1998 Year of the Ocean Perspectives on Marine Environmental Quality 



Many of the pollutants from urban areas are washed to sea through storm sewers. The 

 volume and flow rate of runoff from yards and streets into sewers increases as more land is 

 developed, thus the volume of pollutants such as oil, fertilizers, and litter that is transported to 

 waterways also increases. Fourteen percent of estuarine miles in the United States are impacted 

 from oil and grease (U.S. EPA, 1994c). Oil and grease together are major contributors to 

 estuarine degradation, with 363 million gallons of oil originating from land and municipal and 

 industrial wastes. Annually, oily road runoff from a city of 5 million could contain as much oil as 

 one large tanker spill (Ocean Planet, 1995). Over two million pounds of cadmium, copper, and 

 zinc are carried to U.S. waters from urban areas annually (U.S. EPA, 1984). Nearly 80 percent of 

 marine debris comes from land-based sources, either washed directly into waterways or arriving 

 through storm sewer and combined sewer overflows (Coe, 1996). 



Another source of indirect discharges is atmospheric deposition. The scientific 

 community and coastal managers now recognize the importance of atmospheric deposition in 

 causing surface water contamination, and have developed and refined models describing the 

 processes of atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, phosphates, mercury, and other toxic chemicals. 

 As much as 67 percent" of the total nitrogen load delivered to the Tampa Bay, Florida, 

 watershed (TBNEP, 1996), and 80 percent of PCBs in Lake Superior (NOAA, 1997), are 

 believed to originate from atmospheric deposition. 



Accidental Releases 



Because industrialized society depends on petroleum products to maintain its accustomed 

 standard of living, large volumes of petroleum are transported each day in the coastal and marine 

 environment. These large volumes are moved by vessels as cargo and fuel, and through 

 pipelines. Fixed facilities, offshore exploration and production platforms, tanker spills, and 

 natural oil seeps contribute millions of gallons of oil to the world's marine waters annually. 

 Spills and leaks cause the formation of tar balls, oil slicks, and tar mats, and can impact the 

 micro-layer, the benthos, the coast, and marine life. 



Ecosystem Alteration 



While often necessary to ensure vessel accessibility to ports or to control flooding, hydro- 

 modification projects, such as dams, flood control channels, dredging, water diversions, and the 

 development of wetlands, have profound impacts on coastal and marine habitats — changing the 

 natural flow, timing, and volume of freshwater inflow and sediment depositional patterns in bays 

 and estuaries. This is of particular concern in estuarine areas where changes in water flow can 

 alter the salinity of the ecosystem, increase stress on marine organisms, decrease or eliminate 

 protection from storms"", and reduce recharge areas. Alteration of flow can also impact marine 

 systems by transporting pollutants and resuspending sediments and toxic chemicals, thereby 

 increasing the potential for concentration of toxins in marine organisms and humans. Activities 



'5 This includes dryfall and wetfail to both the bay and the Tampa Bay Watershed. 



'6 The Charles River Basin in Massachusetts determined that the loss of 8.442 acres of wetlands would increase flood damage 



costs by approximately $17 million (Thibodeau. 1981). 



E-9 



