Atlantic CoastWatch MARCH - APRIL 2001

Threats From Undersea Cables and Pipes

News For Coastal Advocates
Connecticut rejected a proposal from TransEnergie, a subsidiary of Hydro
Quebec, to drop a 330-megawatt power line across Long Island Sound from New
Haven to Shoreham, Long Island and supply pressing energy needs there. Con-
necticut officials sided with environmentalists in considering the request. The
state’s regulatory Siting Council reasoned 7-1 that with four new plants coming on-
z
line Connecticut’s power requirements will be met from other sources, and that the
cost of damage to fragile shellfish beds would be far greater than the benefit of
limited energy supplies the state might gain from the project. TransEnergie is Undersea Cables & Pipes 1
confident it will get its cable to Long Island and has resubmitted an application to
bury it in the part of New Haven Harbor that is a federal channel.
Military vs. Environment 1
In Florida Governor Jeb Bush recently considered a proposal for a fiber
optic cable to stretch 90 miles across the Gulf Stream, atop coral reefs, sea grass Sayings 2
and habitat in between, from Sunny Isles, Florida to the Bahamas. Citing a NOAA
study, Com-Tech International Cable argued that little damage will occur and
Salmon Woes 3
that necessary measures to mitigate impacts have been incorporated. Damage to
coral reefs from cables has been well documented by the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection. Specifics about the cable’s path, and the miles of Publications 4
reefs, sea grass and other habitats impacted, or the possibly blocking of migration
by crustaceans, are not publicly known. Notwithstanding, Governor Bush decided Lawn Alternatives 4
that no ruling leading to an environmental impact assessment is necessary.
(Continued, p. 7)
Marine Reserves 5

Military/Environment Clashes Continue Sound Successes 5

Recent events have highlighted concerns both by military leaders and Upcoming Events 8
environmentalists about the effects of military live fire training on the environment
and the health of nearby residents, and on the impact of environmental restrictions
on military readiness. The possible effects of large, sophisticated military radar and
sonar systems on the health of human beings and aquatic animals are also under z
new scrutiny.

In testimony before a US Senate committee, US Army Major General R. Recurring:

L. Van Antwerp highlighted the steps the Army is taking to protect the environ-
ment and clean up pollution. He also expressed concern that environmental
regulation restricting live fire training at the Massachusetts Military Reservation People; Awards; Species &
(MMR) may diminish readiness and threaten increased casualties in the event of Habitats; Report Cards; Funding;
warfare. His subsequently amended call for local communities to support military Products; Job Openings
activities “including those that affect public health and environment” set off signal
flares in the environmental community and with Senators and Representatives from
Massachusetts. Atlantic CoastWatch is a bimonthly
nonprofit newsletter for those
At the MMR the Air Force, at the vigorous urging of Senator Edward interested in the environmentally
Kennedy, has agreed to work with the National Research Council (NRC) to sound development of the coastline
study health effects of its long-range PAVE PAWS radar at Sagamore. Federal and from the Gulf of Maine to the
state health officials have reported an increased incidence of certain cancers on the Eastern Caribbean. Available at
Upper Cape, although the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, in www.atlanticcoastwatch.org
(Continued, p. 7)

Atlantic CoastWatch
Vol. 5, No. 2
A project of the Sustainable
Development Institute, which seeks
to heighten the environmental quality
of economic development efforts, in
coastal and in forest regions, by
communicating information about
better policies and practices. SDI is
classified as a 501(c)(3) organization,
exempt from federal income tax.
Board of Directors
Robert J. Geniesse, Chairman
Roger D. Stone, President
Hart Fessenden, Treasurer
Hassanali Mehran, Secretary
Edith A. Cecil
David P. Hunt
Freeborn G. Jewett, Jr.
Gay P. Lord
Advisers
William H. Draper III
Joan Martin-Brown
Scientific Advisory Council
Gary Hartshorn
Stephen P. Leatherman
Jerry R. Schubel
Christopher Uhl
Staff
Roger D. Stone, Director & President
Shaw Thacher, Project Manager
Robert C. Nicholas III, Contr. Editor
Laura W. Roper, Correspondent
Linda Rodrigues, Assistant
2001 Major Donors
The Fair Play Foundation
The Curtis and Edith Munson
Foundation
Sponsored Projects
Trees for DC
Environmental Film Festival in the
Nation’s Capital
New to Our Website:
Coastal Connections: 980 links and
bookmarks to further information
about our shoreline.
