PREFACE 



This publication is one of several monographs prepared to commemorate the U.S. 

 Environmental Protection Agency's tenth anniversary. It is fortuitous but appro- 

 priate for the Agency to begin publication of a monograph on "The Impact of Man 

 on the Coastal Environment" in 1980, which was officially designated by the Presi- 

 dent as "Year of the Coast." The Environmental Protection Agency was created in 

 1970 by Executive Order to focus, within one agency, all regulatory-related pollution 

 research conducted by the federal government. Such a mission includes research on 

 the coastal environment, where human land-based activities often interface with 

 productive coastal waters. In the context of this monograph, the coastal environ- 

 ment includes estuarine and marine waters. 



The purpose of the monograph is to provide scholarly discussions of some major 

 coastal problems that were addressed during the past decade. The authors of these 

 chapters were chosen because of their expertise in specific aspects of coastal ecology 

 and their accomplishments as marine scientists. They represent various academic 

 institutions and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

 that are concerned with research in the coastal environment. Each was charged to 

 describe the issues, their significance and context, to develop the state of knowledge, 

 noting progress through the decade, and to project long-term research needs for the 

 future. The papers were to be more interpretive than review-oriented. Although the 

 problems discussed are of interest to the Environmental Protection Agency, the 

 authors were asked to base the presentation on their perspective, regardless of the 

 Agency's involvement or actions. 



The Environmental Protection Agency's coastal research activities are distributed 

 among three environmental research laboratories located at Corvallis, Oregon; 

 Narragansett, Rhode Island; and Gulf Breeze, Florida. Each laboratory conducts 

 research in the coastal zone in which it is situated and participates in national 

 research programs. Scientists in these laboratories develop and interpret a scien- 

 tifically sound and legally defensible data base in response to the Environmental 

 Protection Agency's regulatory needs. Research activities vary from developing 

 laboratory test protocols to evaluating the effect and fate of toxic substances in 

 coastal waters and mounting full-scale laboratory-field assessment of the impact of 

 pollutants on specific ecosystems. Activities during the past decade have included 

 such environmental problems as the release of Kepone, a highly toxic pesticide, into 

 the James River and adjacent coastal area; ocean disposal projects in the New York 

 Bight, Atlantic Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico; assessment of the oiling of south Texas 

 beaches by crude oil from the Ixtoc oil well blowout in Mexican waters and other oil 

 spills; and assessment of the effects of various industrial and municipal effluents on 

 coastal systems. 



The Environmental Protection Agency's coastal research efforts, although a small 

 part of the total federal commitment to marine research and a small part of the over- 

 all effort in this country, are uniquely tied to regulatory mandates from Congress. 

 Environmental Protection Agency scientists involved in regulatory research find it 

 necessary and desirable to communicate with the marine science community, which 

 includes other agencies. Recent legislation, such as the National Ocean Pollution 

 Research and Development Planning Act (PL 95-273), encourages communication 

 among administrators as well as scientists. Under PL 95-273, NOAA was given 



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