUTRIENT CYCLE
Nitrogen and phosphorus are the elements that most frequently limit plant growth
in aquatic ecosystems. For diatoms, silica, which is essential for the formation of the
shell, is also sometimes limiting. Various trace elements such as boron, cobalt, cop-
per, iron, molybdenum, and zinc are also required for plant growth but are rarely
limiting in sea water. Other elements such as carbon, potassium, and sulfur are essen-
tial components of living material, and they are present in excess quantities for plant
requirements in the sea. The scope of this paper will focus upon nitrogen and phos-
phorus as the most critical elements.!
Normal Proportion of Elements
In the production of organic matter in photosynthesis and the subsequent decom-
position of this material, the major elements are utilized or released in statistically
similar proportions to one another (Redfield et al., 1963). In sea water, these propor-
tions are:
-O:C:N:P = - 276:106:15:1 (by atoms)
or - 142:41:6.8:1 (by weight)
The oxygen value is negative in the above relations because it is released in photo-
synthesis when the other elements are being absorbed, and it is utilized in decom-
position when the other elements are being released. Except for carbon, which is
present in sea water in considerable excess of the needs of the plankton, these propor-
tions are remarkably close to the concentrations available in seawater. The data in
Table 1 (Redfield et al., 1963) show a comparison between availability and utiliza-
tion. Except for carbon, which is available at nearly 10 times the amount required by
the phytoplankton, the other elements are present in average seawater in the approx-
imate proportions they are needed for the ecological cycle.
•The proem innuil fish harvest of about 60 million metric tons removes ibout 1.3 » JO" kg N/yr-1 assuming 120 kg protein
containing 17.8 percent N per ton. Thii is about 3 percent of the nitrogen in the human sewage of the proem world popula-
tion. The importance of marine protein lo human nutrition it discussed by Ketchum (1973).
t Phytoplankton production is. of course, also dependent on otherenvironmemal characteristics, especially the transparency of
the water, which determines the depth of the eupholic »one, the depth of the mixed layer, salinity, and temperature.
69
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Table 1. Availability of Nutrient Elements and of Oxygen in "Average"
Seawater {S=34.7°/oo; T=2°C) and the Ratios of Their Availa-
bility and Utilization by Plankton (after Redfield, et al., 1963)
Substance
Phosphorus
Nitrogen
Carbon
Oxyben at
saturation
Availability
fig atoms 1*1
2.3
34.5
2340
735
Ratio
1
15
1017
320
Utilization
by plankton
ratio
1
16
106
-276
Availability
vs. utilization!
ratio
1
0.94
9.6
1.16
The oxygen content is of particular interest in terms of polluting the sea with
added nutrients. Since photosynthesis takes place in the near surface layers, the oxy-
gen produced is released to the atmosphere while the organic matter produced can
sink to deeper layers, isolated from the surface, where it is decomposed. Table 1 shows
a very small margin of safety in terms of preventing the complete removal of oxygen
from the water and the production of anoxic and objectionable conditions.
The concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus shown in Table I are characteris-
tic of the average deep water of the world oceans and are considerably higher than
the concentrations that would be found in surface layers of coastal or estuarine
waters. The oxygen content of the warm, shallow waters would also be less because
oxygen solubility decreases with an increase in temperature. Nevertheless, the num-
bers are useful to set limits that should not be exceeded for nitrogen and phosphorus
in order to avoid the development of anoxic conditions.
The Limiting Nutrient
These ratios do not represent the proportions in which the elements are available in
coastal or estuarine sea water but rather the ratios of change in their concentrations
that result from biological activity. The phytoplankton biomass will be limited by the
nutrient available in the environment in the smallest quantity relative to the require-
ment of the plants, provided all other factors such as light and temperature are favor-
able. It will be recognized that the element may not be limiting at the time of observa-
tion if all of the essential elements are present in excess. The limiting element will be
the first nutrient to become exhausted following growth of the phytoplankton popu-
lation.
In freshwater, phosphorus is commonly the limiting nutrient, and Miller et al.
(1975) have suggested that when freshwater contains a N:P ratio greater than 11.3:1
by weight (25:1 by atoms) the water may be considered phosphorus-limited while
water containing lower N:P ratios can be considered nitrogen-limited for algal
growth. In freshwater, consequently, removal of excess phosphorus from sewage
wastes has resulted in considerable improvement in the quality of the receiving
water.
In contrast to this, the common limiting nutrient in marine waters is nitrogen
(Ryther and Dunstan, 1971; Eppley et al., 1971; Thomas et al., 1974; Doig and
Martin, 1974; Goldman, 1976). In marine waters a N:P atomic ratio lower than 15:1
(6.8:1 by weight) implies nitrogen limitation of the phytoplankton production.
In New England coastal waters, Ketchum et al. (1958) showed that the ratio of
change of nitrogen and phosphorus in the near surface waters was 15:1 by atoms but
70
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that the waters contained a residual phosphorus content of 0.32 to 0.55 jug - at I '
when the nitrogen was virtually exhausted. This excess phosphorus is reflected in low
N:P ratios of concentration. The ratio of inorganic compounds of nitrogen and
phosphorus (N:P) in water samples collected at 10m (33 ft) at several locations and
various times of year ranged from 1.21 to 7.08 (by atoms). In contrast, the total N: P
ratio for the same samples ranged from 14.9 to 30.2. Thus the organic matter is
greatly enriched in nitrogen when compared with the inorganic source of nitrogen
and phosphorus in the water. In the decomposition of organic matter, phosphorus is
released more rapidly than is nitrogen, contributing to the low N: P ratio of concen-
tration in the water.
Goldman (1976) has studied the growth and composition of a marine diatom,
Phaeadactylum tricornulum. in seawater enriched with sewage wastes or with added
nutrients. Some of his results are illustrated in Figure I. The typical N: P ratio in the
wastewater ranged from 5 to 10 (by atoms), whereas the ratio in the algae ranged
from 10 to 20. AH of the cultures in Goldman's experiments were nitrogen-limited as
evidenced by the fact that the N:P ratio in thealgae was consistently greater than the
N:P ratio in the medium in which they were grown.
Typical N:P Ratios
in Wastewater
30
/
/
Nitrogen-Limited
I
2 15 'i>:
CL
•2
20
25
30
N:P Ratios Wastewater-Seawater Mixture
Figure 1. Comparison of atomic N:P ratios observed in wastewater-seawater mixtures
and in Phaeodactylum tricornutum (from Goldman, 1976)
71
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1974) has developed a marine algal
assay procedure designed to evaluate the effects of nutrients on the growth of marine
phytoplankton. This is a batch test in which spikes of a suspected limiting nutrient
are added to the pure algal culture and the total biomass produced after a fixed
period of time, generally 2 weeks, is determined as a function of the added nutrient.
The total biomass produced by cultures of Dunaliella tertiolecta in an artificial
seawater medium was shown to be directly proportional to the added concentrations
of phosphorus or of nitrogen when the basic medium was prepared without these
elements. The tests were performed at various salinities, and it was found that there
was no significant effect of salinity in the range of 16 to 35%n.
The assay test was also applied to estuarine waters at high and low tides with inter-
esting results. Phosphorus was consistently the limiting nutrient when the samples
were taken from the estuary at low tide, whereas nitrogen was limiting in samples
collected at high tide. The salinity showed the expected changes with the stage of the
tide, but the relationship of the production of the organic matter with salinity was
not significant. The nitrogen content of the water samples at low tide was consist-
ently higher than that at high tide, whereas the phosphorus content showed little
change. This confirms the generalization that phosphorus is commonly the limiting
nutrient in the freshwater that predominates in these estuaries in the low tide sam-
ples, whereas nitrogen is commonly limiting in the marine waters that dominated at
the time of high tide.
A change in the concentration of a limiting nutrient could affect the production of
organic matter by phytoplankton either by changing the rate of growth or by
changing the total biomass that can be supported. Goldman (1979) states that marine
phytoplankton have such a high affinity for nutrients such as nitrogen and phos-
phorus that these chemicals are frequently below detectable levels over virtually the
entire growth rate spectrum. It is impossible to evaluate the effect of an essential ele-
ment on the rate of growth in a batch test because the algae are continuously ex-
posed to a changing concentration as they assimilate the element and grow. The
effect of a limiting nutrient on the growth rate can be evaluated in a chemostat cul-
ture in which a continuous supply of fresh medium is provided. The growth rate in
such a culture is proportional to the rate of dilution at a steady-state cell concentra-
tion. It seems unlikely that the rate of growth of phytoplankton in the natural envi-
ronment, particularly in estuaries and coastal waters, is limited by the availability
of nutrients, but the biomass that can be produced is certainly proportional to the
amount of the limiting nutrient available for the production.
Composition of Phytoplankton
•The fact that the normal Redfield N:P atomic ratio of 15:1 is consistently found in
deep ocean waters and in the ratio of change of these elements in surface waters does
not imply that the composition of phytoplankton cells is immutable. Under labora-
tory conditions, the N: P ratio of the cell can be varied as a function of the composi-
tion of the culture medium and other growth conditions. The observations of
Ketchum (1939) that cells deficient in phosphorus are produced when grown under
phosphorus limitations of growth have been repeatedly confirmed (Goldman et al.,
1979; Perry, 1976; Fuhs et al., 1972). Goldman et al. (1979) conclude that the typical
Redfield ratio of C:N:P equals 106:15:1 is approached in culture only at high growth
rates relative to the potential maximum growth rate. This implies that, under natural
conditions, the phytoplankton that show this typical ratio are growing at or near
their maximum rates, even though the environmental concentrations of nitrogen and
phosphorus are low as is the phytoplankton biomass at any given time. They discuss
the dynamic conditions that make a maximum growth rate possible under these con*
ditions.
72
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DOMESTIC (HUMAN) WASTES
The problems of the disposal of domestic pollution are global in extent, but the
impact on the environment is localized because of collection and release to a timited
area. Segar (in press) has compiled data for the release of contaminants in various
populated parts of the world. The estimated amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus
are shown in Table 2, The nitrogen contamination of these marine areas ranges from
8,000 to 33,000 tons per million population per year, and the range of phosphorus
contamination is from 900 to 3,600. Both of these vary by a factor of four but not in
parallel with each other; the Baltic Sea appears to receive an excessive amount of
nitrogen. Excluding the Baltic and the Seto Inland Sea, the ratio of nitrogen to phos-
phorus by weight ranges from 2.78 to 6.54 (6.14 to 14.45 by atoms). The North Sea,
Seto Inland Sea, and the Baltic have an excess of nitrogen or an adequate a mount to
meet the relative requirements of the phytoplankton. The New York Bight, the
Mediterranean, and the Irish Sea appear to be relatively deficient in nitrogen. The
Baltic Sea is the freshest of these coastal areas, and, like most fresh waters, it seems to
be deficient in phosphorus, relative to nitrogen, in terms of the needs of the phyto-
plankton populations.
Table 2. Contaminant Inputs and N:P Ratios for Selected Ocean Regions
(after Segar, in press)
Input tons/yr/106 people
Region
New York Bight
Mediterranean
Seto Inland Sea
Baltic
North Sea
Irish Sea
Nitrogen
7,600
10,000
8,000
33,000
17,000
10,000
Phosphorus
2,000
3,600
900
950
2,600
2,800
N:P
by wt.
3.8
2.78
8.89
347
6.54
3.57
N:P
by atoms
8.4
6.14
19.64
76.7
14.45
7.89
Traditional sewage treatment was developed to achieve two major objectives: the
prevention of waterborne diseases and the removal of organic matter that contrib-
utes to the biological oxygen demand (BOD) and could thus lead to anoxic condi-
tions in the environment. These conventional treatment methods were not designed
to remove the essential plant nutrients from the effluent and they have, indeed, little
effect on them. The average concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in the ef-
fluent from a number of treatment plants is shown in Table 3A (Mancini et al., in
press) and the typical wastewater concentrations of these elements in comparison to
the BOD of the wastewater is shown in Table 3B. In comparison to the requirements
of the phytoplankton in the marine environment, all of these samples are clearly very
deficient in nitrogen relative to phosphorus. The ratio N: P by weight for all of these
samples ranges from 2.21 to 6.67 (4.90 to 14.73 by atoms).
The low N:P ratio in wastewater can be considered, of course, either as a defi-
ciency of nitrogen or as an excessive amount of phosphorus. It has been estimated
that human wastes account for 30 to 50 percent of the phosphorus in modern domes-
tic wastewater. The balance is accounted for by the use of phosphorus-enriched
detergents (Mancini et al., in press). Mancini etal. present the data that aresumma-
rized in Table 4 showing the effects of phosphorus detergent bans or phosphorus re-
moval on the phosphorus content of wastewater and on the N:P ratios of the ef-
fluents. The banning of detergents or removal of phosphorus in the treatment
process increases the N:P ratio in the effluent, but the effluent is still nitrogen-defi-
cient relative to the requirements of marine phytoplankton.
73
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Table 3A. Total Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentration (Median) in
Wastewater Effluents Following Four Conventional Treatment
Processes (after Mancini et al., in press)
Treatment type
No. of plants
sampled
Total P(mg 1'1)
Total N (mg 1'1)
N:P (weight)
N:P (atoms)
Primary
55
6.6 ± 0.66
22.4 ±1.30
3.39
7.52
Trickling
filter
244
6.9 ± 0.28
16.4 ±0.54
2.38
5.26
Activated
sludge
244
5.8 ±0.29
13.6+0.62
2.34
5.19
Stabilization
pond
149
5.2 ± 0.45
1 1 .5 ± 0.84
2.21
4.90
Table 36. Typical Wastewater Characteristics (after Mueller, et al., 1976)
Concentration (mg 1'M for
BODS
Total P
Total N
N:P (weight)
N:P (atoms)
New York City
raw
sewage
131
4.70
21.7
4.62
10.20
New Jersey
primary
effluent
158
6.14
22*
3.58
7.92
New York City
secondary
effluent
36
3.30
22*
6.67
14.73
'Average of primary and secondary effluent concentrations.