2
Sayings
“I was taken aback somewhat by Energy Secretary Abraham’s assess-
ment of the current energy situation (Bangor Daily News, March 20). He said,
‘There’s no magic source of supply, no hidden pool of energy that can be turned on
and off like a faucet.’ I’m not sure I would use that analogy even talking to a small
child. As we speak, off the west coast of Scotland, a small island called Islay is
capturing tidal power in the form of a turbine fired [Wavegen] generator. This
generator currently produces 500 kilowatts, enough power for 300 homes. Imagine
this scale magnified off the coast of Maine. But this is only a start. Other alterna-
tives include solar, hydrogen, wind and benzene gas from coal, to name a few. The
stakes are high, our earth is in balance. Before we deplete our resources, let’s find
new ones and lead the world responsibly.”
Jeff Hagelin, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
(Wavegen URL: www.wavegen.com)
(A report entitled Licensed to Kill: How the Nuclear Power Industry De-
stroys Endangered Marine Wildlife and Ocean Habitat to Save Money, offers vivid
evidence of the likelihood of injury to marine animals transiting through the St.
Lucie intake pipe operated by Florida Power & Light (FPL). It describes the
harrowing 1989 experience of Vero Beach scuba diver Bill Lamm).
While spear fishing underwater near the intake structure, located approxi-
mately 1,600 feet out into the Atlantic Ocean, Lamm was abruptly sucked into the
intake pipe on a ride so terrifying that he considered suicide before emerging inside
plant boundaries in the intake canal. “I thought if I just took the regulator out of my
mouth I could die fast,” Lamm told reporters after the event. Lamm described being
propelled in extreme turbulence and complete darkness. “When you first go in
you’re just bouncing around, you’re bouncing all over the place, you’re hitting all
the walls just tumbling around.” After being bumped and bashed against the
barnacle-encrusted pipe, Lamm’s wet suit was shredded and his steel scuba tanks
deeply gored. “It just looked like somebody took a knife and just started slicing all
over the place,” he said.
Lamm’s life was saved by his breathing apparatus and his ability to
overcome an initial sense of panic. “They were surprised I survived,” Lamm said of
the FPL officials he sought out after his ordeal. Number one, the amount of water
going through that pipe is just horrendous. It’s a lot of water.” Lamm knows he is
one of the fortunate ones. “I feel really sorry for the animals that have to go
through that,” he said. “I’m told quite a few do go through there. I know all of them
don’t make it. It’d be impossible for all of them to make it. I wouldn’t want to do it
again. Once is enough.” URL: www.safeenergy.org
Linda Gunter, Safe Energy Communication Council
Paul Gunter, Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Scott Cullen, Standing for the Truth About Radiation
Nancy Burton, Esquire
With Appreciation
Our warmest thanks to the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation,
which for a fourth year has made a major and most timely grant to Atlantic
CoastWatch. We also extend our great appreciation to these other donors who,
early in 2001, have kindly stepped forward:
Blair Bower Peter C. Greisinger
David J. Callard Sarah C. Haywood
Connecticut Conservation Association Martha E. McMillan
Joseph F. Cullman 3rd The Moore Charitable Foundation
Clean Ocean Action Laura W. Roper
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Draper III R. Brooke and Shirley C. Thomas
Hart Fessenden Russell E. Train
Nelse L. Greenway William W. Warner
 3
People
Salmon Aquaculture Woes Donella (Dana) Meadows, rappor-
teur, author, scholar, teacher, advo-
An overdue report that 170,000 salmon escaped their Machias Bay, Maine cate, environmentalist, and doyenne
pens during a winter storm last December finally came to light in February. With of sustainable development died on
this great escape, Andrew Goode of the Atlantic Salmon Federation reports, February 21 of bacterial meningitis.
