PII: S0025-326X(01)00317-4

Ban on boat sewage discharge for New York Harbor

Complex

In a move that will further improve water quality in Long

Island Sound, the US Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) has approved a New York State Department of En-

vironmental Conservation (NYSDEC) plan to prohibit boats

from discharging treated or untreated sewage into Port Jef-

ferson Harbor Complex in Suffolk County, New York. EPA

and NYSDEC have determined that there are a sufficient

number of pump-out facilities located in the area to receive

sewage from vessels. Sewage discharges from boats affect water

quality and increase levels of coliform bacteria in the waters of

Long Island embayments. The Port Harbor Complex includes

Port Jefferson Harbor, Setauket Harbor, Little Bay, the Nar-

rows and Conscience Bay.

Boat sewage contributes to the overall degradation of

marine habitats, shell fish bed closures and can even lead to

health problems for swimmers. According to the EPA the area

has plenty of pump out stations that boaters can use to dispose

of their sewage, so that there is no need to discharge sewage

into this area of the Sound.

NYSDEC petitioned EPA in November 2000 to establish

this ‘‘no discharge area.’’ Under national marine sanitation

standards, vessels operating in the bay complex are currently

prohibited from discharging untreated sewage, but are allowed

to discharge treated sewage from approved marine sanitation

devices. Now that the ‘‘no discharge area’’ is approved, the

discharge of both treated and untreated vessel sewage is pro-

hibited.

EPA and NYSDEC have previously banned the discharge

of treated boat sewage in Huntington Harbor and Lloyd

Harbor and the greater Huntington-Northport Bay Complex,

which includes Lower Huntington and Northport Bays, Cen-

terport, Northport, Duck Island Harbors and Price Bend.

PII: S0025-326X(01)00318-6

Florida Bay’s confused ecosystem history

Striking changes to plant and animal communities in Flor-

ida Bay during the last few decades are driving massive eco-

system restoration efforts both in the Bay and in the

Everglades on the assumption that the changes are man in-

duced. However, scientific study of the sediments of the bay

paints a far from clear picture. Recent evidence recovered from

the muddy bottom of Florida Bay by a team of US Geological

Survey scientists led by Lynn Brewster-Wingard indicates that

some of the changes in Florida Bay’s ecosystem are natural

and some are not. Cores show a significant increase in the last

20–40 years in numbers of a mussel, Brachidontes exustus, that

is tolerant of poor water quality and a wide range of salinities.

The same cores also show a dramatic decrease in molluscan

diversity during the last forty years. These findings indicate a

system under stress. Ancient evidence, however, suggests that a

major seagrass die-off in1987–88mayhavebeenpart of anatural

cycle. Short cores collected in Florida Bay provide evidence for

natural variability in salinity and seagrass density and abun-

dance prior to significant human activity in the region. Scien-

tists compare these data to that gathered from recent sediments

to establish the component of change that can be attributed to

human activity versus change due to natural cycles.

More recently research efforts have been directed toward

extracting data from mollusc shell growth layers that will il-

lustrate monthly, seasonal and annual changes in water

chemistry prior to alteration of the natural flow of water into

Florida Bay. Results of this work are intended to provide

target data for restoring seasonal water flow into Florida Bay.

PII: S0025-326X(01)00319-8

60 tons of marine debris removed around Hawaiian

Islands

More than 60 tons of nets and derelict gear has been re-

covered from the sea in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands by

teams of scientists and researchers. A 90-day clean-up tour

resulted from a team-up of the National Oceanic and Atmo-

spheric Administration (NOAA), the Ocean Conservancy, US

Coast Guard, Hawaii Sea Grant, US Fish and Wildlife Service

and other state and private organizations to clean up the wa-

ters around the Hawaiian Islands. Scientists estimate there are

still more than 100 tons of derelict fishing gear destroying

fragile coral reefs or threatening endangered species such as the

Hawaiian monk seal, as well as sea turtles and a variety of

seabirds and other wildlife. This is the second year of a three-

year plan to remove the backlog of debris.

Teams of NOAA divers spent many hours underwater lo-

cating, untangling, cutting and finally removing the debris.

Divers were pulled behind small boats, to locate and map

debris. Once nets were located, divers went down either snor-

kelling or on scuba, and cut away the gear, taking great care

not to harm the coral. The debris was then floated up to

smaller boats and transferred to the large vessels, where it was

separated into categories, carefully documented and weighed.

$3 million has been allocated for ocean debris removal. To

date more than 60 tons of nets and derelict gear has been re-

covered by teams of divers after seven expeditions around the

archipelago.

PII: S0025-326X(01)00320-4

US EPA gets tough on sewage discharge

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has or-

dered the city of Haverhill to revise its plan for addressing the

flow of untreated sewage into the Merrimack and Little Rivers.

The city’s wastewater treatment plant treats both sewage

and stormwater runoff. Owing to the lack of capacity, the

pipes, known as combined sewers (CSOs), are designed to

overflow after heavy rains, resulting in wastewater being dis-

charged directly into the two urban waterways. The overflows

from these pipes result in about 69 million gallons of waste-

water being discharged annually into the rivers. According to

the order issued by EPA New England, Haverhill failed to

indicate it has seven CSOs, in addition to the 16 mentioned in a

September 2000 report on its long-term plans for addressing

CSO discharges.

5News / Marine Pollution Bulletin 44 (2002) 3–6