Environmental restoration Archives

The Chesapeake Bay Is Turning Into Plastic Soup

July 22, 2015 — They’re in the oceans, in the Great Lakes, and now it turns out they’re fouling the Chesapeake Bay—microplastics, the remnants of unrecycled products that are damning the world’s water to seemingly eternal pollution.

The presence of microplastics—from broken-up containers to ingredients in bathroom products—has been established in four Bay tributaries by researchers at the University of Maryland, NOAA, and elsewhere. “Microplastics were found in all but one of 60 samples, with concentrations ranging over 3 orders of magnitude (<1.0 to >560 g/km2),” they write in Environmental Science and Technology. “Concentrations demonstrated statistically significant positive correlations with population density and proportion of urban/suburban development within watersheds.”

One can deduce that with more growth around Baltimore and Washington, D.C., we can expect to see yet more microplastics. See, and maybe eat, too, as scientists recently discovered the stuff’s being consumed by plankton and passed up the food chain. That’s bad news for marine animals, which can starve on the nutrientless substances or die of stomach obstructions, and possibly for humans, as plastics leach chemicals into fish with unknown impacts on our health. (They might also affect that treasured Chesapeake delicacy, blue crabs, as crabs both eat and breathe in microplastics.)

Read the full story at CityLab

Plan Afoot to Continue to Restore the Long Island Sound

July 11, 2015 — A broad swath of bipartisan federal lawmakers are looking to extend the federal government’s support of the restoration of the Long Island Sound.

In late June, a consortium of Connecticut and New York lawmakers introduced legislation that would extend the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act from now until 2020. If passed, it would provide a large pool of federal money to clean up the Sound.

In 1985, the EPA, in agreement with the New York and Connecticut, created the Long Island Sound Study, an office under the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) that works to restore the Sound, addressing low oxygen levels and high nitrogen levels that have depleted fish and shellfish populations and hurt wetlands.

In 1990, the Long Island Sound Improvement Act passed. providing federal money for cleanup projects, including wastewater treatment improvements.

In 2006, Congress passed the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act, which provided federal money for projects to restore coastal habitats to help revitalize wildlife populations, coastal wetlands and plant life.

Since then, for every $1 appropriated, the Long Island Sound Study has leveraged $87 from other federal, state, local and private funding sources, totaling more than $3.8 billion, enabling the program to significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen entering the Long Island Sound from sewage treatment plants by 35,000,000 pounds per year. They’ve also used the money to restore at least 1,548 acres and protect 2,580 acres of habitat land.

Read the full story at the East End Beacon

Congress probing California oil spill that blackened beaches

June 25, 2015 — LOS ANGELES (AP) — A congressional committee Thursday opened a probe into an oil pipeline rupture on the Central California coast that spread to the Pacific Ocean and washed up goo on beaches as far as 100 miles away.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee asked operator Plains All American Pipeline for detailed information on maintenance of the failed line, including how it addressed corrosion, and inspection records for five years.

The panel also wants the company to explain what it did in the hours leading up to the break near Santa Barbara, and how it reported the problem. The spill was estimated at up to 101,000 gallons.

The Texas-based company has faced criticism for how long it took to relay information to the federal government on the break, even though its internal planning documents repeatedly stress the importance of notifying the government of a leak as quickly as possible.

In a letter to Plains CEO Greg Armstrong, the committee said it wanted to understand the circumstances leading up to the break, as well as what steps the company had taken to maintain the integrity of the line.

The cause of the accident is being investigated by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Earlier this month, the agency released preliminary findings that said the break occurred along a badly corroded section that had worn away to a fraction of an inch in thickness. An estimated 21,000 gallons entered the ocean.

In a separate letter Thursday, the committee asked the pipeline administration for an update of what it called long overdue pipeline safety rules.

Read the full story at U.S. News & World Report

Lawmakers seeking $65 million to clean up Long Island Sound

June 22, 2015 — Conn. — With new legislation proposed to protect and restore the waters of the Long Island Sound, Connecticut and New York lawmakers are hoping to reverse the effects of decades of over-development and pollution.

The Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act would combine two water quality and shore restoration programs to be funded at, respectively, $40 million and $25 million per year through 2020. It was introduced by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on Monday.

Co-sponsoring the bill are Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both Connecticut Democrats, who called the Sound the “most valuable natural resource” of the region.

The Sound brings in billions yearly from sport and commercial fishing, boating, recreation and tourism.

Read the full story at CT Post