“the number of aquaculture escapees this fall is 1,000 times the number of docu- She was 60. Many of her writings,
mented wild adults.” Multi-year Norwegian studies confirm that farmed salmon including transcripts of her widely
easily displace, behaviorally and genetically, the wild Atlantic salmon whose tiny circulated weekly column,The Global
populations in Maine rivers are now protected under the Endangered Species Act. Citizen, may be found on her
organization’s website,
Also new is the first reported US case of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) in www.sustainer.org
north Maine’s Cobscook Bay. ISA’s arrival is not unexpected and has been feared:
Canadian facilities have been ravaged. New Brunswick lost one third of its salmon Ian McHarg, the famously irascible
in 1999, at a cost of $20-40 million. Like a marine “foot and mouth” disease, there is University of Pennsylvania
no treatment for this flu-like wasting disease easily passed and carried by wild fish landscape architecture professor who
such as trout, haddock and eel. taught several generations to “Design
with Nature,” making heavy use of
Adding further to the woes are recent reports concerning aquaculture feed. sociological and ecological map data,
A BBC report highlights two independent studies by the Suzuki Foundation and died March 5. Among many well-
the EPA of a 10 fold higher level of PCBs detected in farmed salmon than in wild. known McHarg alumni is Niall
Said Michael Easton of the Suzuki Foundation, “The results were very, very clear. Kirkwood, director of Harvard’s
Farmed fish and the feed that they were fed appeared to have a much higher level of Center for Technology and Design. As
contamination with respect to PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and polybrominated a 32 year-old architect practicing in
diphenyl ethers than did wild fish.” Contaminant levels were below British safety England, he read McHarg’s book, sold
standards, which operate at a lower level than other European countries. Still, everything he owned, and “left London
Britain’s Food Standard Agency recommends one portion of farmed salmon per to study under Ian.”
week, for adults. About half the salmon Americans eat is farmed.
Replacing former New Jersey Gover-
And in Scotland, calicide, one of four key pesticides approved there for nor Christine Whitman, former
treating sea lice on farmed salmon, was found lethal for juvenile lobster, potentially Clinton Chief of Staff Leon Panetta
toxic for shellfish and maybe more broadly threatening to local ecosystems has taken over the reins as Pew
through its absorption by zooplankton. The salmon absorb just 5% of calicide Oceans Commission chairman. He
coated feed with the rest excreted. A report by the Scottish Water Research promises that “Our goal over the
Center found sediment concentration of calicide peaked a year after treatment, coming months is to hear directly
and still lingered two years later. from the public and the scientific
community on ways to improve ocean
Some citizens say they have had it. In January, in the Nova Scotian town management.” URL:
of North West Cove, townspeople put up a sign opposing a proposed steelhead www.pewmarine.org
aquaculture facility. It read, “Politicians and bureaucrats cannot make decisions for
communities as effectively as the people who live in them.” According to Lance The Consortium for Oceano-
Miller, a third generation resident whose family runs a fisheries company, “We graphic Research and Education
understand there are two sides to this issue and that the proponent feels the need has new executives. Retired Vice
to expand his business by establishing a very large operation in our cove. But he Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher,
doesn’t live here. And yet more than 90% of the residents don’t want this fish farm Jr., of the US Navy has been named
to go ahead…. We are worried that food and feces from the caged fish will harm president. Penny Dalton, former
the ocean floor by destroying vegetation that is essential for providing food and assistant administrator for fisheries,
cover for lobster. We also believe that the water quality would deteriorate, posing a NOAA, is the new vice president and
threat to all the fishing activities.” technical director. URL:
www.core.cast.msstate.edu
In Maine, help for the fledgling $65 million salmon farming industry, with
45 aquaculture sites, may have arrived with a $25 million USDA research grant to Awards
the University of Maine. But in the opinion of many, research alone will not solve
the problems of an industry that is widely said to need better management and NOAA has named policy analyst Amy
governance as well as better science. One solution broadly heralded in British Mathews-Amos, vice president of
Columbia is a land-based salmon farm that Agrimarine Processing is building. Marine Conservation Biology
Says Laurie MacBride, executive director of the Georgia Strait Alliance, “This Institute and head of its office in
is a huge step forward for the marine environment. By moving salmon farming to Washington, DC, as an “Environmen-
land-based tanks there should be zero impacts on wild salmon, zero escaped tal Hero.” She was cited for her
farmed salmon and an end to the widespread killing of seals and sea lions.” GSA “outstanding contributions” to
and the Suzuki Foundation are campaigning to have all British Columbia net-pens research shaping the National
as land-based farms by 2005. URLs: www.davidsuzuki.org; www.asf.org Marine Sanctuaries Program.

