Practical Handbook of Estuarine and Marine Pollution

Michael J. Kennish

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780849384240
• eBook ISBN: 9781351422833
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Biología

This extensive handbook presents up-to-date coverage of significant developments in estuarine and marine pollution. Multidisciplinary in approach, Practical Handbook of Estuarine and Marine Pollution is an essential resource for anyone involved in the study or management of coastal and marine pollution problems. The book examines in detail anthropogenic effects on estuarine and marine ecosystems from local, regional, and global perspectives. A truly international collection of data is presented in an organized framework on a wide range of subject areas, including eutrophication, organic loading, oil pollution, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, halogenated hydrocarbons, trace metals, radioactive waste, dredging and dredged-spoil disposal, and effects of electric generating stations. Whether you are a student, a scientist, a policy maker, or an administrator, you no longer need to spend countless hours rounding up information and data - Practical Handbook of Estuarine and Marine Pollution has already done it for you.

1	Introduction

MARINE POLLUTION DEFINED

The world’s estuaries and oceans are the ultimate repository for a vast array of substances discharged deliberately or accidentally via human activities. The immediate and most acute impacts of these activities occur in the coastal zone where population growth has increased dramatically over the years. Concomitant with this growth have been conspicuous changes at the land-sea interface associated with construction of industrial installations, maintenance of harbors and other waterways, domestic development of the coastline, demands of tourism, and other uses of coastal space. While the coastal zone is clearly at greatest risk from various anthropogenic impacts, the open ocean is also not immune to pollution. For example, the input of toxic chemicals from atmospheric transport and deposition, as well as from shipping operations beyond the continental shelf, can adversely affect open ocean waters. Contaminant inputs from atmospheric fallout alone can be delineated in all components of the marine environment — seawater, sediments, and biota. However, because of the great volume of all the oceans (137 × 10 km³) and their great dilution capacity, the concentrations of these contaminant inputs usually are insufficient to cause detectable problems in deep-sea environments.

In contrast to conditions in the open ocean, shallow estuarine and nearshore marine waters continue to be extensively degraded by both point and nonpoint sources of pollution. Systems characterized by a slow rate of exchange relative to their volume (e.g., semi-enclosed estuaries and embayments) are most susceptible to contaminant inputs. These systems typically have a very limited assimilative capacity for pollutants. Consequently, certain unassimilated materials, such as synthetic toxic organic compounds, can accumulate and persist for long periods of time, posing a potential long-term danger to marine food webs.

The Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution (GESAMP), an IMO/FAO/UNESCO/WHO/IAEA/United Nations/UNEP-sponsored advisory body, has played a leading role in assessing global marine pollution problems. Established in 1969, GESAMP provides authoritative information on marine pollution problems to its sponsors, to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, to other organizations of the United Nations system, and to state members of the United Nations.¹ This international advisory body prepares periodic reports on the health of the marine environment, identifying specific problem areas (e.g., coastal development, oil pollution, organochlorine contaminants, thermal loading). The last global report on the state of the marine environment by GESAMP was issued in 1990.² This report is widely accepted as an authoritative reference on the subject.¹

GESAMP³ defines marine pollution as “the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment, resulting in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities including fisheries, impairment of quality for use of seawater, and reduction of amenities.” According to Clark,⁴ contamination occurs “when a man-made input increases the concentration of a substance in seawater, sediments, or organisms above the natural background level for that area and for the organisms.” Contaminants enter estuarine and oceanic waters via five primary pathways: (1) riverine input, (2) nonpoint source runoff from land, (3) direct pipeline discharges, (4) discharges and dumping from ships, and (5) atmospheric deposition.^5,6-7 The most common anthropogenic wastes found in estuarine and coastal marine environments worldwide are dredged spoils, sewage, and industrial and municipal discharges.⁴,⁸ These wastes generally contain a wide range of pollutants, notably heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and other substances.

Systems exhibiting the greatest pollution impacts remain those in close proximity to population centers. In U.S. coastal waters, examples include Boston Harbor, the New York Bight Apex, and Baltimore Harbor on the east coast, and San Diego Harbor, San Francisco Bay, and Commencement Bay on the west coast. Many of the pollution problems encountered in these systems are largely attributable to overpopulation, overdevelopment, and poor coastal resource management.