As far as the marine environment is concerned, control of the phosphorus content
of the effluent cannot be expected to limit effectively the excessive plant growths in
the environment into which the effluent is discharged. Since nitrogen is commonly
the most critical element limiting phytoplankton production in the marine environ-
ment, removal of nitrogen from the wastewater effluents would be expected to be the
most effective way to prevent excessive phytoplankton growth. Various met hods a re
available for nitrogen removal from sewage effluents. Their effectiveness is summa-
rized in Table5(Manciniet al., in press). Conventional primary and secondary treat-
ments remove some of the organic nitrogen from the sewage but have little or no
effect on inorganic nitrogen. Various advanced wastewater treatment processes can
remove as much as 90 percent of the total nitrogen. Even such comparatively simple
treatments as oxidation ponds can be very effective in removing nitrogen, provided
the organic material produced in the photosynthetic process in these ponds is re-
moved as paniculate matter before the effluent is released to the environment.
If the effluent is released to the environment without control of the elements that
stimulate plant growth, the natural photosynthetic process in the environment will
recreate the organic material that was removed or decomposed at considerable ex-
pense in the treatment process. There is a time lag in achieving this in the environ-
ment the duration of which is dependent upon all of the environmental factors that
74
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Table 4. Effect of P-Detergent Ban or P Removal on the N:P Ratio of
Wastewaters (after Mancini, et al.. in press)
Conditions
No P removal
detergent
P-detergent
P-removal
or
ban
ban
No.
plants
sampled
709
25
33
Total P
7
4
2
rr
0
6
7
ig v
±0.31
± 1.41
±0.61
Total
mg 1
17.5 +
12.5 +
13.7 +
N
-i
0.9
2.78
? B7
N:P
by wt.
2
2
R
.5
.72
07
N
:P
by atoms
5
6
11
.53
.01
.21
control phytoplankton growth. These factors include not only nutrient content but
also the rate of the circulation; the rate of grazing by herbivorous animals; tempera-
ture and the transparency of the water, which determines the depth of the euphotic
zone; and the total amount of photosynthesis that can take place in the water
column.
CIRCULATION AND MIXING
Circulation of the water in the environment in which the sewage is released will
determine the rate of dispersion and dilution of the effluent, and the advective
processes will transport the contaminated water away from the point of discharge.
The rates of these processes depend upon the geomorphology of the estuary, the
characteristics of the tidal regime, and the river How. These are unique characteris-
tics of each estuary and must be separately evaluated for each. Circulation and
mixing within the estuary determine the fate of a pollutant, but these processes are
commonly inadequately evaluated or poorly understood in the planning of marine
disposal operations.
A conceptual or mathematical model of a specific estuary is desirable in order to
understand clearly the dynamics of the circulation and to facilitate comparison with
other estuaries. The early conceptual models were based upon the assumption of the
steady-state distribution of properties (Tully, 1949; Ketchum, 1951 a). The develop-
ment of computer technology has made it possible to model transient conditions in
the estuary. Some of the conceptual models are designed to take account of biologi-
cal processes, and several of these are discussed by O'Connor (in press).
While each estuary is unique, certain generalizations apply to all estuaries in which
the water supplied by river flow is diluted by seawater. There is a gradient of salinity
from the virtually fresh water of the river to the salinity of coastal seawater, generally
30 to 32 %o. The surface layers are fresher than the deeper waters within the estuary,
and these two layers are separated by a density discontinuity that generally depends
on the salinity distribution (the halocline). A density-driven circulation pattern is
established within the estuary so that the net transport during a complete tidal cycle
in the surface, fresher layer is seaward and the net transport in the deeper layer is
landward. Under steady-state conditions, the net effect of these two flows is to trans-
port seaward a volume of freshwater equal to the volume introduced by the river
during a complete tidal cycle. The net transport of salt through any complete cross-
section of the estuary is equal to zero. When the river flow is not constant, the steady-
state conditions will not be met. When the rate of river flow is declining, salinity will
increase at any location within the estuary and there will be an excess inflow of sea-
water. When the river How is increasing, the estuary will become fresher and there
will be a net transport of both salt water and freshwater seaward.
Any conservative soluble pollutant that is added to the estuary will be distributed,
diluted, and transported by the same processes that control the distribution of fresh-
water and salt water. If the pollutant is introduced at a mid-point in the estuary and
75
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Table 5. Removal of Nitrogen from Sewage Effluents (after Mancini, et al., in press)
-4
O
Treatment process
Conventional treatment processes
Primary
Secondary
Advanced wastewater
treatment processes
Filtration
Carbon sorption
Electrodialysis
Effect on
Organic-N
10-20% removed
15-20% removed
4
30-95% removed
30-50% removed
100% of suspended
constituent
Ammonia-N
no effect
<10% removed
nil
nil
40% removed
Removal of
total Nitrogen
Entering Prncass
Nitrate-N (Percent)
no effect 5-10
nil 10-20
nil 20-40
nil 10-20
40% removed 35-45
Reverse osmosis
Chemical coagulation
Other nitrogen removal processes
Selective ion ex-
change for nitrate
Oxidation ponds
Algae stripping
Bacterial assimilation
organic N removed
100% of suspended
organic N removed
50-70% removed
nil
partial transforma-
tion to NHa/NH,
partial transforma-
tion to
no effect
85% removed
nil
nil
partial removal
by stripping
-•cells
40-70% removed
85% removed
nil
75-90% removed
partial removal
by nitrification-
denitrification
-•cells
limited effect
80-90
20-30
70-90
20-90
50-85
30-70
-------
becomes quickly and uniformly mixed throughout the water column, the upstream
distribution will be proportional to the upstream distribution of salt water and the
downstream distribution will be proportional to the downstream distribution of
freshwater (Ketchum et al.t 1952; Ketchum, 1955; Ketchum, 1969).
One important consequence of these relationships is that the volume of water
available for the dilution of a pollutant is considerably greater in the estuary than it
would be in a river because of the participation of the salt water in the circulation. If,
for example, the mixed water moving seaward is 50 percent fresh and 50 percent salt,
it is clear that two volumes of the mixture must move seaward in order to remove the
one volume of river flow that is-the necessary net seaward transport across the cross-
section. Also, as the salt water content of the mixture increases, the volume that must
escape the system must also increase to carry one equivalent river flow seaward.
A numerical example using Pritchard's(l969) method of calculation may serve to
clarify the process. It is presented in Table 6. This calculation is essentially a two-
layered box model in which the estuary is divided into a number of segments along its
length. The boundary between the upper and lower layers coincides with the bound-
ary between the surface layer having a net nontidal flow directed seaward and the
deeper layer having a net nontidal flow directed up-estuary. There is exchange be-
tween upper and lower layers by vertical eddy diffusion. The flux across any com-
plete cross-section of the estuary in both the upper and lower layers is derived from
the average salinity of these two layers assuming a steady-state salt distribution and
providing for continuity of salt and volume. The calculated flux is relative to the
flow of the river (R) in a given unit of time, commonly a complete tidal cycle. For the
salinities arbitrarily chosen for Table 6, the seaward flux in the upper layer is three
times the volume of river flow and the up-estuary flux in the lower layer is twice the
river flow volume. The net flux is, as it must be in a steady-state distribution, equal to
the volume introduced by the river in the time period selected.
In this example, both the upper layer and the lower layer are mixtures of fresh-
water and seawater, and the proportions of each, relative to offshore seawater, can
also be calculated from the salinity (Ketchum, 195 Ib). This permits the calculation of
the separate flux of salt water and freshwater in the system. There is a net flow of
freshwater out of the segment that is equal to the flow of river water in the period of
time selected. The flux of salt water seaward through the upper layer is exactly bal-
anced by the flux of salt water landward in the deeper layer. These two conditions.
Table 6. Example of Calculation of the Horizontal Volume Flux, Relative
to River Flow R. Through a Cross-Section of a Hypothetical
Moderately Stratified Estuary
Condition
Salinity %o(S)
Volume flux (Q)
Saltwater fraction (Fs)§
Freshwater fraction (Ff)§
Saltwater flux
Freshwater flux
Upper Layer
16
3 x R (out)*
0.5
0.5
1 .5 x R (out)
1 .5 x R (out)
Lower Layer
24
2 x R
Net Flux
1 .0 R (out)
0
1 .0 R (out>
*QU= R(Si/Si - Su)and
fQi = R (Su/Si - Su) where Q is the flux, R is river flow, S is mean salinity of u the
upper or 1 the lower layer (Pritchard, 1969).
§Relative to coastal, source seawater (a) of 329^00 (Ketchum, 1951 b); F,= Sx/a;
Ff = 1 - Fg = (a-Sx/tr) where Sx is the mean salinity of the layer.
77
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namely a net flux of freshwater through every complete cross-section equal to the
amount of freshwater added at all upstream locations of the boundary selected and a
net flux of salt water equal to zero, are the essential conditions for the mainte-
nance of a steady-state distribution of salt and volume within the estuary.
When a pollutant is added to the estuary, it will be distributed by the same
processes that distribute the salt water and freshwater. If the pollutant is introduced
into the bottom layers, it will be carried in a net motion toward the head of the estu-
ary in the lower layer flow. Turbulent mixing, which derives most of its energy from
the ebb and flow of the tide, will dispersethe pollutant horizontally in both a longitu-
dinal and lateral direction, and it will be vertically dispersed into the surface layers
where it is carried seaward again. Some of the pollutant in the surface layer is mixed
downward into the deeper layer and will be carried again toward the head of the estu-
ary. For a single discharge, there will be a peak concentration that will both gradu-
ally diminish and move seaward on each successive tidal cycle. If the pollutant is
"conservative," that is, not decomposed, changed by biological activity, or seques-
tered in the bottom deposits, the changes in its distribution can be derived from the
known salinity distribution of the estuary (O'Connor and Thomann, 1971).
In terms of domestic pollution, the continuous discharge at a more or less steady
rate of the pollutant into the estuary is of great concern. With time, such a pollutant
will become uniformly mixed laterally and, in proportion to the flux in each layer of
a stratified estuary, will be transported landward in the deeper water and seaward in
the surface layers. Upstream from the point of introduction, the concentration of the
pollutant will be greater in the deep layers than in the surface layers, while seaward of
the point of introduction, the converse will be true. The pollutant is ultimately
flushed from the estuary in the seaward-directed flow of the surface layers.
Based upon these fundamental considerations, a comparison among estuaries,
rivers, and lakes as places for the disposal of pollutants may be useful. In a river, the
volume available for the dilution of a pollutant is equal to the volume of river flow in
a unit period of time. In contrast, in an estuary the available diluting volume is aug-
mented by the participation of sea water in the circulation, and the volume increases
as the salinity in the sample increases. This occurs progressively as one moves from
the location of the maximum penetration of salt into the estuary toward the mouth of
the estuary. This has important implications in terms of the selection of a location for
an outfall in an estuary. A downstream placement of the outfall location will always
decrease the upstream concentration of the pollutant but will have no effect on the
downstream distribution (Ketchum, 1955). Thus, if the water quality in the river oral
the head of the estuary is of principal importance, the outfall should be placed as far
downstream as is economically practicable to obtain the maximum improvement.
When the pollutant is biologically degradable or otherwise changed with time, the
situation is somewhat more complicated because the residence time in various parts
of the estuary must be considered (Ketchum, 1955; O'Connor and Thomann, 1971;
O'Connor, in press). For such a time variable pollutant, the upstream concentration
will always be decreased by a downstream movement of the outfall, but the concen-
tration at the location of the outfall and downstream of this location may actually be
increased. Consequently, if the water quality of the beaches at the mouth of the estu-
ary are of prime consideration, art upstream location of the outfall might be prefer-
able, though an offshore location in the coastal water would generally be even better.
The receiving capacity of a given part of the aquatic environment is related to the
concentration of the pollutant that is a function of the rate of dilution and the resi-
dence time within the estuary. Because of the augmented transport in estuaries, the
residence time tends to be short in comparison to that in rivers and in most lakes. In
estuaries, the residence time is found by dividing the volume of freshwater within any
given segment of the estuary by the rate of river flow. The freshwater fraction is cal-
culated as illustrated in Table 6, This, multiplied by the total volume within the seg-
ment, gives the volume of freshwater. In lakes and rivers, the entire volume of water
in a given part or segment is fresh, so that the total volume is divided by the rate of
78
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river flow to determine the residence time for these freshwater aquatic environments.
Using the total volume in an estuary gives an erroneously long residence time, but it
is sometimes done and produces a meaningless number. Another error that occurs in
the evaluation of estuaries for the disposal of pollutants is the assumption that the
entire volume of the tidal prism is available for dilution on each tidal cycle. This
error has led to gross overestimates of the receiving capacity of estuaries and
accounts for some highly polluted conditions. If this paper does nothing but prevent
the perpetuation of these two errors in evaluating the receiving capacity of estuaries,
it will have achieved a useful purpose.
Nitrogen in the Hudson Estuary
The excellent studies by Malone (1976,1977) of the phytoplankt on productivity in
the Hudson Estuary and the New York Bight* provide information to illustrate the
application of these basic principles of estuarine circulation. A large amount of sew-
age (8 X 10* mVday'1 [10 X I06 yd3/day"']) is added to the lower reaches of the
Hudson Estuary, but the phytoplankton productivity within the estuary is low in spite
of the rich nutrient content. Because of high turbidity, the euphotic zone is limited to
the upper 3 to 5 m (10 to 16 ft) of the water column, Garsideetal, (1976) estimated
that only about 10 percent of the sewage-derived inorganic nitrogen is assimilated
within the estuary; the remaining 90 percent of the nitrogen isdischarged through the
mouth of the estuary to the New York Bight. Essentially, therefore, the dissolved in-
organic nitrogen within the estuary can be considered as a conservative pollutant,
and its distribution should be determined primarily by circulation and mixing.