Former Maryland Governor Harry
Hughes, longtime champion of the
Chesapeake Bay, received the Chesa-
peake Bay Foundation’s lifetime
achievement award. Said CBF Presi-
dent William Baker, “Many of his
programs are global models for
watershed preservation.” Other 2001
CBF recipients: for coordinating the
Susquehanna’s fish and habitat
restoration, US Fish & Wildlife
Service’s Richard St. Pierre was
honored as Conservationist of the
Year. For engaging urban and inner-
city students hands-on with the Bay’s
ecology over a 25 year period and
through the “Chesapeake Choices and
Challenges” curriculum, Baltimore
City public school supervisor Andrea
Bowden received the Environmental
Educator of the Year award. URL:
www.cbf.org
Of ten 2001 Pew Marine Conserva-
tion fellows, three are embarked on
projects affecting the Atlantic coastal
zone. Professor Anthony Charles of
St. Mary’s University, Canada,
works on native and community
sustainability issues in relation to
small-scale fisheries. For grouper
studies and her work on marine
protected areas, Felicia Coleman of
Florida State University was
recognized. Jessica Landman, Pew
publications director, received a
fellowship for her Florida based
advocacy against toxic discharge.
URL: www.pewmarine.org
Species & Habitats
In Maine and Florida, officials recently
brought negotiations for Rhode Island
sized development easements to
successful conclusions. In Maine
development rights for 762,192 acres
were purchased from Pingree
Associates for $28 million raised by
the New England Forestry Founda-
tion. Included are 2,000 miles of
stream and river frontage, over 110
lakes, 24,800 acres of deer yards and
72,000 acres of wetlands habitat.The
Pingree family owned and logged the
land for seven generations. But under
the pressure of revaluation based on
potential development in northern and
western Maine, they needed relief
from potentially devastating estate
taxes. Nor did they want to see the
site Disney-fied. The company will
continue to harvest trees on the tract.
4
Publications
z Recently issued is an authoritative and carefully scathing NOAA prediction
for the west Atlantic seaboard as a consequence of sea level rise and climate
change. Over the next 30 to 100 years, the study forecasts, many coastal wetlands
and barrier islands will be lost, changing freshwater supplies to estuaries will alter
plant and animal life, and patterns of coral reef decay will accelerate. The report also
warns of further effects on people, culture and infrastructure. These pronounce-
ments result from two years of study by NOAA’s Coastal Ocean Program, which
completed Coasts: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change as
the 16th Chapter of the National Assessment by the US Climate Change Research
Program. A silver lining, found in the Assessment’s chapter: Conclusions and
Pathways: US agriculture and forestry sectors could benefit from global warming.
URL: www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/library/nationalassessment/
z If concern for such matters as auto emissions standards and energy
efficiency ranks low on the current federal agenda, some citizens still care. One
piece of evidence is the sprightly new Green Book: The Environmental Guide to
Cars & Trucks, Model Year 2001, by John DeCicco and James Kleisch. Published
by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the 139-page
paperback rates vehicles across the spectrum from the “greenest” (the Honda
Insight was the top-scoring gasoline-powered car) to the “meanest” (some models
of the GMC Yukon). URL: www.greenercars.com
z In Blue Frontier: Saving America’s Living Seas (W.H. Freeman, 2001) David
Helvarg takes on the overwhelming task of touring the history of America’s
oceanography, research and policy and a plethora of coastal issues. Despite the
challenge of such a broad swath, what results is an excellent read and a rewarding
briefing on the state of the coasts, and how inherently contradictory policies and
interests attempt to grapple with underlying issues. Atlantic CoastWatch readers
will find familiar ground, as well as a nice depth of background and historical
materials that may fill in gaps as well.
z As the foremost authority on five shark attacks that occurred over a 12 day
period in 1916, Richard G. Fernicola, M.D. presents his investigation as to the
type of shark that would have entered Mattawan Bay, New Jersey, and why, with
clinical detail. Drawing from a broad record of shark attacks, the forensic journey
of Twelve Days of Terror (Lyons Press, 2001) highlights both the under-appreciated
proximity between these fearsome predators and coastal populations as well as the
circumstances that may have lead to attacks. Not for the squeamish, Twelve Days
journeys to and examines specific times, places and their consequences.
A Natural Alternative to Lawn Wars
According to the Professional Lawn Care Association, America spent
a record $17.4 billion in 1999 on outdoor improvement, potentially increasing home
values between 5-15%. More than 26 million homeowners hired landscape profes-
sionals, a 23% increase from the previous year. At the same time, reports the
Windstar Wildlife Institute, the quest for the perfect expanse of a homogenous
well-tamed lawn has come under question by baby boomers tired of the endless
application of fertilizer and pesticides as well as equipment and gasoline.
