Water Pollution

1. Water Pollution The North Sea- Dan Gidicsin The Chesapeake Bay- Sandra Osterhout Lake Washington- Rob Manzella The Hudson River- Kristen Holt

2. The North Sea • Location: • The North Sea lies between Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Great Britain. • All of which are densely populated, highly industrialized countries. • Links with the Atlantic Ocean to the North and Southwest, and the Baltic Sea to the East. • Almost all rivers and streams in Europe will end up in the North Sea. • Considered to be “the dustbin of Europe”.

3. Forms of Water Pollution • Many different forms of water pollution: • Raw sewage and sludge • Major pollution problem • As population increases so does the need to remove human waste • Serious health issues • Bacteria causes both short and long term effects • Stomach cramps, eye infection, skin rashes • Risk of typhoid, salmonella, and polio • Direct dumping • People dump glass, plastic, and polystyrene from boats and beaches • Chemical containers purposely dumped from ships may leak contents

4. Forms Continued… • Atmospheric pollution • Air pollutants • Radio active fallout • Acid rain • Release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from industry, burning fossil fuels, and car exhaust. • Agricultural run-off • Traveled by rivers • Nitrates and phosphate fertilizers which causes build up of algae • Algae uses up all of the oxygen • Pesticides can kill animal and plant life • Oil spillage • Takes a long time for tar/oil to break down • Prevents leisure activities • Fish are poisoned • Destroys bird feathers • Industrial waste • Chemicals and metals such as mercury

5. Because the North Sea pollution is contributed by so many countries (directly & indirectly), it is hard to pass laws or clean it up. • Countries would have to accept the problem, cooperate with each other, contribute a lot of money, and be willing to change their ways. • The North Sea is in danger of becoming poisoned beyond recovery!

6. Ways to Lower Pollution • Sewage can go through better treatment processes. • Direct dumping can be enforced by stricter laws. • To reduce the atmospheric pollution there should be harsher restrictions and penalties on factories. • Faster and a more effective way to clean up oil spills.

7. Positive Steps taken • Several international treaties • The London Dumping Convention • Banned dumping of heavy metals and cancer producing waste. • Oslo Treaty • Black listed chemicals that cannot be discharged into the North Sea • Green Peace • Environmental organization that has drawn public and government attention to the abuse the North Sea undergoes.

8. “Lake Stinko”

9. Lake Washington • 1955 First report of build up of pollutants. • A sample taken from the lake contained a type of cyanobacterium blue green algae. • This is normally a sign of excess nutrients.

10. How did it start? • Seattle began dumping raw sewage into the Lake around 1900 until 1941. • Growth of suburbs in the area led to construction of ten sewage treatment plants in 14 years. • The plants total combined effluent (discharge) was about 20 million gallons.

11. The problem and how to fix it • The enrichment of phosphorous created a boom in algae growth which made the water cloudy, smelly, depleted it of DO. • METRO-Group created to improve water supply, sewage and garbage disposal, transportation, comprehensive planning, and park administration.

12. How to fix it • Plan called for major sewer to divert all effluent from the which would then be treated. After treatment it would be discharged deep under the Pudget Sound. At time it was the most costly pollution control effort in the nation.

13. The process • Because of the time needed to build the new plant the lake took a significant turn for the worse earning it the headline “Lake Stinko.” • By 1964 deterioration of the lake had stopped. It soon showed signs of improvement like increased transparency and decreased algae and phosphate concentrations.

14. What happened? • By 1971 the lake was clearer than it was before the problems were noticed. • The water flea Daphnia’s population increased sharply around 1976. • The Daphnia’s favorite food is algae when their population increased the algae concentration decreased significantly.

15. Chesapeake Bay • the largest estuary in the United States • 150 tributaries • The Bay watershed includes: • D.C., New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia.

16. Non-point Source Pollution • Non-point source pollution contributes to a large portion of water quality problems. • Unlike point source pollution, non-point source pollution cannot be traced back to a single point because of the number of sources that contribute to it.

17. The Culprits • Agricultural practices have contributed a large portion of pollutants into the Bay • The Chesapeake Bay watershed has 7.2 million acres of cropland, which produce major crops • Large urban areas such as Baltimore and DC lie on the drainage basin of the Bay and contribute other non-point source pollutants to the water.

18. Contributors & Forms of Pollution • Contributors: • Agriculture • Development • residential practices. • Forms of non-point source pollution: pesticides • Fertilizers • yard litter • dog waste • sedimentation • hazardous chemicals • garbage

19. Excess Nutrients • Agricultural practices and urban runoff, add excess nutrients to tributaries of the Bay and cause over enrichment. • A study found that excess nutrients were a primary factor contributing to poor water quality in the Bay. • Nitrogen & Phosphorus • naturally important for the growth of plants and animals including cellular growth and tissue production • found in soil, water, and air • excessive amounts create problems.

20. Agriculture • The reasons agriculture is such a large contributor of nutrients: • the amount of land area (94%) relative to the size of the body of water (6%) • Delmarva Peninsula: • Has one of the largest concentrations of poultry farms in the United States. • Poultry waste contributes nitrogen and phosphorous as well as trace heavy metals to Bay waters and tributaries.