The average river flow of the Hudson has been estimated by Ketchum et al.
(195Ib) to be nearly 100 X 106 m3/day''(130X 106yd3/day"')(Table7).| Thus,there
are 12.4 volumes of river water to diluteeach volume of sewage added. The resulting
concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen would equal 121 mgat m J as a resuft
of dilution by river water alone. This is more than three times the inorganic nitrogen
concentration of "average" seawater (Table 1) and is greatly in excess of the usual
concentration in surface estuarine or coastal water,
. Seawater further dilutes the sewage nutrients added to the Hudson Estuary. The
expected concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen at any location within the
estuary can be estimated from the available information on sewage input, river flow,
and the observed salinity in the water. This has been done for one location within the
lower Hudson Estuary and for another location offshore using an average of 12 obser-
vations throughout the year as presented by Malone( 1976). The station chosen with-
in the estuary for this analysis is south of Manhattan Island in the main channel of
the Hudson Estuary. All of the sewage pollution is added upstream of this location.
The annual mean fraction of freshwater there was 36 percent, and the calculated ni-
trogen content was 47.56 mg at m"3. This calculated value is 94.2 percent of the
observed annual average nitrogen content of this water. A similar computation was
made for the surface water at the station just outside of the entrance to the harbor.
The annual mean freshwater content there was 10 percent. Here, the calculated nitro-
gen content was 17.78 mg at m~\ 96.8 percent of the average annual mean nitrogen
content of the same water.! The nitrogen content of the water is thus reduced to
about half of that found in "average" seawater given in Table .1 at the harbor
entrance.
•The sewage has an N:P ratio of 10.M by weigh! (22.46 by a(oras) so that within the estuary, phosphorus is the probable
limiting nutrient. In the offshore waters of the New York Bight, the N:P ratio was generally 10 or less (by atoms) so thai
nitrogen is trie probable limiting nutrient offshore
f Malone (1977) gives 12 daily estimates of river flow at the times of his observations. The average of these daily flows is 66
percent of the mean annual given by Ketchum et al. (1951). which was derived from more complete records.
JThe calculated nitrogen content ignores the nitrogen in the source Hudson Rivei since Malane (1976) reported no ob-
servations in Ihe freshwater river above the estuary. An estimate can be made assuming thai the difference between the
observed and calculated content is all derived from (he Hudson River Dividing the niuogen difference by the fraction of
freshwaler gives for station A-3. 8.11; for station P-1. 5.80 mgat m-' These values do not setrn unreasonable for the Hudson
River, which receives some pollution above the estuary.
79
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Table 7. Sewage Derived Inorganic Nitrogen (NO3 + N02 + NH3) in the
Hudson River Estuary
Mean daily sewage input (106 mVday1)*
Mean daily nitrogen input (10* g N/day1)*
Nitrogen content of sewage (g m~3 = ppm)
Mean river flow (10« mVday'lt
Sewage dilution
Expected N in river water (g m'3 = opm)
Expected N in river water (mg at irv3)
Nitrogen in seawater source (mg at m-3)§
Observations
Annual mean salinity
Annual mean fraction fresh
Calculated N content (mg at m-a)tt
Observed mean N content (mg at rrr3)
Calculated as % of observed
8
167
21
99.3
12.4:1
1.69
121
6.31 ±2.8
In upper bayf
20.60 ± 5 85
0.36
47.59
50.51+ 10.81
94.2%
In surface
coastal water**
28.78 ± 1.59
0.10
17.78
18.36± 16.22
96.8%
"Malone. 1976,1977.
fKetchum, et al., 1951.
§From Malone, 1976. Observed N in the near-bottom water at Station PI off
the entrance to New York Harbor; location 40°28.6'N, 73°54.0'W.
JFrom Malone, 1976, Station A3: 40°40.3'N to 40°38.5'N; 74°0.2'18"W.
**From Malone, 1976, Station PI off the entrance to New York Harbor.
ft Expected N in river water (120.9 mg at m~3) x fraction fresh (f) plus observed
N in source seawater (6.31 mg at rrf3} x fraction salt water (1-f).
Nutrients in the New York Bight
The pollution load of the Hudson River is only one of several sources of nutrients
to the offshore waters of the New York Bight. The Raritan River pollution is added
to that of the Hudson, and sewer outfalls empty directly into the Bight along the
coasts of New Jersey and Long Island. There are also nutrients in the runoff both
from rivers and from urban areas. Dumping at sea includes both sewage sludge and
dredged spoils that are barged to the Bight for sea disposal. Muelleretal.( 1976) dis-
cuss the various sources of organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to the waters
of the New York Bight. Their results are summarized in Figure 2. The N:P ratio of
the total inputs to the New York Bight is 9.12 (by atoms). This suggests that the
phytoplankton productivity is nitrogen-limited as Malone (1977) concluded from
direct observations in the Bight apex area.
In the coastal waters of the apex of the New York Bight, the sewage-introduced
nutrients are rapidly assimilated by the growing phytoplankton. Malone(1976) esti-
mated that the annual production in an area of about 600 km2 (232 mi2) was about
370 g C/ m~2, which is approximately equal to the rate of productivity in upwelling
systems, the richest marine areas in the world (Ryther, 1969).* From his 12 observa-
tions throughout the year, Malone estimated that it would take between 0.4 and 10.9
days (mean = 3.22 days) for the phytoplankton to assimilate the available dissolved
inorganic nitrogen in the water. He also estimated that it would take between 2.6 and
13.8 days (mean = 4.94 days) to double the standing stock of detrital carbon.
The sewage sludge disposal from barges is of particular interest in terms of this dis-
cussion since this is the material removed from the sewage in the treatment plants.
Mueller et al. (1976) list the sewage sludge characteristics of 28 different plants, 12 of
•Thii.rale of production would require 61,4 fN/rn >/yt' al ehe normal C:N weif hi ratio of 6.0). For an »re» of 600 km1 thit
would utilize 60.4 percent of the nitrogen idditiom to the Hud ion Eitu»ry(Tiblc7)or 19.2 percent of the toul anthropogenic
nitrogen supply 10 the Bight (Figure 2). The remaining nitrogen ii preiumtbly animilaled over * wider are*.
80
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Municipal
29%
1 2%
Sludge
4%
Industrial
1%
Gauged
18%
Dredge
21%
Organic Carbon (2,6 * 106 kg day-')
Municipal
40%
13%
Chemical
1%
Sludge'
3%
Sludge
4%
Industrial
2%
Dredge
46%
Gauged
25%
Dredge
12%
Municipal
35%
Nitrogen (0.52 x 106kg day"')
ndustrial
1%
Gauged
1%
Phosphorus (0.14 x 106 kg day"1)
Figure 2. Proportions from different sources of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus
added to the New York Bight (after Mueller et al., 1976).
which were in New Jersey, the remainder in New York. The total mass load of nitro-
gen from this source, including the sources from New Jersey, is only about 10 percent
of the nitrogen contributed in sewage effluents to the Hudson River. The weighted
mean average concentration gives an N:P ratio of 3.75 by weight (8.30 by atoms).
The sludge disposed in the Bight is, thus, more deficient in nitrogen than is the sew-
age effluent discharged into the Hudson Estuary. It is clear that separating the sludge
from the sewage contributes little to the improvement of the water quality in the
Hudson Estuary according to the data for nitrogen and phosphorus. In contrast,
considerable total solids content and BOD can be removed from the sewage by
separating the sludge and barging it directly to sea. This removal of organic material
is clearly beneficial to the Hudson Estuary.
There is considerable controversy about the dumping of sewage sludge at sea,*
and the present policy of the Environmental Protection Agency has been to phase
out this type of disposal. The Environmental Protection Agency also requires that
sewage receive secondary treatment prior to disposal through ocean outfalls. This
necessarily creates the sludge and mandates other types of disposal. Officer and
•The ocean dumping of dredged materials and industrial WII
sidercd here.
^ also subject to controversy, but these problems are not con-
-------
Ryther (1977) compare the pollution problems of secondary sewage treatment and
those of ocean outfalls. They conclude that the problems should be reexamined with
appropriate scientific and engineering evaluations. Since the essential plant nutrients
are largely unaffected by secondary sewage treatment, the biological cycle in the sea
recreates the organic matter that was removed in the treatment process. The location
of the maximum impact will depend on the characteristics and vigor of the circula-
tion, and an offshore outfall may be preferable to sewage treatment with the release
of the effluent within the estuary. Clearly, untreated sewage should not be discharged
into harbors and estuaries, but offshore disposal has not been clearly shown to have
significant effects except in very localized areas (Gameson, 1975; Eppley et al., 1971;
Thomas et at., 1974). Sinderman (1976) discusses the effects of coastal pollution on
fish and fisheries. He finds that it is very difficult to establish a cause and effect
relationship except in confined and highly polluted waters.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The discharge of domestic pollution into coastal waters can cause beneficial or
detrimental effects. Disposal operations should be designed in ways that will pro-
duce the maximum benefit and cause the least deterioration of the environment.
Sewage is frequently discharged into the confined waters of the estuary where
secondary treatment for the removal of organic material is essential to reduce the
biological oxygen demand of the effluent and to avoid local putrefaction and anoxia.
Secondary treatment does not, however, remove the essential plant nutrients,
primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, from the effluent. In the natural biological cycle,
the phytoplankton assimilate these nutrients and produce an amount of organic
carbon approximately equal to the amount that was removed in the treatment plant.
When conditions within the estuary are not favorable for photosynthesis, the
production of organic material will be delayed and maximum accumulation of
organic material will be displaced downstream by a distance that is determined by
the vigor of the circulation.
Within the Hudson Estuary, for example, excessive turbidity limits photosynthe-
sis. After the polluted water reaches the coastal area of the New York Bight, phyto-
plankton photosynthesis is high over a wide area nourished, at least in part, by the
nutrients added in pollution.
While this high production in the coastal water does not generally have a detri-
mental effect, wide areas of anoxia developed in the New York Bight in 1976 with
associated extensive fish kills. Studies were undertaken to evaluate the cause of this
event. The results have been described in a volume edited by Swanson and Sinderman
(1979). Several contributing phenomena are described, including unusual meteoro-
logical conditions, an extensive bloom of the dinoflagellate Ceratium tripos, and
high nutrients resulting in part from pollution. All may have contributed to the
development of the anoxic conditions, but no single cause could be identified. The
anoxic event demonstrates, however, how delicate the balance is between the high
production in this area and the potential depletion of the oxygen content in the
waters.
When sewage is discharged directly into coastal waters with an active circulation,
it is questionable whether or not secondary treatment is desirable. The dangers of
localized anoxia are minimized in coastal waters since the effluent is rapidly diluted
and dispersed by the active circulation. The natural processes of the ocean serve as a
sort of treatment resulting in fertilization of the marine environment and increased
productivity.
The basic principles that should provide guidance in designing the discharge of
sewage to the marine environment are well established. After appropriate dispersion
and dilution, the nutrient concentrations in the environment should not permit the
development of more organic material than can be decomposed by the available oxy-
gen in the system. In a simple quantitative sense, these relationships are well known.
82
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The quality of the phytoplankton population developed under different environ-
mental conditions is, however, not yet well understood. Even under natural condi-
tions, the species composition changes seasonally. Temperature is an important
determinant of these changes. The addition of pollution can also change the normal
species distribution of the phytoplankton population. This is commonly observed in
heavily polluted inshore waters. Frequently, the species that grow best under pol-
luted conditions, and consequently dominate the population, are not desirable as
food for higher trophic levels. Pollution is not a "balanced" fertilizer for phytoplank-
ton requirements since it is generally deficient in nitrogen relative to phosphorus. The
effect of variable ratios of essential elements on the species composition of natural
phytoplankton populations is just beginning to be understood, and much more study
will be required before definite conclusions concerning the effect can be reached.
The distribution of a conservative element within an estuary can be evaluated or
predicted readily for steady-stale conditions as illustrated for the Hudson Estuary.
The details of the distribution, and particularly the mechanisms that control and
produce the observed distributions, are more difficult to understand and predict.
More sophisticated models are necessary for this purpose. They are particularly
valuable to evaluate transient events and to assess the effects of biological or other
time-variable processes in producing the observed distributions. It is gratifying that
progress is being made to achieve an understanding of these problems, but much
remains to be done.
In conclusion, it seems appropriate to make use of the assimilative capacity of
marine coastal waters for the disposal of the wastes of human metabolism. This can
be done properly only by making the best use of scientific understanding of the entire
system, including the biological, physical, and chemical characteristics. Mistakes
have been made in the past, partly because the system as a whole was not adequately
understood. Today, there is no excuse to repeat the mistakes of the past, and it
should be possible to design disposal operations to achieve the maximum benefit
without detrimental effects.
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trogen in New England coastal waters. Jour. Mar. Res. 17:282—301.
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Espey, Jr.. eds. Water Pollution Control Research Series, Water Quality Office, U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency. Washington. DC. pp. 102-168.
Officer, C.B., and J.H. Ryther. 1977. Secondary sewage treatment versus ocean outfalls: an
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Ryther, J.H. 1969. Photosynthesis and fish production in the sea. Science 166:72-76.
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coastal marine environment. Science 171:1008-1013.