Moreover, adds the institute, this “natural approach” trend has all ages
electing for smaller lawns that with native trees, shrubs and bushes attract and
support wildlife in “residential” sanctuaries. Feeding the movement’s interest is a
growing number of guides and on-line information including Windstar’s internet
course that offers certification as a “Wildlife Habitat Naturalist,” the instructive
(Continued, p. 6)
 5
In Florida, through the purchase of
57,379 acres in Pinhook Swamp from
Rayonier, one of the largest eastern
Marine Reserves Work, Many Say wildlife corridors was established
between the 158,225 acres of Florida’s
Compelling scientific evidence shows that marine reserves conserve both Osceola National Forest and 438,000
biodiversity and fisheries, and could help replenish the seas, according to a acres of Georgia’s Okeefenokee
statement signed by 150 of the world’s leading marine scientists. It was released at National Wildlife Refuge. Within the
the San Francisco meeting of the American Association for the Advancement borders are wetlands and pine
of Science by its past president, Jane Lubchenco. Said Steven Palumbi of flatlands replete with Florida black
Harvard University: “Overfishing, pushed by a hungry world’s demand for bears, sandhill cranes, bobcats and
seafood has moved species of fish toward extinction and permanent marine parks red-cockaded woodpeckers. Pinhook
may be the only answer to save them.” Lubchenco agreed, saying, “It is no longer a Swamp also serves as a key recharge
question of whether to set aside fully protected areas of the ocean, but where to area for groundwater serving Jackson-
establish them.” ville and northeast Florida.

The study found that marine reserves produce long-lasting and often quick The New Jersey government has
increases of marine organisms and reduce probabilities of extinction. Species rejected a proposal from the Mills
moving through tides and currents also helped replenish the ocean beyond the Corporation to convert 206 acres of
protected areas. Networks of fully protected marine reserves were much more New Jersey’s Meadowlands, also
likely to achieve the full array of benefits. “Conservationists can be reassured that called America’s Urban Everglades,
marine reserves are protecting biodiversity, and while fishermen may lose access into the state’s newest and largest
in some areas, they will reap the benefits outside the reserves,” said Lubchenco. mall. Andy Willner, NY/NJ
“The overall lesson is that all stakeholders can be served by well designed net- Baykeeper, called the decision “a
works of marine reserves.” Establishing less tightly regulated marine protected courageous first step. The next step is
areas (MPAs) can, the scientists say, also be highly beneficial. to declare the Hackensack Meadow-
lands a protected wildlife preserve.”
In March of this year the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Com- Nearby, Fresh Kills landfill on Staten
mission voted unanimously to establish a fully protected zone in the Florida Keys Island recently received the last haul
Tortugas region. Part of the Tortugas reserve went into effect in early March. The of New York City trash after 50 years of
remaining sections must be approved by Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida dumping. Originally a marshland,
cabinet and by Interior Secretary Gale Norton. “There is such a remarkable named by Dutch settlers as “fresh
groundswell of support for this plan, we’re confident that it will win approval.” said streams,” Fresh Kills and the Great
Debbie Harrison, World Wildlife Fund’s Florida Keys field director. Wall of China are the only man-made
objects that can be seen from space.
In the Gulf of Maine, supporters of an MPA plan see it as complementing
other management tools already in place such as closing areas to replenish fish The Cape May strain of dune grass,
stocks. Recent initiatives include a report by the Conservation Law Foundation extensively planted over the last 30
calling for a network of MPAs or reserves, and a proposal to create an ocean years to inhibit erosion, is dying off
wilderness area 20 miles wide along the international border between Canada and from Maine to the Carolinas. One
the US. According to the Gulf of Maine Times, at a workshop last year, a group of hypothesis is that the extensive
21 scientists released a map of marine areas in New England recommended for drought through the late 1990s
protection. Another major boost came last May when then President Clinton weakened the dune grass, and now it
signed an executive order to establish a national system of MPAs. Bradley W. is being ravaged by disease. Kristen
Barr, a senior policy analyst at NOAA and the former director of the Stellwagen Whiting-Grant, at University of
Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts, says the executive order “is Maine Sea Grant, is tracking the
forcing agencies to work together.” phenomenon and would welcome
information from other states. E-mail
Fishermen remain wary of any restrictions. It is not clear where politicians kristen.whiting-grant@maine.edu.
stand. One indication came from Senator James Hansen (R-Utah), chair of the
Senate Resources Committee. He questioned whether there was scientific evi- Bald eagles within the Chesapeake
dence of benefits from establishing MPAs in the Gulf of Maine. Bay watershed have increased 10%
from last year - to 533 active nests and
Beginning in the 1960s New Zealand took action to establish what has 813 eaglets. For the first time in 60
become a successful network of marine reserves. New Zealander William years, the District of Columbia now
Ballentine has established 16 marine reserves to date. He described his experi- hosts a nest. Said Chesapeake Bay
ence as, “a long, hard slog. Thirty five years after we started talking about marine Program official Frank Dawson:
reserves, 25 years after the first one was established, 13 years after a government “Improvements in overall water
department to look after them was created, we finally have reached the point where quality and targeted bald eagle
the politicians think it is a good idea and compete for the credit.” He has visited the restoration efforts undertaken over
Gulf of Maine. He says, “It should have a system of marine reserves today. It the past two decades have brought
probably will one day.” At 63, he is not confident of seeing it in his lifetime. the species from the edge of extinc-
URL: www.nceas.ucsb.edu tion to a viable population.”