TYPES OF CONTAMINANTS

In heavily impacted areas, such as the aforementioned U.S. coastal systems, the total contaminant burden derives from many land-based sources. Chief among the contaminants affecting these waters are (1) organic carbon enrichment related to elevated nutrient inputs, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus; (2) heavy metals associated with sewage effluents and sewage sludges; (3) organochlorine compounds originating from widespread domestic and agricultural use of herbicides and pesticides, as well as various industrial wastes; (4) petroleum hydrocarbons from oil spills, sewage, and nonpoint source runoff; and (5) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from industrial effluents, pyrolysis of organic matter, and other sources. Domestic, industrial, and municipal wastes have accumulated for years in some coastal waters bordering metropolitan centers. However, because of the enactment of stringent regulations to control the input of these wastes, the degree of pollution in the U.S. coastal marine environment appears to be declining in many areas.⁹

From a global perspective, five classes of contaminants are considered to be critical to the environmental health of the ocean:¹⁰

1. Petroleum hydrocarbons (crude oil and its refined products)

2. Halogenated hydrocarbons

3. Heavy metals (particularly mercury, cadmium, and lead)

4. Radionuclides (especially cesium-137, strontium-90, and plutonium-239, 240)

5. Litter

There is evidence for a decline in concentrations of at least certain constituents of the first four classes of these critical contaminants. The amount of litter, however, seems to be on the increase around the world.¹⁰ Perhaps most alarming is the occurrence of persistent plastics which has been on the rise in oceanic waters for a number of years.

McIntyre⁷ identified three pollutant categories of priority concern today in coastal marine environments (i.e., sewage, nutrients, and synthetic organic compounds). Sewage input, eutrophication from excessive nutrients, and the toxic effects of persistent organic compounds in estuaries and nearshore oceanic waters pose significant public health risks. Three other pollutant categories (i.e., heavy metals, radionuclides, and oil) are seen as less threatening in the sea. As recounted by McIntyre,⁷ more general impacts of heavy metals on marine communities are evident only in the immediate vicinity of metal-rich discharges or mine-tailing effluents where concentrations are very high. Aside from nuclear accidents, marine inputs of radionuclides are now restricted to the relatively small number of discharges from nuclear power stations and reprocessing plants, which are rigorously controlled by various national or international agencies. After enactment of the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963, oceanic input of radionuclides from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons decreased sharply, considerably reducing the atmospheric influx of anthropogenic radionuclides. Damage from oil pollution at sea, while potentially severe, is localized in space and time, with the worst impacts arising from oil moving ashore and contaminating coastal wetlands or becoming buried in sandy beaches. The main global concern regarding oil pollution appears to be operational discharges from large tankers which circulate on ocean currents and affect beach amenity far from the original source. Used oils from land-based sources may pose a potential risk to the coastal zone worldwide.

Marine wastes may be organized into several distinct categories: degradable wastes, fertilizers, dissipating wastes, particulates, and conservative wastes.⁴ Degradable wastes, composed of organic material, are subject to bacterial attack. They constitute by far the largest volume of anthropogenic wastes added to estuaries and coastal marine waters. Included under this category are sewage wastes, oil spills, agricultural wastes, chemical industry wastes, food processing wastes, brewing and distillery wastes, and paper pulp mill wastes. Fertilizers release substantial amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus to waters bordering land areas, and may promote eutrophication of susceptible systems at certain times of the year. Some industrial wastes rapidly lose their damaging properties after they enter an outfall area at a point of discharge. Examples of such dissipating wastes are the release of heated waters from coastal power plants and cyanide from metallurgical industries. Particulates encompass a group of diverse inert materials, as well as matter which may be chemically contaminated. Dredged spoils, fly (powdered) ash from coal-fired power plants, china clay waste, colliery waste, and plastics represent common types of particulate wastes found in estuarine and marine environments. Conservative wastes (e.g., heavy metals, halogenated hydrocarbons, and radioactivity) are substances potentially reactive with marine organisms and occasionally harmful to them.

LEGISLATIVE CONTROL OF MARINE POLLUTION

UNITED STATES

The U.S. has provided legal protection of the marine environment to various degrees over the last century, although some of the most significant legislation has been enacted during the past 25 years. In response to the great public outcry toward environmental pollution problems in the 1960s and 1970s, federal and state legislation was enacted often as a result of crisis management. At times, overlapping regulations were formulated to control point sources of contaminant input to marine waters.¹¹ Nevertheless, Congress has played a crucial role in developing and implementing effective U.S. policy measures on waste disposal at sea since 1972.