Segar, D. In press. Contamination of populated estuaries and adjacent coastal ocean—a global
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Thomas. W.H.. D.L.R. Seibert. and A.N. Dodson. 1974. Phytoplankton enrichment experi-
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IMPACT OF TOXIC ORGANICS ON THE
COASTAL ENVIRONMENT
Dr. John D. Costlow
Director, Duke University Marine Laboratory
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516
The variety of toxic organic compounds being introduced into estuarine and
coastal waters of the United States and the extent to which they may affect the envi-
ronment present awesome considerations for the eighties. Most of the compounds
described as toxic to estuarine organisms fall within five general categories: herbi-
cides, fungicides, pesticides, petrochemicals, and industrial compounds or their by-
products. Although some of the effects of both herbicides and fungicides on marine
organisms have been investigated, there is little indication to date that these com-
pounds represent a serious threat to the estuarine environment. Many toxic organic
compounds are associated with petroleum and its refined products, but, as with the
industrial compounds, these organics do not constitute a continuous and long-term
threat because they are not routinely used in the coastal environment. Many toxic or-
ganic compounds are also associated with industrial processes and, in some cases.
the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), for example, are introduced into the estuarine
environment through carelessness or by accident rather than through routine use in
areas adjacent to tidal waters, as with pesticides.
This review will focus largely on the impact of pesticides and on certain industrial
products. It will consider the extent to which some of these compounds have a
deleterious effect on estuarine and marine organisms. It will also identify those
aspects of the basic problem of impact that have not been adequately addressed in
light of the emerging problems, those associated with further development and
future use of increasingly sophisticated compounds.
At the beginning of the seventies, individual scientists as well as state and federal
agencies began to be concerned with how the continuous addition of pesticides to
estuarine and marine ecosystems might affect individual species, the marine eco-
system as a whole, and humankind as well. The banning of the use of DDT in the
United States in 1972 led to the development and use of many new compounds. Pri-
marily, these were more specific in their action and thought to be less persistent in
either the marine environment or in biological systems. The majority of these com-
pounds were organochlorine or organophosphate compounds. Publications through-
out the decade have reported the effects on marine organisms of several of the
organochlorine compounds including aldrin, dieldrin, mi rex, methoxychlor, and
Kepone. Virtually all of the organochlorine insecticides act on the nervous system.
Less scientific interest has been demonstrated in the effects of the organophosphates,
compounds that apparently inhibit the action of enzymes. This group includes
parathion, malathion, and diazinon. The effectiveness of several of the newer
organophosphate pesticides stimulated the development of still other compounds
designed to inhibit enzyme activity, including the carbamates and such compounds
as- diflubenzuron (Dimilin®), which inhibits the normal secretion of cuticle in
arthropods. Concurrently, a group of insecticides identified as third generation
pesticides were developed by the chemical industry. These either are insect hormones
86
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or mimic the action of insect hormones in such a way as to prevent growth or
metamorphosis.
There appears to be a reduction in the number of compounds that are broadly
toxic to biological systems and an increase in the number of compounds developed
specifically to inhibit enzymatic or hormonal reactions in insects. This development
frequently proceeded without consideration of the extent to which these same
enzyme and hormonal systems are found in arthropods in general, including virtu-
ally all of the marine Crustacea, and what effect these compounds might therefore
have on those nontarget arthropods closely related to the insects. I n addition to those
marine Crustacea that are commercially important—the penaeid shrimps and a
number -of species of crabs, for example—the commercial finfisheries of the United
States depend on a variety and abundance of marine Crustacea found within the
planktonic food web. Nothing is known about the effects of the more specific com-
pounds available at the beginning of the eighties on food web Crustacea. The extent
to which many of these compounds may be accumulated through the food chain has
been identified for a relatively small number of compounds.
GENERAL EFFECTS OF TOXIC ORGANICS ON ESTUARINE
BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
A considerable number of scientific publications, agency reports, and periodic
reviews on effects of toxic organics have appeared during the seventies (Walsh,
1972). In fact, the emergence of literature dealing with environmental pollution from
heavy metals, organics, and petrochemical compounds has led to the development of
specific scientific journals devoted to these topics. Papers have dealt with sublethal
and lethal effects of specific compounds on individual species; behavioral and physi-
ological responses to specific compounds; bioaccumulation and residual amounts of
organic compounds in estuarine animals, plants, and sediments; and a consideration
of adequate methods to analyze and evaluate the impact of toxic materials in estu-
arine and marine waters.
Pesticides
Although the lethal effects on marine fish, crabs, and molluscs of many organic
compounds used as pesticides are generally well documented, the number of com-
pounds that have been examined in detail for their toxic effects on each of these
groups is extremely small. In studies involving post-larvae of differing species, there
appears to be considerable variation in the levels of toxicity of many of the com-
pounds. This is in part due to the physiological state or stage of development of the
organisms under study. For example, juvenile Cancer magisier exposed to 4.0 mg/1
of methoxychlor died within 72 hours after application, whereas adult crabs of the
same species died only when exposed to 40.0 mg/1 (Armstrong et al., 1976). This level
of toxicity in Dungeness crabs is similar to that described for DDT (Poole and Willis,
1970), and the decline in landings of this species in San Francisco has been attributed
to the increased use of pesticides in that area. Williams and Duke( 1979) summarized
much of the available literature on the effects of many chlorinated hydrocarbons,
organophosphates, carbamates, juvenile hormone mimics, and insect growth regula-
tors on estuarine Crustacea. They concluded that such compounds as dieldrin, DDT
and its metabolites, Kepone, mirex, malathion, and carbofuran almost always have
toxic effects on adult blue crabs, fiddler crabs, and estuarine shrimps.
Lethal levels for many planktonic organisms, including the larvae of marine Crus-
tacea, have also been documented. Epifanio (1979) considered the work of several
recently published authors in arriving at an understanding of how chlorinated
hydrocarbons, organophosphates, carbamates, and juvenile hormone mimics affect
the survival of larvae of many estuarine crabs. The relatively limited number of
observations, most of which deal with the effects of chlorinated hydrocarbons,
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would suggest that all have toxic effects on one or more of the larval stages. In certain
experiments, such as those describing the effect of juvenile hormone mimics on lar-
vae of Rhithropanopeus harrisii, specific stages during larval development seem
more sensitive than others (Costlow, 1977). To test the degree to which individual
larval stages differ in levels of sensitivity to methoprene, larvae were treated in two
ways. In one series, larvae were maintained in three salinities combined with O.I ppm
methoprene for specific periods of time and then removed to seawater without
methoprene for the remainder of their development. In another, they were initially
maintained in water without the methoprene and then moved to water containing 0.1
ppm methoprene for the remainder of their larval and early juvenile lives. In both
instances, at the optimum salinity of 20°/oo., relatively little mortality was observed
until day 13, which corresponded with the completion of the fourth zoeal molt to the
megalopal stage. None of the megalopa molting from zoea maintained under these
two conditions survived the final metamorphic molt to the first juvenile stage
(Costlow, 1977). As with studies on adult animals, however, levels of toxicity appear
to vary considerably, depending largely upon the species and the natural conditions
of salinity and temperature.
Many sublethal effects have also been identified for adult and larval estuarine or-
ganisms, but the full implications of these studies are not totally understood. For ex-
ample, one juvenile hormone mimic, initially developed to inhibit the metamorpho-
sis of larval insects, has been shown to affect the reproductive cycle of one species of
intertidal crab (Paycn and Costlow, 1977).
Studies on the effects of methoxychlor on several species of crustacean larvae
demonstrate several sublethal effects. Although exposures of up to 10 /ig/l of
methoxychlor did not reduce the percentage of Cancer magister eggs hatching within
24 hours, successful development to the extremely short prezoea stage decreased
over that observed in the controls (Armstrong et al., 1976). Only 70 percent of
hatched organisms successfully molted to the first true zoea. A reduction in motility
was observed in SO to 90 percent of those that did develop when they were reared in
concentrations of methoxychlor ranging from 0.18 to 1.0 /ig/l.
Concentrations of Dimilin® ranging from I to 10 ppb did not affect the survival of
adult copepod&CAcartiatonsa) but did alter the viability of eggs produced by females
maintained in this insect growth regulator (Tester and Costlow, 1979). When females
were maintained in 10 ppb Dimilin* for periods ranging from 12 to 36 hours, the per-
centage of eggs hatching decreased from 93.4 to 1.2. Concentrations of 1 ppb
Dimilin* also reduced egg viability, an effect that was most pronounced following
36 to 60 hours of treatment. Those eggs that did not hatch were fully developed and
appeared to be viable, with nauplii observed moving within the egg membranes. The
nauplii that did hatch later in the treatment period were bf abnormal shape and failed
to molt to the second naupliar stage. Most frequently, body and appendage shape
and setae were found to be abnormal (Tester and Costlow, 1979).
Juveniles of Cancer magister exposed to methoxychlor were found to be smaller
than crabs within the control series. Sensitivity of juvenile crabs to this compound
appear to be greatest during the period of ecdysis or shortly thereafter. Adult crabs
exposed to methoxychlor were hyperactive, exhibiting much more frequent move-
ment of mouthparts and chelipeds than observed in the control animals. The more
severely affected crabs were incapable of maintaining an upright posture, and some
remained supine for several weeks before death. Crabs exposed to 40 jug/1 of methoxy-
chlor ceased to eat, whereas crabs exposed to considerably lower levels appeared to
have difficulty in locating food. They were also observed to tear at the food, leaving it
scattered within the container rather than ingesting it.
Similar behavioral changes associated with the ingestion of small amounts of pes-
ticide have been recorded. After exposure to DDT, fiddler crabs exhibited a variety
of behavioral irregularities (Odum et al., 1969), and Klein and Lincer (1974) ob-
served similar behavioral changes after Uca pugilator had ingested small amounts of
dicldrin. After exposure to 10 ppm dieldrin, the adult crabs were unable to right
-------
themselves; when the concentration was reduced to 1 ppm, the righting response was
measurably delayed. Modifications in the speed and pattern of attempts to escape
were also observed. Crabs exposed to 1 to 50 ppm of dieldrin developed sluggish
movements. At the highest concentrations, the normal response, that of raising the
major cheliped, frequently caused the crabs to fall over backwards, after which they
were unable to right themselves. The ability of adult crabs to coordinate properly in
both the righting response and in coordinated escape behavior is essential for sur-
vival, because both responses enable the crab to avoid predation and dehydration.
The response of planktonic organisms to light is affected by trace amounts of
several pesticides (Forward and Costlow, 1976). Sublethal concentrations of metho-
prene, a synthetic juvenile hormone mimic, had no effect upon either swimming
speed or phototaxis of larvae of the mudcrab, Rhithropanopeus harrisii. Hydro-
prene, another juvenile hormone mimic, had no significant effect upon swimming
speed during the first three zoeal stages but produced a marked increase in swimming
speed in the stage-four zoea. Phototaxis was almost entirely unaltered by exposure
to hydroprene; however, stage-three zoea maintained at the highest concentration of
the compound (O.I ppm) demonstrated a significantly increased level of positive
phototaxis. Whereas this level was higher than that observed for the control larvae, it
was significantly lower than that observed for the larvae tested in the acetone
control, the carrier employed to maintain hydroprene in solution (Forward and
Costlow. 1978). A third compound, Dimilin®, produced a pronounced effect on the
larvae of Rhithropanopeim.harrisii, even when sublethal levels of the compound were
used. Although swimming speeds were generally accelerated, this response varied
considerably from one larval stage to the other. Phototaxis was unaffected within the
first three zoeal stages; in stage four, however, although swimming patterns were
normal, phototactic response was drastically altered. Swimming and phototactic
responses enable the organism to avoid predators and adverse salinity and tempera-
ture conditions. Phototaxis probably aids the organism in maintaining the proper
vertical position for horizontal migrations (Bousfield. 1955). Any variation in these
basic behavioral patterns could therefore impairsurvival even though mortality may
not be attributed directly to the compounds in question. The results of these studies
suggest that this approach may be a most useful bioassay to determine the presence
of extremely small amounts of pollutants in estuarine waters.
Sublethal effects of methoxychlor have also been observed at the physiological
level. Caldwell (1974) describes the way in which methoxychlor affects osmotic and
ionic regulation in two species of adult crabs. Cancer magister and Hemigrapsus
nudus. Sublethal levels resulted in a decreased resistance in tolerance of the adult
crab to reduced salinity and also resulted in partial inhibition of the gill NaK mg
ATPases in Cancer magister. The author, however, could not demonstrate that
osmotic regulation in Hemigrapsus nudus or osmotic and ionic regulation in Cancer
magister were significantly impaired by these treatments.
The duration of individual larval stages, long known to be affected by temperature
and salinity, has been further shown to be affected by the presence of certain com-
pounds in the water column. Increased concentrations of Kepone, methoxychlor,
and malathion resulted in reduced molting rates in the mud crab Rhiihropanopeus
harrisii and the blue crab Cailinectessapidus(Bookho\i\eta\., 1976, 1980; Bookhout
and Monroe, 1977). Whereas Dimilin® was toxic during larval stages of several
species of estuarine crab (Rhithropanopeus harrisii and Sesarmareticulaium), it did
not affect the duration of the larval development (Christiansen et al., 1978). At con-
centrations of 1.0 to 5.0 ppb, the duration of zoeal development of the mud crab
Rhithropanopeus harrisii and the blue crab Cal/inectes sapidus was increased as the
concentrations of methoxychlor were increased (Bookhout et al., 1976).
Morphological abnormalities or the appearance of extra or supernumerary larval
stages have also been observed. In the stone crab, Menippe mercenaria. exposure to
mirex caused no significant increase in duration of developmental stages, but the
percentage of extra sixth zoeal stages increased as the concentration of mirex in-
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creased from 0.01 to 1.0 ppb. The majority of the sixth zoeal stages died before
reaching the megalopa stage {Bookhout et al., 1972). In similar studies on larvae of
the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, however, there was no indication that large num-
bers of the eighth zoeal stage occurred when the larvae were exposed to higher con-
centrations of mirex (Bookhout and Costlow, 1975).
Studies on the effect of methoprene on the larvae of the mud crab, Rhithropanopeus
harrisii. indicated that while a variety of concentrations of this juvenile hormone
mimic did not increase mortality, the combination of high salinity (35 ppt) and 0.1
ppm methoprene resulted in increases in morphological abnormalities of the mega-
lopa (Costlow, 1977). In lower salinities (5 ppt and 20 ppt), abnormal megalopa
rarely exceeded 4 percent, regardless of the length of an exposure to the compound.