Report Cards
After reviewing EPA data from late
2000, NJPIRG Law and Policy
Center found New Jersey has the
nation’s most polluted and toxic
watersheds. According to the Water-
shed Health Report Card: 42.9% of NJ
watersheds had the worst possible
EPA score; 92.9% were highly vulner-
able to future degradation; and
between 1997-1999 ecological health
scores declined in 57.1% of NJ
watersheds, while 14.3% improved.
Said David Pringle of NJ Environ-
mental Federation: “It is time to
stop beating around the bush, clean
up our waterways and start protecting
people the way state rules say we
protect trout.” URL: www.njpirg.org;
www.cleanwateraction.org/njef
The Charles River Basin, an eight mile
section of Boston’s famed Charles
River ending just below the Museum
of Science, has toxic sediments five
feet deep. According to two USGS
reports, the accumulation reflects 150
years of urban industry. Though a
decade of effort has raised the
Charles’ water quality grade from a D
to a B, it is far from fishable and
swimmable, a state and federal goal
by 2005. Hydrologist Robert Breault,
senior author of both USGS reports,
identified key factors: “It is partly the
result of the basin’s relatively low
water flow, especially in the summer,
a lack of natural flushing that once
occurred from the normal tide cycle,
or a lack of uncontaminated sediment
from upstream that can help dilute
these sediments.”
Green Scissors: Cutting Wasteful and
Environmentally Harmful Spending
was issued by Friends of the Earth,
Taxpayers for Common Sense and
US PIRG. Highlighted are three
Atlantic related snafus: The Delaware
River deepening project by the Army
Corps of Engineers ($224 million),
South Carolina’s Calhoun/Clarendon
causeway ($75 million); and beach
nourishment (no reliable estimate).
URL: www.greenscissors.org
Funding
For 2001, the National Marine
Fisheries Service has allocated $8
million for new partnerships under its
Community Based Restoration
6
Upbeat Signals From Long Island Sound
If current plans for Long Island Sound build on improvements from the last
decade, count on a more prosperous and renewed future there.
Evidence of positive trends comes from the Sound Health 2001, a report
from EPA’s Long Island office. It shows a 19% decrease in nitrogen releases
between 1990 and 2000, and toxic emissions from sewage treatment plants down
75% in Connecticut and eliminated from New York municipal plants. Industries
within the watershed, which extends to the northern ends of Vermont and New
Hampshire, have reduced toxic chemical releases from around 50 million pounds in
1988 to less than 10 million in 1998.
The reaction to such successes is a rebounding ecology. Only in Long
Island’s Port Jefferson Harbor was an increase in the concentration of contami-
nants in mussels recorded, an indication of the improving quality of the Sound’s
water and sediments. Nonetheless, for persistent organic pollutants, such as PCBs,
fish consumption advisories hold fast for the Sound’s striped bass, blue fish, eels
and the green meat of lobster, particularly for infants and children.
Restoration and renewal is the focus of Listen to the Sound 2000 Citizen’s
Agenda, widely endorsed during a year-long process that incorporated over 1,500
testimonials at 500 citizen meetings, and by the governors of Connecticut and New
York, state legislators, congressmen and senators. The resulting agenda sponsored
and delivered by the National Audubon Society, Long Island Watershed
Alliance and the Regional Planning Association, is an ambitious proposal to
create the Long Island Sound Reserve Program. It calls for the protection of 195 key
sites, restoration of degraded habitat, improved stewardship of private and public
lands, and improved public access to the Sound’s natural resources and reserve
land. Particular attention is given to minimizing negative ecological impacts while
protecting the rights of landowners.
