ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION IN THE COASTAL AREA OF THE GULF 



OF MEXICO 1 



Prepared in the Division of Water Pollution Control and Shellfish Branch, Division of Sanitation, 

 Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 



Principal natural resources of the Gulf that ap- 

 pear susceptible to danaages from water pollution 

 are sport and commercial fin fisheries, shellfisheries, 

 wildlife, and recreational areas that are utilized by 

 local people or attract tourists. 



Tlu-ough the Mississippi River alone, the Gulf 

 receives drainage from 1,244,000 square miles, or 

 41 percent of the land area of the United States. 

 Water comes from points as far distant as Boze- 

 man, Montana, and Jamestown, New York, and 

 from land fronting on the Gulf itself. Damaging 

 pollution occurs locally at many upstream points 

 of this and other long river systems. Because of 

 natural purification and great distances of flow to 

 the Gulf such pollution need not be considered 

 here. With the exception of sediment loads, 

 which may be carried great distances with little 

 change in character, significant sources of pollu- 

 tion are those located near the Gulf. 



The data upon which this report is based relate 

 principally to sources of pollution lying within 50 

 miles of the Gulf. Pollution sources lying out- 

 side this zone are considered only if they are pai"- 

 ticularh' significant by virtue of their specific 

 quality or quantity. The land area so defined in- 

 cludes parts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 

 Louisiana, and Texas. Except with respect to 

 shellfish sanitation, very few water pollution 

 studies have been published. As a result, most 

 information on this subject is found unpublished 

 in the files of State health departments and water 

 pollution control agencies. The most intensive in- 

 vestigations have been conducted by private or- 

 ganizations and were initiated by allegations of 

 damages to oyster resources by petroleum industry 

 wastes. Pending litigation and threatened liti- 

 gation have kept reports of most of the findings 

 from publication. A number of studies conducted 



1 Assistance was given by State water pollution control agencies and shell- 

 flsh sanitation agencies in the preparation of this report. 



by various agencies have been published (Gunter 

 1942; Anonymous 1949; Specht 1950; Phelps and 

 Barry 1950; Anonymous 1952; Galtsoff et al., 

 1935; Galtsoff 1936). 



The accuracy of data on water pollution is 

 necessarily short-lived, principally because prog- 

 ress is continually being made as more munici- 

 palities and industries take action to abate pollution. 

 This chapter is based on information available in 

 1953. Up-to-date information for specific areas 

 may always be obtained from appropriate State 

 agencies. 



NATURE OF POLLUTION AFFECTING THE 

 GULF WATERS 



Wastes of various kinds enter the Gulf waters 

 by direct discharge from coastal municipalities 

 and industries or through tributary streams that 

 serve as transmission media for wastes from con- 

 siderable areas. Included are raw and partially 

 treated municipal sewage, industrial wastes char- 

 acteristic of a great variety of manufacturing 

 processes, and sediment loads from soil erosion. 



Municipal sewage is a complex mLxture of the 

 liquid-carried wastes that result from modern 

 human existence. Although it is about 99.9 

 percent water, the solids making up the remaining 

 0.1 percent are the cause of the problems of sewage 

 pollution. The discharge of untreated sewage to 

 watercourses is objectionable mainly because of 

 three of its characteristics: (1) actual or potential 

 presence of pathogenic bacteria that threaten the 

 health of persons using the water and cause eco- 

 nomic losses to the shellfish industry by making 

 the product unsafe for human consumption, (2) 

 organic constituents that have a biochemical 

 demand upon oxygen resources of the water so 

 that aerobic organisms suffocate, and disagreeable 

 odors and appearance from putrefaction become a 

 nuisance, and (3) a solids content that makes the 



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