Although some abnormal megalopa successfully metamorphosed to the first juvenile
crab, many died either as megalopa or during metamorphosis to the first crab.
Toxic Industrial Compounds
Many other industrial compounds developed since the late 1920s have been identi-
fied in estuarine sediments and waters over much of the United States. Some, such as
the phenolics, are derived from coke plants, oil refineries, chemical and pesticide
manufacturers, and other industrial complexes. Many of the phenolics occur natu-
rally in aquatic and terrestrial vegetation and may be released as a result of processes
employed by the pulp and paper industry. Buikema, McGinniss, and Cairns (1979)
identify various toxic effects for some of the phenolics. The few studies conducted on
the biological effects of many phenolics indicate that exposure to phenol and
pentachlorophenol concentrations as low as 4 mg/1 results in hemorrhaging at the
base of the fins of fish, and higher concentrations cause disruption of blood vessel
walls and gill epithelium. Othereffects include the reduction of levels of the hormone
in fish, changes in blood glucose and blood lactate levels, immunoglobin levels,
blood protein levels, and tissue microelement levels. Little is known about the
cycling of phenol and phenolics (other than pesticides) in marine ecosystems or the
extent to which they persist in substrates and biological systems.
The polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), one of the groups of chlorinated hydro-
carbons, are widely used in condenser dielectrics, heat transfer fluids, and hydraulic
fluids. They are widely distributed in marine and estuarine environments, and the
work of Peakall (1975) established that they are toxic to many organisms. The poly-
chtorinated naphthalenes have also been identified in the marine environment, but
relatively little is known about the effect of these compounds on estuarine and
marine systems. Many PCBs have been produced by Monsanto Company under the
trade name Aroclor®. Under the trade name Halowax®, the Koppers Company has
produced a series of polychlorinated naphthalenes. A number of studies have been
conducted to cornpare the effects of the PCBs and the PCNs within these series.
Following the identification of Aroclor® 1254 in the water, sediment, and fauna of
Escambia Bay, Florida (Duke etal., 1970), Nimmo conducted several studies on the
effects of this and related compounds on various estuarine and marine animals.
Whole body residues of Aroclor® 1254 were found to be as high as 14 mg/kg in the
pink shrimp Penaeus ciuorarum (Nimmo et al., !97la), and subsequent studies on
juveniles of the same species indicated that approximately 1.0 /ig/1 in seawater
would kill 50 percent of the experimental animals within 15 days (Nimmo et al.,
J97lb).
Lethal effects of Aroclor® 1016 and 1254 have been described for larval and adult
fiddler crabs using a combination of temperatures and salinities as synergistic factors
(Vernberget al., 1977). Lethal levels of Aroclor® 1254 for the larval stages of the
fiddler crab were found to be approximately 10 ppb. but the same levels of Aroclor®
1254 appeared to have a more rapid effect on the larvae than that described for
Aroclor® 1016. At the combinations of salinity and temperature used in the experi-
ments, Aroclor® 1254 appeared to be more toxic than Aroclor® 1016.
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Subletha! effects of PCBs have also beqn described for many species. In the studies
on Palaemonetespugio, Roesijadi et al. (1976) observed sublethal effects in concen-
trations of less than 100 ppb. Neff and Giam( 1977) found that lower concentrations
of Aroclor® and Halowax® reduced the intermolt periods of the horseshoe crab,
while Roesijadi etal.{ 1976) demonstrated that Aroclor® 1254 significantly extended
the duration of development of the shrimp Palaemonetespugio. In describing the
relationship between pollutants and natural diseases Couch and Courtney (1977)
found that 1 to 3 pg/1 Aroclor® 1254 administered for 30 days increased the spread
and prevalence of Baculovirus. Mortality in the stress population was higher than in
the control population, and the incidence of viral infection in the experimental popu-
lation of shrimp was approximately SO percent higher than in the control series with-
out Aroclor® 1254.
Neff and Giam (1977) conducted studies to compare the effects of Aroclor® 1016
and the PCN Halowax*1099 on juvenile horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus.
The concentrations of these compounds, while in the low ppb range, were consider-
ably higher than one would expect to find in most estuarine environments.
The anticipated effects of "hazardous wastes" constitute a major challenge.
Numerous documents attest to the increase in production of hazardous wastes with-
in the United States through the year 2000. Several recent incidents involving con-
tamination of drinking water, residences, and the environment as a whole have
dramatically focused on the hazards of these compounds to human health. Fre-
quently the compounds are unidentified and assembled in what might be best de-
scribed as a "potpourri." Although the Environmental Protection Agency is
presently conducting studies to devise means to identify these hazardous wastes,
there is virtually no way to assess the impact from runoff of these compounds into
adjacent estuarine waters.
THE CHALLENGES OF THE EIGHTIES
Although research during the seventies has contributed to a general understanding
of the effects of some organic compounds on estuarine and marine organisms, many
questions about the long-term impacts of these compounds are unanswered. Little
information is available on the rates at which many of these compounds deteriorate
within estuarine waters and sediments, although comparable information on rates of
deterioration in freshwater and soil is available. The results of one study (Christiansen
and Costlow, 1980) show that Dimilin® breaks down relatively slowly in brackish
water. Under laboratory conditions, 10 ppb Dimilin®, added to seawater, degraded
for 8 weeks before it had reached a level that did not affect survival of the larvae of
the mud crab Rhiihropanopeus harrisii.
Although the breakdown products of specific organic compounds have been iden-
tified, virtually nothing is known of the level at which these compounds are toxic in
estuarine systems, the extent to which they persist, or the amounts that may be
accumulated by marine organisms and passed on through the various trophic levels.
Research in the seventies concentrated on the effects of individual compounds on
relatively small numbers of estuarine species. Although toxicity of individual pollu-
tants to marine organisms is modified by synergistic factors including salinity and
temperature, little research has been directed to a thorough understanding of these
interactions. The mortality of shrimp exposed to Aroclor® 1254 increased as salinity
increased over an 8-hour period. In contrast, mortality did not increase when shrimp
were maintained in conditions where only the salinity was increased or where only
PCB was present (Nimmo and Bahner, 1974). In studies on the effects of two juvenile
hormone mimics (Altosid® and Altozar®) on larval development of mud crabs, a
variety of cyclic temperatures were used to indicate that the toxic effect of these two
compounds is reinforced by temperature (Christiansen et al., 1977).
Considering the extent to which estuarine and coastal waters contribute runoff
containing many organic compounds, it is unfortunate that most studies to date have
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focused on the effects of single pollutants rather than on how combinations of pollu-
tants alter toxic effects. Livingston et al. (1974) considered these interactions, but
Bahner and Nimmo {1976} first examined how combinations of heavy metals and
pesticides (cadmium-malathion; cadmium-methoxychlor; and cadmium-methoxy-
chlor-Aroclor® 1254) might affect the pink shrimp, Penaeus duorarum. They con-
cluded that the absence of cumulative toxicity indicated that toxicity is independent
and that no synergistic activity occurred.
Koenig (1977) developed experiments to determine the relative toxicity of DDT
and mirex, alone as well as in combination, during the early life stages of the salt
marsh cyprinodont fish, Adinia xfnica. He identified a synergistic interaction be-
tween DDT and mirex that affected larval mortality. The addition of mirex to the
DDT dosages increased the toxicity by a factor of approximately 1.5. There was no
apparent synergistic effect on embryos, embryo developmental rate, or hatching
time. Secondary effects of DDT intoxication, as opposed to the effects of mirex
alone, included lack of coordination, cessation in feeding, and increased darkening
in overall appearance. The larvae soon became emaciated and died. Larvae exposed
to mirex, however, fed normally and initially appeared normal. After a loss of equi-
librium, which caused the larvae to drift in a disoriented manner, death occurred.
In more recent studies (Costlow, unpublished) four pesticides, Dimilin®, Altosid®,
mirex, and Kepone, were combined at levels previously determined to be sublethal.
Developing stages of the mud crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii were exposed to sub-
lethal levels both of the individual pesticide and a composite of the four. At the sub-
lethal levels of the individual compounds, survival was similar to that observed for
the controls, whereas for the composites, toxic effects increased considerably.
Although the previous studies were conducted under conditions approaching opti-
mum salinity and temperature, further experiments are necessary to determine the
effects of composites of pollutants in those suboptimal conditions of salinity and
temperature known to occur in estuarine systems.
Virtually all of the research of the seventies was directed to acute effects. A few
studies sought to evaluate chronic effects, primarily as they apply to assemblages of
organisms. Livingston et al. (1978) described a significant decline in organochlorine
residues in Apalachicola Bay, Florida. They attributed this decline to a decrease in
use of pollutants, a major natural flushing of the area, and the deterioration of the
compounds themselves. A major problem in this study was the difficulty in corre-
lating trends in the various assemblages with the decline of the pesticides. The need
for studies that relate long-term changes and physical-chemical changes, be they
natural or artificial, is therefore emphasized. This same difficulty is apparent in
other efforts to relate the decline in species abundance to the observed increase of
pesticides in specific estuarine waters. For example, the recorded commercial catch
of blue crabs in the James River from 1968 to 1972 averaged 899,000 kg (1,977,800
Ib) and declined from 1972 to 1975 by more than 90 percent. In noting this decline
Bookhout et al. (1980) indicates that Kepone, shown to be highly toxic to the larvae
of Callinectes sapidus, may be responsible for the decline of the blue crab catch in the
James River. There is, however, no way to specifically attribute this decline to
Kepone poisoning alone.
Virtually nothing is known of the mutagenic effects of organic compounds over
several generations of estuarine and marine organisms. Techniques are now avail-
able to permit the culture of many invertebrates, including certain harpacttcoid
copepods and polychaetes that have relatively short life spans (10 to 20 days). For a
more complete understanding of the long-term effects of pollutants in estuarine
ecosystems, studies must be designed to determine how sublethal levels of the more
commonly utilized organic compounds affect successive generations of several
species.
Although many studies have been conducted on the extent to which individual
species accumulate organic compounds, nothing is known about the mechanism of
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uptake, transfer within tissues and organs, and the mechanisms that permit certain
organisms to accumulate these compounds without apparent toxic effects.
Despite significant advances in instrumentation during the seventies, researchers
are still seriously handicapped by their inability to detect and accurately measure
small amounts of organic compounds in the estuarine environment. Virtually all
experimental studies on the impact of organics on estuarine species have been con-
ducted under laboratory conditions using either static or flow-through systems that
rely on conventional dilution techniques to arrive at the lower levels of concentra-
tion. While laboratory studies establish basic physiological responses of individual
species to particular compounds, laboratory conditions do little more than simulate
the natural environment. Reliable information is still unavailable either on the levels
of compounds in estuarine systems or on how these levels affect a variety of biolog-
ical responses within the organisms.
The significance of the impact of toxic organic compounds on the estuarine and
marine environments cannot be overestimated, because these areas provide protein
for the expanding populations of the world. The 1976 FAO World Conference on
Aquaculture concluded that a five- to ten-fold increase in production of fisheries
products from aquaculture would be possible by the year 2000, given adequate
financial and technical support. Although limited investment and technical support
are now making such an increase unlikely, increasing pollution of freshwater ponds
and coastal waters are a far more serious threat (Barney, 1980). The expanded use of
pesticides is expected to increase water pollution in many of the developing coun-
tries, where the more persistent pesticides are likely to be in continued use. Pesticide
use in the developing countries may well quadruple between now and the year 2000
(Barney, 1980). According to the Global 2000 Study, pollution of coastal ecosystems
is likely to increase. The study indicates that 60 to 80 percent of the valuable commer-
cial marine species are dependent upon estuaries, salt marshes, or mangrove swamps
for a habitat during their life cycle. As cities expand and industries develop estuarine
and coastal wetland areas, the fragile environments on which these commercially
important species depend will deteriorate.
Perhaps the greatest challenge of the eighties will be to communicate to local
governments in a number of countries the importance of estuarine and coastal areas
and how toxic organic compounds can destroy their productivity. Currently, there
appears to be little concern, despite the 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act and
coastal management laws later enacted by a number of states. Without proper recog-
nition of the impact of toxic organic compounds on the productivity of coastal areas
by local and state governments, accompanied by intelligent planning that prevents
further contamination of these areas, the prospect for continued productivity of
these areas is extremely dim.
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Payen, G.G.,and J.D. Costlow. 1977. Effects of a juvenile hormone mimic on male and female
gametogencsis of the mud crab, Rhiihropanopeus /wrrrr;7(Gould)(Brachyura:Xanthidae).
Biol. Bull. 152:199-208.
Peakall, D.B. 1975. PCBs and their environmental effects. CRC Crit. Revs. Environ. Contr.
5:469-508.
Poole, R. L, and M. Willis. 1970. Effects of some pesticides on larvae of the market crab. Cancer
magister, and the red crab. Cancer productus, and a bioassay of industrial wastes with crab
larvae. Manuscr. Rep. Calif. Dep. Fish Game Mar. Resour. Reg. 70 15: 1-19.
Roesijadi, G.. S.R. Petrocelli, J.W. Anderson, C.S. Giam, and G.E. Neff. 1976. Toxicity of
polychlorinated biphenyls (Aroclor® 1254) to adult, juvenile and larval stages of the shrimp
Palaemoneiex pugio. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 15:297-304.
Tester, P.A., and J.D. Costlow, Jr. 1979. The effect of the insect growth regulator Dimilin®
(TH 6040) on the fecundity and egg viability of the marine copepod Acania tonsa Dana
(Copepoda: Calanoida). Submitted to Mar. Ecol.