Following the release of these publications, the EPA granted federal
approval for state endorsed recommendations for setting a total maximum daily
load goal of reducing nitrogen releases from point and non-point sources 58.5% by
2014. Responsibility for implementation now shifts to local jurisdictions.
URL: www.epa.gov/region01/eco/lis/; http://www.audubon.org/chapter/ny/ny/lis.html
Lawn Alternatives, Continued from p. 4
Better Backyards from the National Audubon Society with its ten general
commandments, or region specific guides such as Bayscapes Homeowner’s Guide
to Designing Your Property from the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Friends
of Casco Bay‘s voluntary designation program, Casco BayScaping, encourages
integrated pest management and native shrubs. It also monitors freshwater runoff
near intensively managed residences for three common lawn care herbicides, two
insecticides, and nutrients.
The positive effects of this trend correspond nicely with a report funded by
the National Science Foundation entitled Control of Nitrogen Export from
Watersheds by Headwater Streams. It stresses the importance of small streams to
ecosystem health. More than a dozen institutions nation-wide found that healthy
streams in pristine areas remove up to 50% of the inorganic nitrogen load adversely
affecting many rivers, bays, and estuaries. This key finding has significant implica-
tions for land use policies and watershed-based management approaches. With
this first and largest stream dataset in place, researchers now propose new studies
on the role of “healthy” streams in agricultural and urban areas. URL:
www.plcaa.org; www.windstar.org; www.audubon.org; www.acb-online.org.
 7
Program. This represents a $6 million
increase over the 2000 budget
dedicated to restoring marine, coastal
Cables and Pipes, Continued from p. 1 and freshwater habitats that benefit
marine resources. URL:
In the wake of this application will likely come another sponsored by www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restora-
Enron for authorization to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline between Fort tion
Lauderdale and the Bahamas. This will be similar to one recently supported by
Florida’s Board of Trustees, chaired by state Secretary of State Katherine In the spirit of a great scientist and
Harris, for a 325 mile LNG pipeline spanning the Gulf of Mexico from Alabama to policy maker, the Dr. Nancy Foster
Florida that the US Fish & Wildlife Service had previously vigorously opposed. Scholarship Program was established
The application calls for a 270-300 foot corridor across the seafloor. Beyond by NOAA to support outstanding
ecological considerations, the natural gas proposals also call public safety into graduate research, especially by
question. Recently a tugboat skewered a Biscayne Bay sewer line that spewed 12 women and minorities. Priority areas
million gallons of human waste. Natural gas is explosive and lethal to all breathing include oceanography, marine biology
things. and archaeology. Funding for the
program will be equal to 1% of the
The Wall Street Journal reports that a federal interagency task force on the appropriations for the National Marine
“energy crisis” is putting together policies to speed natural gas to the marketplace Sanctuaries Act. URL:
by streamlining approval of pipeline projects. Also under consideration is extend- fosterscholars.noaa.gov
ing the federal government’s right of eminent domain, which it already has for
pipelines, to the acquisition of land for electricity transmission systems. Products

By “tanning bacteria to death” two

Military vs. Environment, Continued from p. 1 researchers at Old Dominion
University have developed an
ultraviolet technique that kills disease-
1995, found that the geographic distribution of cancer did not link higher rates with causing bacteria and other microor-
living near the base. A panel of federal, state, and local health officials is now ganisms carried by ballast water.
trying to determine the extent and scope of useful further health studies. Developed by Mounir Laroussi and
Fred Dobbs, the device uses 300
The dispute over Navy bombing at the Puerto Rican island of Vieques watts and each lamp costs about
(Atlantic CoastWatch, January-February 2000) rages on. Recently, after meeting $7,000. In development are prototypes
with the antagonistic Sila Calderon, Puerto Rico’s new governor, Defense to deal with the large volumes of
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld decided to call off training by the USS Enterprise water associated with ship ballast.
battle group. Later the Navy announced that war games would soon resume. URL: www.arc.odu.edu
Calderon vowed to keep on fighting.
Eelgrass restoration project managers
Opponents of Navy bombing cite evidence of potentially carcinogenic take heed. By this summer research-
materials which may be carried by dust off the range area, an apparently higher ers at the University of Rhode
incidence of cancer on Vieques, and a recent discovery of vibroacoustic disease (a Island should be able to confirm
thickening of the sac surrounding the heart) in 49 of 50 volunteers tested. The Navy successful test-tank results for
argues that there is no clear evidence of higher cancer rates on the island. planting seedlings (rather than adult-
shoot transplantation) using a boat
The Associated Press reports that Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) pulled sled that lays about 2,000
has written to Rumsfeld about an overture by Prime Minister Danzel Douglas of plants per acre into sediment, with
the Caribbean nation St. Kitts and Nevis with regard to a substantially increased greater than 50% survival rate. URL:
U.S. military presence there. Weldon noted that this might provide “a resolution to ciceet.unh.edu/
our impending training crisis due to the probable future loss of Vieques.”