The River and Harbor Act of 1890 prohibited any obstruction to the navigable capacity of U.S. waters and led to a compilation of all navigation laws in Sections 9 through 20 of the River and Harbor Appropriations Act of 1899.¹² Section 10 requires authorization from the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Corps of Engineers, for the excavation from or deposition of material in navigable waters of the U.S., the construction of any structure in such waters, and any obstruction or alteration therein. Not only does the law apply to dredging and dredged-spoil disposal activities, but also to excavation, filling, rechannelization, construction, and any other modification of navigable waters (defined as those subject to the ebb and flow of the tide shoreward to the mean high water mark and/or are presently used to transport interstate or foreign commerce). The building of any structure in or over navigable waters, such as jetties, groins, wharfs, weirs, bank protection (e.g., bulkhead, revetment, and riprap), moored structures (e.g., pilings), moored floating vessels, boat ramps, and recreational docks, requires compliance with Section 10 of the act. A major intent of this federal law is to regulate and limit adverse environmental effects of dredging, dredged-spoil disposal, construction, or any other modification of navigable waters and wetlands.¹³

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, the Clean Water Act of 1977, and the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987 deal with point sources of municipal and industrial wastes, oil spills, and releases of hazardous materials, as well as other types of pollutants. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act regulates the discharge of effluents into freshwater and marine waters. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act is the principal tool used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into wetlands and waters of the U.S.¹⁴ The objective of the Clean Water Act is to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.” Hence, its provisions provide broad protection for the control of both point and nonpoint sources of pollution into natural waters.¹⁵ While the 1977 Clean Water Act established a technology-based approach to regulate individual point source discharges through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, the 1987 Clean Water Act Amendments identified the remaining serious pollution problems, including nonpoint source impacts associated with eutrophication, hydrologic modification, accumulation of toxic pollutants, sedimentation, and increased turbidity.¹⁶ Much of the legislative authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate and protect the quality of surface waters derives from the Clean Water Act.

Passage of the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969 ushered in an era of more aggressive long-term management of marine wastes. For example, the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (commonly called the Ocean Dumping Act) was passed to strictly regulate the dumping of all types of materials into marine waters that would adversely affect human health, welfare, the marine environment, or economic potentialities (e.g., sewage sludges, dredged spoils, industrial wastes). It regulates the transportation and dumping of substances in the ocean seaward of the territorial sea baseline.¹⁷ Under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, the oceanic disposal of certain hazardous materials, such as high-level radioactive wastes and biological, chemical, and radiological warfare agents, was banned. In addition, any dumping of wastes in the ocean required a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The dumping of dredged spoils from navigable waters was placed under regulatory control of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.¹⁸

Congress passed amendments to the Ocean Dumping Act in 1977 which called for an end to sewage sludge and industrial waste disposal at sea as soon as possible. The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 moved the site for dumping of sewage sludge from the New York Bight Apex to the edge of the continental shelf 190 km east of Atlantic City, NJ. The Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988 stated that all ocean dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste would cease after December 31, 1991, whether or not it unreasonably degraded the marine environment.

Passage of the Toxic Substances Act of 1976 also had significant implications for improving the health of the oceans. This legislation enabled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban production of PCBs in the U.S. As a result, the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in water, sediments, and biota from a number of coastal sites nationwide, especially some of those in proximity to known industrial sources and other “hot spot” areas, have substantially declined during the past 20 years.^6,9,19,20 However, there are a few “hot spot” areas (e.g., New Bedford Harbor and St. Lawrence River) where, in spite of trends toward a decline, the concentrations of PCBs are such that mitigative actions are being considered.²¹

The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 and ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 Eutrophication and Organic Loading
• Chapter 3 Oil Pollution
• Chapter 4 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
• Chapter 5 Halogenated Hydrocarbons
• Chapter 6 Heavy Metals
• Chapter 7 National Monitoring Surveys
• Chapter 8 Radioactive Waste
• Chapter 9 Dredging and Dredged-Spoil Disposal
• Chapter 10 Effects of Electric Generating Stations
• Index