Vernberg, W.B., P.J. DeCoursey, and J. O'Hara. 1977. Multiple environmental factor effects
on physiology and behavior of the fiddler crab. Ucapugilalor. In: Pollutionand physiology
of marine organisms, F.J. Vernberg and W.B. Vernberg. Academic Press, NY. pp. 381-
426.
Walsh, G.E. 1972. Insecticides, herbicides, and polychlorinated biphenyls in estuaries. J.
Wash. Acad. Sci. 62: 122-139.
Williams. A.B.. and T.W. Duke. 1979. Chapter VI. Crabs (Arthropoda. Crustacea, Decapoda.
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IMPACT OF OIL ON THE COASTAL ENVIRONMENT
Patrick L. Parker and J. Kenneth Winters
The University of Texas Marine Laboratory
Port Aransas, Texas 78373
It is generally recognized that petroleum and the activities that accompany the
petroleum sector are having a major impact on many portions of the world's coastal
environments. Certainly a similar impact is felt by noncoastal environments, but it
appears that a number of factors combine to focus the major impact on coastal
zones. Tor example, large amounts of petroleum are produced in coastal areas and
even larger amounts are transported on coastal waters. These activities in an envi-
ronment that is sensitive, yet harsh and unforgiving of mistakes, have made manage-
ment of the petroleum sector difficult. Petroleum, unlike other pollutants such as
radioactivity, heavy metals, and pesticides, can be seen, felt, and smelled. This fact
and the massive releases in some oil pollution incidents have further compounded
the problem in coastal environments. The sheer magnitude of the activities of the
petroleum sector and the complex chemical and biological properties of petroleum
have brought changes to affected portions of the coastal environment far greater
than to non-petroleum related areas. Petroleum may be thought of as a driving force
for many environmental modifications.
Exploration, drilling, and production of oil in the coastal environment have
brought changes in the physical environment. Development of a major oil or gas
field may involve extensive on-shore activities such as shipyard, fabrication plant,
harbor, tank-farm, and pipeline construction. These projects may involve dredging
and filling of wetlands, alternate uses of coastal waters, competition with established
labor markets, and other social impacts. The coastal environment may be greatly
modified by the petroleum sector before a barrel of oil is produced, transported, or
refined. This modification of the physical environment may be viewed as a competi-
tion for the limited resources of the coastal zone. It can have far-reaching impacts on
the natural ecosystem.
Offshore production and transportation of petroleum, river runoff, and municipal
and industrial wastes combine to inject millions of tons of petroleum and petroleum
products into the marine environment annually (Table I) (National Academy of
Science. 1975). The potential of these releases for damage to organisms and eco-
systems has been the central theme for most of the petroleum-related environmental
science studies for the past decade. The studies have been difficult for two major rea-
sons: petroleum is a complex substance not readily characterized, and effects of pe-
troleum on biota are highly variable and poorly understood. Since 1970 our knowl-
edge of baseline levels, transport mechanisms, weathering, and biological effects of
petroleum in the marine environment has increased dramatically. The balance of this
report describes some of the planned and unplanned studies of oil pollution.
PETROLEUM AS A NATURAL SUBSTANCE
Composition
It is somewhat ironic that the coastal environment, the area most impacted by the
petroleum sector, is the environment in which most petroleum originated in earlier
96
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Table 1. Comparison of Estimates for Petroleum Hydrocarbons Annually
Entering the Ocean, Circa 1969-1971
Authority (millions of tons per annum)
Source
Marine transportation
Offshore oil production
Coastal oil refineries
Industrial waste
Municipal waste
Urban runoff
River runoff*
Subtotal
Natural seeps*
Atmospheric rainout
Total
MIT SCEP
report
(1970)
1.13
0.20
0.30
—
0.45
—
—
208
?
9.0t
11.08
USCG impact
statement
(1973)
1.72
0.12
—
1.98
—
—
—
3.82
?
?
?
MAS
workshop
(1973)
2.133
0.08
0.2
0,3
0.3
0.3
1.6
4.913
0.6
0.6
6.113
*PHC input from recreational boating assumed to be incorporated in the river
runoff value.
tBased upon assumed 10 percent return from the atmosphere.
Source: Reproduced from Petroleum in the Marine Environment, 1975, with
the permission of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC.
periods of geological time. Petroleum consists of the remains of the microscopic
plants and animals that lived in coastal seas. During the millions of years since this
once-living material was deposited in sediment, the biogenic components have
undergone chemical reactions that have produced the complex mixture we call pe-
troleum. The compositions of petroleums vary greatly with source, but the qualitative
composition is surprisingly similar. These common compositional features are
thought to reflect the common origin and similar chemical history of petroleum. In
every sense, then, petroleum is a natural substance. But it is a natural substance that
has been buried for millions of years, during which time it has generated chemical
components that do not exist in the normal food web of ecosystems. Since some of
the compounds produced during petroleum generation are toxic to biota, it is appro-
priate to consider briefly and generally the composition of petroleum.
Petroleum is composed of compounds of carbon and hydrogen (hydrocarbons)
and minor amounts of organic molecules that also contain nitrogen, sulfur, or oxy-
gen (NSO compounds). The hydrocarbons present in petroleum belong to five
classes:
normal alkanes
branched chain alkanes
cycloalkanes or naphthenes
aromatics
naphtheno-aromatics
The NSO compounds are diverse in structure, not easily classified but important
from an environmental viewpoint based on their toxic properties. Structural for-
mulas of typical compounds from each hydrocarbon class plus NSO compounds are
shown in Figure I. Petroleums are characterized by the relative-amounts of these
molecular types that they contain and by the molecular weight distribution of each
type. The molecular weight distribution as reflected in boiling range is the property
that defines the various fractions of petroleum produced by a refinery. The boiling
range fractions such as gasoline, kerosene, and fuel oil are those most well known.
Despite the fact that millions of barrels of crude oil are used every day, most people
have not had direct experience with it. Figure 2 graphically illustrates the molecular
97
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N-ALKANES
H
CH3
Branched Chain Alkanes
CH3 CH3
CH;
—c H CH3(CH2)13CH3 CH3CHCH2CH2CH2CHCH2CH?CHs>CHCH2CH2CH2CHCH3
l_l Pentadecane Pristane
Methane
CYCLOALKANE
CH3
I
CH
2HC CH2
CH2
ZHC
H2
Methylcyclohexane
AROMATICS
CH3
C\
CH
H
Toluene
H
CH3
CH
CH
H H
Methylnaphthelene
NAPHTHENO-AROMATIC
H H2
HC
HC
H H2
Tetralin
CH2
CH2
SULFUR COMPOUND
HC
CH
CH
H
Benzothiophene
OXYGEN COMPOUND
OH
I
HC
HC
CH
p-Cresol
CH3
NH2
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
I p-Toluidine
CH3
H
HC
^C^c
H H
|ndole
-CH
Figure 1. Classes of compounds found in petroleum.
98
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100
200
Boiling Point, °C
300
500
600
100 r
Naphthenes
(cyclopa raff ins)
Crude Oil, Volume Percent.
Figure 2. Distribution of the chemical compounds of a crude oil. (From John M, Hunt,
Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology. W. H Freeman and Company,
Copyright© 1979.)
composition of the major boiling range materials found in a typical crude oil (Hunt,
1979). Data contained in this figure are useful for predicting the fate or weathering
pattern of a petroleum or refined product. For example, a spill of gasoline with a low
boiling range evaporates in the marine environment. Although different crudes may
have compositional curves very different from those in Figure 2, general conclusions
as to the potential toxicity of an oil or oil product can be made. For example, mid-
boiling aromatics that are regarded as relatively toxic are present in high concentra-
tions in kerosene and diesel fuel. Nitrogen, sulfur,and oxygen compounds are also
toxic, but those in the high-boiling range (greater than 500°C) may be molecules that
are too large to have biological activity. On the other hand, NSO compounds in the
diesel fuel range are low in concentration, but they are small, water soluble, and bio-
logically active, and thus are a cause for environmental concern.
Weathering
The potential for biological and aesthetic damage by chronic or acute petroleum
release is a function of the weathering profile of the oil. When an oil is spilled ordis-
99
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charged into the marine environment, the composition begins to change immedi-
ately. This change in composition, known as weathering, takes place at a rate deter-
mined by the nature of the oil and by environmental factors such as temperature,
wind speed, sea state, and nutrient level. Physical, chemical, and biological processes
are all continuously operative, but the rates of individual processes vary greatly.
A spill on marine waters results in rapid formation of a surface slick by the spread-
ing of a large portion of the discharged oil. The extent of spreading (thickness) of a
slick is determined by the quantity and nature of the oil and environmental condi-
tions. Fresh oil with a compositon such as that in Figure 1 spreads rapidly. However,
as the lower boiling fraction evaporates, attractive forces among the remaining mole-
cules overcome the spreading forces, and the spilled oil ceases to spread (Fay, 1969).
Formation of a thin layer of oil at the air-sea interface provides a large surface area
contact with both atmosphere and seawater that greatly accelerates the rate of other
weathering processes.
Evaporation is the most important weathering process during the first day or two
after an oil spill. A typical crude oil can be expected to lose between 25 and 50 percent
of its components from a surface slick owing to evaporation alone. A 75 percent loss
could result from the evaporation of a No. 2 fuel oil (National Academy of Science,
1975). Results from numerous studies indicate hydrocarbons with less than 15 car-
bon atoms are readily removed from oil by evaporation under usual marine condi-
tions. Of the hydrocarbons in this molecular weight range (
-------
exposed for 2 years in floating enclosures without effective degradation (Davis and
Gibbs, 197S). An oil-in-water emulsion or dispersion results from the suspension of
small particles/ droplets of oil within the water column. Oil is physically forced into
the water column by turbulence at the surface, generally wave action. The degree of
turbulence determines the quantity and depth of mixing while oil density and parti-
cle size determine residence time in the water column (Forrester, 1971).
Sedimentation is a process that determines the fate of some heavy oils in the
marine environment. In the case of a few spills involving Bunker C fuel oil, a signifi-
cant portion of the oil quickly dispersed within the water column in the form of drop-
lets or globules that had a specific gravity equal to or greater than the surface sea-
water (Conover, 1971). These particles can sink in the water column and be moved
about by subsurface currents (Conomos, 1975). Less dense crude and fuel oil drop-
lets dispersed in surface waters can be sedimented by adsorption to suspended miner-
al particles. This process could be particularly important in more turbid coastal
waters. Oil droplets may also be ingested by zooplankton and excreted in fecal pel-
lets that have density greater than seawater (Conover, 1971),
Photochemical oxidation is probably the most important of the various abiotic
chemical reactions that occur during the weathering process. Ultraviolet radiation is
absorbed by selected molecules, especially aromatics, that react with oxygen to form
oxygenated intermediates such as hydroperoxides. These oxygenated intermediates
are generally much more soluble and toxic than the parent compound (Larson etal.,
1976). Products that result from irradiation of oil include organic acids, alcohols,
esters, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, and sulfoxides( Parker etal., 1971). Photochem-
ical and abiotic oxidation of crude oil during the weathering process may be largely
responsible for the high NSO and asphaltene content of some tarballs and tarry resi-
dues that are difficult to account for by simple evaporation and solution losses
(Frankenfeld, 1973).
Biodegradation is an important process in the further weathering of oil that has
dispersed or dissolved in seawater. Although microbial degradation playsa far more
significant role in weathering, macroorganisms also degrade oil. Marine animals of
all sizes and genera may purposefully or accidentally ingest oil particles during
feeding. A portion of the oil is absorbed and incorporated into tissues while the bulk
is eliminated in the feces (Conover, 1971). Petroleum hydrocarbons are depurated
from tissues at various rates depending upon the type of tissue and organism.
A broad spectrum of mcroorganisms is active in the metabolism of petroleum that
enters the marine environment. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and microalgae
(Cerniglia et al., 1980), bacteria (Zobell, 1969), fungi (Walker etal., 1973),and yeasts
(Klug and Markovetz, 1967) have been reported capable of degrading oil or oil com-
ponents. Hydrocarbon-utilizing microorganisms are ubiquitous in the oceans. How-
ever, their concentrations vary, with highest counts in areas of chronic petroleum
pollution (Walker and Colwell, 1976). Individual species differ in ability to grow on
petroleum hydrocarbons as a sole carbon source. Often a species may be able to uti-
lize a given aromatic ring structure while unable to grow on others. Maximum degra-
dation of petroleum is accomplished by the combined and sequential attack of a
mixed population (Horowitz et at., 1975).
Numerous studies indicate preferential utilization of n-alkanes during early stages
of microbial degradation of crude oils (Jobson et al., 1972). Isoprenoid hydrocar-
bons such as pristane and phytane are often degraded at a slower rate than /i-alkanes
(Westlake ct al., 1974). Walker et al. (1976) report alkanes degraded to a greater
extent than cycloalkanes in two crude oils. A wide variety of aromatic and
naphtheno-aromatic compounds may also be utilized by microorganisms. A larger
percentage of aromatics were degraded than saturates in the study of Walker et al.
(1976).
Microbial degradation rates in the ocean may become nutrient-limited. Nitrogen
(NOj~, N H/) and/ or phosphorus (PO/3) concentrations can determine degradation
rates especially in offshore areas.
101
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All of these physical, chemical, and biological processes act to keep the level of pe-
troleum low in the environment. It is fair to state that they work effectively. Many
large oil spills are dispersed before they become a biological problem. For example,
the Argo Merchant spill off Cape Cod and the Ekofisk blow-out did not lead to
heavy accumulations. The massive Ixtoc 1 spill did lead to accumulations over a
960-km (600-mi) long track; however, foul weather and perhaps biological activity
finally removed most of the oil from the Texas coast. Nevertheless, the potential for
damage to marine plants and animals by chronic and acute inputs of petroleum is a
serious problem. Extensive studies have been done to help define and resolve this
problem.