Brownfield sites in NJ got a shot in
The Navy is being sued by environmentalists to prevent the deployment of the arm with the approval of hydrogen
a new, loud low frequency sonar apparatus called the Surveillance Towed Array release compound developed by
Sensor System. Its sound waves carry so far through the water that, environmen- Regenesis Bioremediation Prod-
talists fear, they could harm whales and dolphins hundreds of miles away. Fisher- ucts. Tested by the US Army at Fort
ies officials say that the system has that potential but that the Navy has taken steps Monmouth, the syrup textured
to minimize the impact. One such is the use of lookout and sonar to detect nearby compound accelerates the natural
concentrations of marine animals. The new equipment, moreover, will not operate breakdown of hydrogen molecules by
in three areas where marine animals congregate to feed, migrate, breed and calve. microorganisms 10 to 1000 times. The
cost-effective methodology is to drill,
In Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore listed 160,000 acres of land on military pump, pour and wait, as opposed to
reservations as protected land under a recent tri-state agreement to preserve excavating and treating the toxic laden
acreage in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. soil. URL: www.regenesis.com
URL: www.capecodonline.com

Tax-deductible contributions to the Sustainable Development Institute,
earmarked for Atlantic CoastWatch, are urgently needed.
Job Openings
The Association for
Biodiversity Information in
Arlington, VA is looking for a
senior coastal/marine ecologist.
URL: www.abi.org.
The Coral Reef Alliance needs
a program director. Fax: (510)
848-3720 or Email:
jobs@coral.org. URL:
www.coralreefalliance.org
Director of conservation needed
for the Earthwatch Institute.
URL: www.earthwatch.org
The Smart Growth Network
requires a program director for
Miami-Dade County, FL. URL:
www.smartgrowth.org
Environmental Defense in
Washington, DC seeks a green
vehicle marketing manager and
a legislative assistant. URL:
www.environmentaldefense.org.
Alliance for a Living Ocean
needs an executive director. Fax:
(609) 492-6216.
1000 Friends of Florida is
looking for a development
program director. Write: PO BOX
5948,Tallahassee, FL 32314.
Atlantic CoastWatch
Sustainable Development Institute
3121 South St., NW
Washington, D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 338-1017
Fax: (202) 337-9639
E-mail: susdev@igc.org
URL: www.susdev.org
www.atlanticcoastwatch.org
Upcoming Events
April 23-26. 2001 Florida Bay Science Conference. Key Largo, FL.
E-mail bamt@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu.
May 7-8. Annual National Forum on Contaminants in Fish in Chicago, Illinois. URL:
www.fishrisk.com.
May 13-15. Ecology Action Center Workshop: “Marine Biological Invasions: A per-
spective on Atlantic Canada & New England” at the University of Kings College
in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. E-mail g.lara@eudoramail.com.
May 13-16. Joint Conference on “Partnerships” for Coastal Preservation held by the
American Shore & Beach Preservation Association and the American Coastal
Coalition. Washington, DC. URL: www.coastalcoalition.org.
May 20-23. National Watershed Conference: Small Watershed Programs. Rich-
mond, VA. E-mail: jwpeterson@erols.com.
May 21-23. Shad 2001: Conference on the Status and Conservation of Shads
Worldwide, sponsored by the Hudson River Foundation and the National Aquarium,
Baltimore, MD. Contact John Waldman at (212) 924-8290 or Karin Limburg at (315) 470-6741.
May 27 - June 1. 22nd Annual Meeting of The Society of Wetland Scientists will
be held in Chicago, Illinois. URL: www.sws.org.
June 17-24. The Third International Convention on Environment and Develop-
ment, Havana. “Sustainable Development: Fact or Dream, TenYears After the Rio Summit.”
URL:www.cubaciencia.cu/hosting/3ra_conv/index.htm.
June 24-28. Air & Waste Management Association Annual Conference. 2001: An
Environmental Odyssey. Orlando, FL. URL: www.awma.org/ace2001/reg/default.asp.
June 27 - July 1. First National Watershed Forum in Arlington, VA. E-mail
ssuriani@merid.org.
July 15-19. Coastal Zone ?01 Conference: “Hands Across the Water.” Cleveland,
OH. URL: www.csc.noaa.gov/cz2001/registration.pdf.