21. Daily Use • The Chesapeake Bay is used by millions of people. activities including: • crabbing, fishing, sailing, trading, oyster harvesting, and wildlife watching. • Many people reside in the watershed itself as well as directly on the Bay. • it has been found that in many urban watersheds, dog waste has been a major source of fecal coli form and pathogens!

22. Chain Reaction • Increases in nutrients promote eutrophication. • Large algal blooms are the result of eutrophication • Which decreases dissolved oxygen levels in the water and in turn decreases aquatic vegetation • Harms wildlife • Damages water supplies • Decreases the aesthetic value • Overall weakens the Bay ecosystem.

23. Sedimentation • reduces the amount of sunlight received by aquatic plants. • covers spawning grounds, • clogs fish gills • increases water temperatures • Many native organisms have to relocate because they cannot survive in the altered environment

25. Blue Crab • The Blue Crab is highly valued in the Chesapeake Bay • most productive commercial and recreational fishery in the Chesapeake Bay. • Over a 20-year time period the crab population has decreased by 70 percent as a result of low oxygen levels.

26. Sea Grasses • Sea grasses are declining due to non-point source pollution. • the amount of sunlight these grasses need in order to survive has been severely limited. • These grasses provide: • food, protective cover, & oxygen

27. Everything is impacted Everything is impacted by the Bays health- including humans. • Acute infectious diseases • Cumulative risks of chronic diseases

28. What is protecting the Bay? • Extensive monitoring programs continue on the Bay waters and tributaries. The Chesapeake Bay Program has been conducting extensive monitoring of water quality since the 1980’s. • Farm Bill aimed to increase water quality by reducing nitrogen in the Bay from agriculture • The Chesapeake Bay Agreement, which originally aimed to reduce nutrients at their source, has shifted to control land sources and nutrient sources along with increasing non-point source control particularly in agriculture • Public education outreach programs are also being implemented to inform the public of their influence on the Bay watershed.

29. Summing it up. . . • Humans play the lead role: • The pressures from human activity impact nutrient loads and sedimentation • The Chesapeake Bay is a valuable ecosystem that through the combined efforts of state and federal governments as well as a number of organizations, has begun to recover from the pressures it has faced for decades.

30. General Electric and the Hudson • In the 1940’s, General Electric began using PCB’s in their two plants north of Albany. The company used the PCB’s as a coolant for the capacitors that the plant made. Mineral Oil was the first option, but PCB’s were nonflammable. • 1.1 Million pounds of PCB’s were dumped into the Hudson River under state permit from 1940 until 1977.

31. Workers would send the waste from a container of PCB’s out with the water into the river. • The chemical also spilled on the rocky floor and sunk down into the cliffs below the factory. • No one at the factory gave any thought about dumping the chemicals into the water because they were not marked as hazardous.

32. GE then went to report to the agency that they were dumping all of these chemicals and also had permits to keep doing so. • Most of the chemicals were stuck behind a dam downstream because PCB’s are heavy and stick to the sediments in the water. • The owner of the dam decided to tear it down in 1973, and the millions of cubic yards were released into the rest of the river. • In 1975, PCB’s were found downstream in fish in high levels. • The EPA began regulating water pollution starting in the early 1970’s.

33. The EPA took twenty years to reach a decision about the PCB’s. It took them so long because they didn’t have enough evidence to prove that PCB’s were so harmful. • They knew that PCB’s caused cancer in laboratory rats, but they couldn’t guarantee anything in humans because they gave the rats a very high dose, just under enough to kill them. • In 1999, a test was done on employees of the company to check cancer statistics. There was no significant difference between workers and other Americans. The only thing they found was that a small percentage of workers that were exposed to the PCB’s had chloracne, a type of skin condition. • GE said that the PCB’s don’t hurt people due to findings of a study they did to the workers in their Hudson Falls plant.

34. New York State banned the consumption of fish caught north of Albany. • The EPA finally told GE that they would have to dredge the Hudson on a “precautionary principle”. • GE had fought with the EPA for many years saying that this would be a mistake because of how it will effect all of the people who live on the Hudson. • The EPA suggested that dredging would be necessary to protect the locals and everyone downstream.

35. The dredging was supposed to begin at the turn of the century, but is projected to start in 2006. • It is an estimated $500 million to complete the construction. • It is also estimated that it will take six years to finish. • The EPA is reaching for the safe eating of fish after 20 years of dredging.

36. Clean Water Act • The Clean Water Act started originally as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1948. It was amended several times before the latest revision in 1972. In 1977, it was amended again and became the Clean Water Act. • It’s objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nations waters.

37. Clean Water Act cont. • Authority was given to the EPA to enforce and implement the act. • They develop comprehensive programs for preventing, reducing, or eliminating pollution. They also have the obligation to improve the sanitary condition of surface and underground waters.

38. The act requires federal effluent limitations and state water quality standards. It requires permits for the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters. • The act authorizes water quality programs and funding for waste water treatment. • It gives funding to states for their water quality programs and provides enforcement mechanisms.