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
The impact of petroleum on marine plants and animals is of central importance for
scientists and regulatory agencies concerned with the petroleum sector. This prob-
lem is a real challenge to scientists because it has many levels of expression, all of
which are important and perhaps interrelated. Determination of the acute toxicity of
petroleum and petroleum products toward marine plants and animals is complicated
by the fact that the sensitivity of various marine organisms is highly variable. Gener-
alizations are difficult to make. It is somewhat the case that levels of petroleum in the
environment high enough to cause acute toxicity are also high enough to trigger
cleanup efforts. As a consequence, much of the research on the biological effects of
oil during the past decade has been on the sublethal effects of oil. When one considers
that a given petroleum may contain more than 300 compounds, many of which may
be deleterious to some biota, the magnitude of the problem is clear.
Research programs dealing with the harmful effects of petroleum form a matrix.
One side of the matrix is the level of organization of the biota. This ranges from im-
pact on key metabolic reactions such as photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation to ef-
fects on bacteria, phytoplankton. microzooplankton, zooplankton, larval animals,
invertebrates and large fish and finally to whole communities or ecosystems. The
other side of the matrix is individual petroleum compounds, various fuel oils
produced by the petroleum industry, and crude oils. The scientific community is
divided as to which matrix members are environmentally most critical. Some argue
to focus on the effects of oil on key processes such as photosynthesis or respiration,
others point to the need to understand the impact on commercial fish and shellfish.
while others contend that only the total ecosystem should be studied. The variety of
life and the chemically complex nature of petroleum determines that only limited
studies can be made of this matrix with the human and financial resources that are
available. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences workshop on marine
environmental quality provided useful guidelines for biological studies (National
Academy of Sciences, 1971). This document pointed out the inadequacy of acute
toxicity tests. It stated that the greatest scientific benefit would accrue if "intensive
research is focused on relatively few kinds of organisms and systems." Suggested
criteria for system selection include available basic data, economic importance,
magnitude, and exemplary nature. The decade of the 1970s has brought forth studies
along these lines ranging from microbes to ecosystems.
How toxic is petroleum to marine organisms? The answer to this question is vital
to an assessment of environmental damage associated with specific petroleum pollu-
tion incidents that occur on a daily basis in the coastal zone. The answer is also vital
to assessment of the hazards of long-term chronic pollution of harbors, bays, and
estuaries. Biological effects observed when experimental organisms are exposed to
water-soluble fractions of oil, oil dispersed in seawater (accommodated oil), or spe-
cific petroleum components have received detailed study. Mortality of birds and
intertidal animals as a direct result of oil coating may be described as a form of acute
toxicity but will not be discussed here.
102
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Our fundamental understanding of the nature of petroleum toxicity has developed
from laboratory studies of acute toxicity. A generally accepted method of expressing
acute toxicity of a given pollutant is the 96-hr LC?u. The LC5<> value of a pollutant is
the concentration of the toxicant required to kill 50 percent of the test organisms
within 96 hours. Three variables are immediately obvious in the determination of an
LCso for petroleum: (1) the oil tested, (2) the form of oil presented (water-soluble
fraction or dispersion), and (3) the organism and life stage tested. Each of these vari-
ables affect the LC«i value obtained and thus partially explains the wide range of
values reported in the literature. Table 2 presents a compilation of LC™ data largely
obtained with water-soluble fractions (WSF) of oils or pure compounds. The data of
Table 2 indicate fuel oils are generally more toxic than crude oils to a wide variety of
organisms. Fuel oils (No, 2 and No. 6) contain larger percentages of toxic naphtha-
lenes and phenanthrenes than do crude oils. Rossi et al. (1976) found two fuel oils
more toxic to the polychaete Neamhes arenaceodemata than two crude fuel oils. The
higher toxicity of the fuel oils was attributed to their higher content of naphthalenes.
Tissues from animals exposed to WSF from No. 2 fuel oil contained a higher concen-
tration of naphthalenes than animals exposed to WSF from crude oil. Crude oil-
exposed animals had higher tissue levels of alkyl benzenes. Accumulation of naph-
thalenes in organs of Fundulus similus exposed to WSF of No. 2 fuel oil has been
documented by Dixitand Anderson (1977). Concentrations of total naphthalenes in
excess of 200 ppm in the brain were found to correlate with loss of locomotor and
regulatory capabilities. Affected fish placed in clean water returned to normal swim-
ming behavior within 3.5 hours, and brain levels of naphthalenes were found to be
about 200 ppm. Winters and Parker (1977) have reported that WSF of fuel oils also
contain higher concentrations of phenols, anilines, indoles. and quinolines than do
crude oils. Some of these one- and two-ring aromatic compounds containing oxygen
or nitrogen may be formed during catalytic cracking and reforming of crude oil in
refinery processes. The differences in toxicities of No. 2 fuel oils to microalgae have
been demonstrated to depend upon differences in concentration of these minor com-
ponents. Winters et al. (1976) tested the toxicity of WSF from four No. 2 fuel oils on
the growth of microalgae. Water-soluble fractions from two of the oils were lethal to
the two blue-green algae tested. The observed toxicity to blue-greens was due to a
higher concentration of anilines in these oils. Para-toluidine, a methyl aniline, was
found to be toxic to Agmenellum quatlruplicatum at a concentration of 100 /ag/1.
Similarly in another study, perinaphthenone was found to be largely responsible for
the high toxicity of WSF of a N o. 2 fuel oil to green algae (Winters et al., 1977). Peri-
naphthenone, a three-ring aromatic ketone, was present at a concentration of 200
^g/l in the WSF. Toxicity of the pure compound alone was demonstrated at a con-
centration of 250 pgl\. Crude oils also exhibit a wide range of toxicities in bioassays,
no doubt owing to their diverse chemical and physical properties.
Oil has generally been presented to test organisms as an oil-in-water dispersion
(OWD) or as a water-soluble fraction prepared from the oil. Neither method pro-
duces a stable concentration of oil in seawater. The stability of an OWD depends
upon the size of droplets, specific gravity of the oil, and seawater circulation within
the test chamber. Evaporation of volatile components quickly decreases the concen-
tration of WSF even in nonaerated aquaria (Winters and Parker, 1977). Mainte-
nance of constant concentrations of oil in seawater during exposure is greatly facili-
tated by use of flow-through test chambers. Row-through systems provide addi-
tional advantages such as maintaining dissolved oxygen concentration with less or
no aeration, minimizing problems associated with bacterial contamination, and
removing waste products from test animals.
The toxicities of individual compounds known to occur in petroleum have also
been tested (Neff et al., 1976). Generally, toxicity of naphthalenes was greater than
that of benzenes and increased with degree of alkyl substitution of a given aromatic
ring system (Table 2). Neff et al. (1976) found phenanthrenes more toxic than naph-
thalenes to a species of polychaete worm.
103
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Table 2. Comparison of 96-Hr LCso Values (ppm) for Marine Animals
Tested with Various Oils or Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Marine
animal
Crude
oils
Fuel
oil
Benzenes
Naphthalenes
Potychaete
Amphipod
Shrimp
Fish
Crustacean
larvae
9.5 - 12.5
(Neff etal., 1976)"
0.6 - >2.4
(Linden. 1976)
(Lee etal.. 1977)
6.0 - > 19.8
(Neff etal., 1976)
5.5 - >19.8)
(Anderson et al., 1974)
0.8 - 4.9
(Mecklenburg et al.,
1977)
(Wells and Sprague,
1976)
2.0 - 8.4
(Rossi and Anderson,
1976)
0.2 - 1.0
(Linden, 1976)
(Lee et al., 1977)
1.0 - 6.6
(Neff etal., 1976)
2.0 - 3.8
(Neff et al, 1976}
2.7
(Lee and Nicol, 1978)
1.0 - 27.0
(Neff etal.. 1976)
0.7 - 2.4
(Neff et al.. 1976)
(Benille and Korn, 1977)
3.9-6.3 3.9-12
(Anderson et al.. 1974) (Benille and Korn. 1977)
1 .0 - 1 .5
(Neff etal., 1976)
2.1 - 108 0.6- >2.0
(Caldwell et al.. 1977) (Caldwell et al, 1977)
•Indicates reference.
-------
Bioassays to determine acute toxicity of petroleum to a species should be con-
ducted with the most sensitive stage in the life cycle of that species. Allen (1971)
tested the effects of WSF from 16 crude and fuel oils on the development of sea
urchin eggs. Little or no effect was seen on fertilization; however, 11 oils affected
cleavage at concentrations of 6 percent WSF or higher. Nicol et al. (1977) reported
that similar concentration of WSF (6 percent) from a No. 2 fuel oil also affected
cleavage of eggs and larval development in sand dollars. Larvae and juvenile forms
have often been found more vulnerable to oil than are adults (Table 2). Wells and
Kat/ suggested that the greater sensitivity of crustacean larvae was linked to molting
(Weils, 1972). Subsequent work by Mecklenburg et al. (1977) indicated molting
shrimp larvae were about five times more sensitive than nonmolting larvae. Recent
studies report, however, that early life stages are not the most sensitive for some
species of shrimp (Neff et al., 1976) and polychaete (Rossi and Anderson, 1976).
Numerous studies have reported sublethal effects of petroleum on marine orga-
nisms. A sublethal effect is any abnormal response observed during exposure of an
organism to nonlethal concentrations of toxicant. Sublethal studies are valuable in
the assessment of the potential for damage at oil concentrations that are more prob-
able in the environment than LCsu values. Metabolic rate measurements such as
respiration rates generally show an increase in metabolism owing to stress at low oil
concentrations (Hargrave and Newcombe, 1973). Respiration rates continue to
increase with increased oil concentrations until near-lethal concentrations result in
reduced rates. Bradycardia (slowing of the heart) was measured in sea catfish by
Wang and Nicol at 0.01 ppm (less than 10 percent of the LCno) of a No. 2 fuel oil
(Nicol and Wang, 1977). Feeding responses deteriorated at about 0.038 ppm (27 per-
cent of the LCjd). Atema and Stein (1974) reported feeding behavior of the lobster
was affected by relatively low concentrations of crude oil. Recently, modifications to
the feeding behavior of marine copepods have been reported at concentrations of
0.25 ppm of fuel oil accommodated in seawater (Berman and Heinle, 1980). Total
suppression of feeding or suppression of feeding on small particles between 7 and IS
^m in diameter was observed. Feeding on particles larger than IS /im was increased
in some cases.
Chemotaxis of a snail (Jacobson and Boylan, 1973) and phototaxis of barnacle
larvae (Donahue et al., 1977) were altered by WSF from fuel oils.
Many of the biological effects attributed to stress from sublethal concentrations of
pollutants should be reflected in growth rate. The growth rate of an organism is an
ecologically significant parameter that can easily be measured in the laboratory.
Reduced growth rate of the polychaete worm Neanthes arenaceodentata has been
reported by Anderson in 3 percent WSF of a No. 2 fuel oil (Anderson, 1977). The
concentration of total hydrocarbons was 180 ppb; total naphthalene concentration
was 60 ppb. Neff et al. (1976) exposed larvae of the mud crab Rhithropanopeus
harrisii to WSF of No. 2 fuel oil for 6 months. Survival of larvae in the lowest two
concentrations (0.16, 0,31 ppm total hydrocarbons) was similar to controls (~ 90
percent). Survival in 0.63, 0.94, and 1.26 ppm concentrations were 76, 30, and 6
percent, respectively. After 6 months, the mean size of crabs in the control group was
larger than that of the 0.16, 0,31, and 0.63 ppm groups but smaller than that of the
0.94 and 1.26 ppm groups. Larvae of the mud crab Eurypanopeus depressus(Smith)
were exposed to 4.3 and 8.7 ppm concentrations of WSF of Kuwait crude and devel-
opment followed through crab stage five (Cucci and Epifanio, 1979). Increased
mortality and duration of inter molt periods were observed in larvae exposed contin-
uously from hatching. Larvae not exposed to WSF before zoea stage three showed
slower growth than controls but no higher mortality. An extra morphologically
abnormal megalopa stage was observed for some exposed individuals. The percent-
age of animals that exhibited the extra abnormal stage increased in the higher con-
centration of WSF. Decreased growth of larvae of the amphipod Gammarus
oceanicus during a 60-day exposure to WSF from a Venezuelan crude was reported
by Linden (1976).
105
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A few studies have investigated the uptake of petroleum hydrocarbons presented
to organisms in forms other than oil-in-water dispersions or water-soluble fractions,
Bioaccumulation of fuel oil hydrocarbons adsorbed onto kaolin particles and in-
gested by Mytilus edulis has been reported by Fossato and Canzonier (1976). Tissue
concentrations were measured in excess of 1,000 times the exposure concentration.
No accumulation of hydrocarbons was observed in the polychaete Neanthes
arenaceodentata held for 28 days in sediments contaminated with No. 2 fuel oil.
Also, l4C-2-methylnaphthalene spiked detritus was fed to the animal for 16 days
without accumulation of radioactivity in tissues (Rossi, 1977). Adetritivorousclam,
Macotna inquinata was found to take up naphthalenes from seawater but not sand
or detritus contaminated with Prudhoe Bay crude (Roesijadi et al., 1978).
Concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons that build up in tissues of organisms
during exposure to oil decrease rapidly upon return to clean seawater. The rate and
extent of depuration have been determined in a number of studies. Many of the
studies have utilized molluscs as test organisms (Lee et al., 1972). One of the most
detailed studies of accumulation and depuration has recently been described by
Clement et al. (1980). The clam Macoma balthica was found to fractionate hydro-
carbons present in a dispersion of Prudhoe Bay crude by preferential retention and
release of certain compound classes and homologs. Depuration was followed for 60
days, at which time exposed animals still contained tissue hydrocarbon concentra-
tions of about 110 ng/l (wet weight) as compared with about 14 ^g/1 for controls.
