RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 3, 2010, Freeport-Baldwin Leader
Western Bays study begins
Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL, can determine what natural and man-made impacts have caused the degrading water quality in the Western Bays.
Science rocks.
That was the sentiment at a recent forum of marine scientists, engineers and environmentalists who gathered to discuss how they plan to study and ultimately save the Western Bays. The hearing, at the Nassau County Legislature earlier this month, was held just days before the State of New York released $580,000 in funding that had been earmarked for this project since 2008.
“This means we can now base our restoration plans on science and not conjecture,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. The study, called the Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL, can determine what natural and man-made impacts have caused the degrading water quality in the Western Bays.
The study will study Reynolds Channel, Brosewere Bay, Hewlett Bay, Broad Channel, Middle Bay, Baldwin Bay, Merrick Bay, East Bay and this area’s interconnecting channels and tributaries. The money allows Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (SOMAS) to perform seven tasks using Geographic Information Science or GIS to determine the condition of the Western Bays. GIS brings together hardware, software and data for capturing, managing, analyzing and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.
It allows scientists to view, understand, question, interpret and visualize data in many ways to reveal relationships, patterns and trends in the form of maps, reports and charts. In particular, Dr. Lawrence Swanson, a marine biologist with SOMAS said he thought “bathymetry (the study of underwater depth of the bay) would play an important role in determining sediment characteristics,” as well as the use of “acoustic data for a survey of Ulva [green lettuce like algae].”
Stony Brook will work hand-in-hand with Battelle, a consulting firm paid through a New York state grant for a one-year project. This group will work with both historical and current data to determine if there is “impairment evidence and if so how to measure it. We will also look to see if we can find a causal link to nitrogen,” said Tom Gilbrendt, Battelle’s representative. “From this we may be able to determine some best management practices,” he said.
Finally, the United States Geological Survey will be doing continuous water monitoring for a two-year period. That data should capture information with regard to the impact of the Bay Park sewage treatment plant on the Western Bays. “These are fragile ecosystems,” said Mr. Gilbrendt who hoped the data might be compared to other beleaguered marshland systems such as Jamaica Bay to determine how to proceed in reviving the Western Bays.
This is just the beginning of a project that could take years to determine if reducing the nitrogen limit, now regulated in the Long Island Sound, is appropriate for this body of water. But money remains an issue. State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials and federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials said that no one agency could fund this entire project. “We can’t predict the cost; it’s very complicated,” said the EPA official.
“We need the SOMAS data to determine how it fits into legal issues, especially with regard to regulation,” said the DEC official. Nevertheless, environmentalists are encouraged. “This is a good first step,” said Rob Weltner, executive director of SPLASH (Stop Polluting, Littering and Save Harbors). “We have to begin. Let’s do this one time and do it right.”