Fossato and Canzonier (1976) suggested that rapid loss of petroleum hydrocarbons
observed from some Mytilus edulis was associated with spawning. Similar rapid loss
of polychlorinated biphenyls from oysters during spawning has been proposed by
Loweetal. (1972). Rossi and Anderson exposed male and gravid female polychaetes,
Neanthes arenaceodentata, to WSF of No. 2 fuel oil for 24 hours. The animals were
then transferred to clean seawater. Male worms were found to depurate naphtha-
lenes to undetectable levels within 17 days. Gravid females showed only minor
release of naphthalenes during this period. Females analyzed within 24 hours after
spawning contained barely detectable levels of naphthalenes. Zygotes and
trochophore larvae produced by the spawn had naphthalene concentrations similar
to those of the gravid females prior to spawning (Rossi and Anderson, 1977).
Two major, highly innovative research programs to study the long-term effects of
sublethal levels of petroleum and other pollutants at the ecosystem level were de-
signed and tested in the seventies. Both of these made use of large microcosms that
would simulate a natural ecosystem.
The Controlled Ecosystem Pollution Experiment (CEPEX) was intended to simu-
late the plankton community of open ocean waters (Menzel and Case, 1977). The
CE PEX structures were flexible plastic columns enclosing about 500 m' (650yd') of
water. The CEPEX program used copper as the pollutant in most of their experi-
ments, although a few oils were tested. A major conclusion of the program was that
population structure and succession patterns of plankton are more useful as stress
measurements than metabolic ones. The CEPEX concept could be applied tostudies
of oil impacts on pelagic plankton. Such studies would have been especially useful to
test the impact of Ixtoc I oil in the vicinity of the well-head. Arnold showed that
slightly weathered Ixtoc oil was acutely toxic to the eggs and newly hatched larvae of
redfish (Arnold et al., 1979). Canadian workers have conducted long-term CEPEX
type experiments by adding petroleum to plastic cylinders in freshwater lakes (Scott
and Shindler. 1978). They reported that the bacteria populations were enhanced.
However, the zooplankton populations in the oiled ponds were drastically reduced
when the icecover.on the pond melted. The phytoplankton community structure was
changed by the oil but no clear pattern was obvious. The experiments did not include
a bent hie element.
Large microcosms established at the Marine Ecosystem Research Laboratory
(MERL) have both a pelagic (water column) and a benthic (sediment) component.
This allows studies of the transport of pollutants such as oil to the sediment and of
106
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the effects on plankton and benthic animals such as small bivalves and polychaete
worms. The MERL microcosms are fiberglass tanks 5.5 X 1.8 m( 18 X 6 ft) in diam-
eter with 40 cm (16 in) of sediment in the bottom. They have been shown to simulate
Narragansett Bay to an extent that pollution experiments are realistic when a control
tank is used (Pilson et al., 1979). Numerous experiments have been done in this
system using No. 2 fuel oil as the pollutant. It was found that added oil was 40 to 60
percent removed by evaporation, but significant quantities of both saturated and
aromatic hydrocarbons were transported to the bottom by adsorption on sinking
particles (Gearing et al,, 1979). At water column concentrations of 93 ppb total
hydrocarbon, most species of benthic animals declined relative to a control tank.
These effects were obvious for a year (Grassle et al., 1980). Microcosm experiments
are difficult because they involve large facilities and team research, but they are very
promising as a tool for evaluating the potential effects of petroleum and other toxic
substances on the marine environment.
Planned and unplanned spills of oil in salt marshes have been studied (Lytle.
1975). These opportunistic studies have not provided in-depth multidisciplinary
data. They have shown that more toxic oils such as No. 2 fuel oil can have long-term
impacts on marsh plants. Small spills of crude oil have an impact related to the
amount of oil spilled and the care exercised in the cleanup operations. The study of
the Miguasha Marsh, Quebec, following a spill of Bunker C fuel oil, showed that oil
could persist in sediment and be redistributed by tidal waters. Nevertheless, from a
revegetation point of view, manual cleanup without burning was recommended by
Vandermeulen and Ross (1977).
PETROLEUM IN THE ENVIRONMENT
During the seventies, our knowledge of the kind and concentration of petroleum in
the environment has increased enormously. There are several reasons for this. The
driving force is the increased transport and use of petroleum coupled with a propor-
tionate concern for the impact of oil on the environment. During this time enabling
developments included the rapid development of analytical instrumentation such as
gas and liquid chromatography, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry
(GC/ MS), and compact, dedicated computer-assisted data acquisition and analysis
systems. All of these developments were possible because private, state, and federal
agencies made substantial funds available. It may be argued that the limiting factor
for environmental chemistry is the number of well-trained scientists with ideas.
Programs that have undertaken to measure the baseline level of petroleum hydro-
carbons in the marine environment clearly reflect this growing analytical sophistica-
tion in the data and in the cost of obtaining the data. In 1971-1972 the U.S. Inter-
national Decade of Ocean Exploration (1DOE) carried out baseline studies of pollu-
tants including petroleum in the U.S. coastal waters. These investigations by a group
of university scientists, despite being only one year in duration, stimulated a follow-
up conference to recommend "that a continuing research program to determine
inputs, dispersal paths and present levels of ... petroleum hydrocarbons in repre-
sentative plants and animals of coastal and open ocean zones be immediately initi-
ated with the objectives of evaluating hazards to living processes and of defining
sources of these materials (International Decade of Ocean Exploration, 1972). Such
a continuing research program has in fact been operative during the decade although
it is a patchwork of various organized programs and efforts by individual scientists.
Beginning in 1974, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), initiated a com-
prehensive study of offshore regions, mostly outer continental shelf areas, of the
United States that were being considered for petroleum exploration. Measurements
of petroleum hydrocarbon baselines for water, biota, and sediment were major goals
for this program. This program involved many of the marine organic geochemists in
the United States. At this time no single document summarizes the overall results of
this program although such a document might be useful. The results where published
and appropriate are cited herein without identification of the funding source.
107
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The detection of petroleum in the environment requires the same technical opera-
tions used by organic geochemists in investigations of the chemical fate of biogenic
material in a geological setting, similar to the work of those using geochemical tech-
niques to prospect for petroleum. Thus it is not surprising that some of the first and
best studies of petroleum in the marine environment came from established geo-
chemistry laboratories. The late Max Blumer recognized the problem of oil in the
environment and applied his knowledge and experience to dealing with it. Blumer
et al. (1970) made a detailed study of the fate of 4,400 barrels of No. 2 fuel oil that was
lost in a spill in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, These workers called the attention of
the scientific community to several general points:
• Based on their composition, fuel oils are especially hazardous.
• Fuel oils can penetrate sediment and remain for months and years.
• Organisms can take up and retain aromatic hydrocarbons.
• Routine gas chromatographic methods are suitable for marine pollution events.
These observations may seem casual now but in 1969 they had an impact.
Farrington and Quinn (1973) demonstrated that low levels of petroleum hydro-
carbons are present in the sediment and clams of Narragansett Bay and that sewage
effluents and small oil spills are probably sources. Similar patterns of hydrocarbons
were reported for New York Bight sediments (Farrington and Tripp, 1977). This
suggests that in some circumstances petroleum can build up in offshore sediments.
MacLeod et al. (1976) found a gradient of petroleum hydrocarbon concentration at
two sites in the Strait of Juan de Fuca which was related to known upstream seepage.
The presence of arenes (aromatic hydrocarbons) was stated to be the strongest evi-
dence. Gearing et al. (1976) attribute the levels of hydrocarbons detected in the
northeast Gulf of Mexico sediments to natural sources except for sites located near
the Mississippi River. In general n-alkanes are not good indicator molecules for
petroleum pollution because they are also natural products. However, using the
planktonic blue-green algae, Trichodesmiuni sp. with a known simple /?-alkane
pattern. Parker et al. (1972) were able to show that massive natural blooms of the
algae had become associated witha suite of ;r-alkanes derived from petroleum (Table
3).
A 4-year comprehensive study of petroleum hydrocarbons in water, biota, and
sediment from the south Texas shelf was made by Parker, Giam, Winters, and
Scalan (Parker et al., 1976). Several hundred samples were analyzed, and, with only
a few exceptions, the levels of petroleum derived hydrocarbons were so low as to be
undetectable. Neuston and some zooplankton tows showed unresolved humps in
their GC and the presence of aromatic hydrocarbons, both of which indicate petro-
leum. This pollution is due to micro-tarballs that at times were taken near the sur-
face. The study reached its goal, which was to affirm that the baseline level was low in
u virgin area.
It is known that pelagic tar (floating tarballs) is present in tanker routes and near
harbors. Much of these data have been summarized by Butler, Morris, and Sass
(Butler et al., 1973). The biological consequence of this steady input is not known.
When the material collects heavily on beaches, it is known to be a minor economic
problem for beach users and motel operators. McAuliffe points out what must be a
general truth for petroleum pollution in many areas: 'The quantity of hydrocarbon
in the waters and recent sediments of the oceans is small compared to total additions,
indicating that destructive mechanisms are operative" (McAuliffe, I976b).
The use of bivalves as sentinel organisms for detecting levels of pollutants in U.S.
coastal waters has been the strategy of the Mussel Watch program. These animals
have been monitored for levels of four categories of marine pollutants: heavy metals.
transuranic elements, halogenated hydrocarbons, and petroleum hydrocarbons.
Beginning in 1976 a 3-year surveillance of hydrocarbon levels in mussels and oysters
(in the Gulf of Mexico) was made. Early results from the year-one and -two collec-
tions showed that low levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were
present in many samples from both coasts and that sites with elevated levels were
108
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Table 3. n-Alkanes and Isoprenoids in Trichodesmium Sp. (Percent
Composition)
Location
Carbon
Number
15
16
Pristane
17
Phytane
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
#1 #2
Off Port Off Bayou
Aransas, La Fousche,
Texas Louisiana
Tr .3
2 1.2
— Tr
95 94.1
— Tr
1 .4
.4
.2
.1
.3
.2
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
.1
Tr
Tr
—
#3
Off Freeport,
Texas
.2
.9
.9
30.5
1.4
2.2
3.2
3.8
3.9
4.2
4.7
4.3
4.9
5.6
4.7
4.6
3.8
2.6
1.6
1.8
1.9
1.8
2.8
2.4
#4
Off Houma,
Louisiana
.4
1.0
1.4
6.0
1.5
2.1
2.4
2.6
2.3
3.0
2.7
2.7
3.6
4.3
4.3
4.7
5.3
6.6
6.3
7.3
6.5
6.1
9.7
6.0
detectable (Goldberg et al., 1978). Petroleum and pyrolytic sources must both be
considered to explain the variety of compounds reported. Based on these data and
other data reported at the National Academy of Science (NAS) workshop, bivalves
are promising indicators of chemical pollution. (See Table 4.)
During the decade of the seventies, a number of planning and design meetings
were held to consider how best to study the petroleum pollution problem. Some of
these were strongly directed at sampling and ecological problems (Goldberg, 1972).
Some were directed at specific locations or areas (MacLeod et al., 1976), and some
were forerunners of massive federal programs (Parker, 1974). Analytical methods,
intercalibration needs, and data interpretation have been considered by individual
authors (Farrington et al., 1974), and groups (National Academy of Science, 1980).
The approaches used in specific laboratories have been described (Bentz, 1976). The
proceedings of the oil spill conferences sponsored by the American Petroleum Insti-
tute, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Coast Guard consti-
tute a useful collection of current research in oil pollution.
Because the pace of investigation has been intense and because the chronic and
spill-related inputs of petroleum have been so frequent and often dramatic, a great
deal has been learned about the impact of petroleum on the coastal environment
during the decade:
109
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Table 4. Concentrations of Fluoranthene and Pyrene in Mussels and
Oysters (ppm-10~* g/g Dry Weight)
East and Gulf Coast, 1976-1977
Station Ftuoranthene Pyrene
Main
Blue Hill Falls .005 .003
Cape Hewagen .084 .052
Massachusetts
Cape Ann .012 .066
Boston .240 .329
Rhode Island
Narragansett Bay .026 .025
New York
Manhasett Neck .114 .381
Herod Point .034 .021
Virginia
Cape Charles .047 .019
Lynnhaven Bay .106 .062
North Carolina
Hatteras Island .042 .023
Beaufort .169 .118
Georgia
Sapelo Island .005 .016
Savannah River .192 .157
Washington
Boundary Bay 3.35 1.54
Cape Flattery 0.34 0.45
California
N. San Francisco 0.39 0.33
San Francisco 5.72 4.13
San Pedro Harbor 5.61 4.60
Louisiana
Drum Bay 0.17 0.08
Texas
Galveston 0.94 1.01
Lavaca Bay North 0.05 0.05
Adequate information is on hand to design programs, large and small, to
measure the impact of petroleum on coastal environments.
There is an awareness that the total activities of the petroleum sector impact the
coastal environment.
Analytical chemistry techniques and expertise are at a high level so that chemi-
cal programs can be assured of reasonable success, although a need remains for
intercalibration and standard samples.
Concepts and techniques have been demonstrated for monitoring programs.
Levels of petroleum in many of the coastal areas of the United States are fairly
well known.
Biological research has shown the general picture of petroleum toxicity; future
studies may be expected to demonstrate the mechanisms for specific toxic
action of a specific molecule type on a specific organism and to model the
impact of petroleum on various ecosystems including benthic and pelagic ones.
110
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• Promising starts have been made on research that measures the impact of petro-
leum on whole ecosystems or functional parts of ecosystems.
• Protocol for state and federal responses to major oil spills are beginning to take
on a workable form.
• Management guidelines for the safe production, transport, and processing of
petroleum in the coastal environment can be derived from the scientific base
that has been established.
Given this optimistic status of knowledge about petroleum impacts, it is likely
that future research and monitoring programs will provide an excellent basis for
understanding how the flow of petroleum carbon relates to the flow of photosyn-
thetic carbon in coastal ecosystems and what is means for marine life.
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