In some cities, stormwater sewers 

 are connected to municipal wastewater 

 treatment systems. As a result, heavy 

 rains can cause the capacity of wastewater 

 treatment plants to be exceeded. When 

 this happens, nondegradable debris and 

 raw sewage bypass the treatment process 

 and flow into coastal rivers and bays. 

 Resource managers call this combined 

 sewer overflow. 



Storm water itself is another source 

 of ocean litter. Rains often wash trash — 

 cigarette filters, foam cups, plastic wrap- 

 pers and toys — directly into coastal wa- 

 ters or into storm drains that dump into 

 oceans and coastal rivers. 



Finally, malfunctioning sewage 

 treatment plants and improper industrial 

 waste management result in urban marine 

 debris. The tiny plastic resin pellets that 

 are ubiquitous in the world's oceans and 

 on beaches are examples of industrial 

 mishandling. 



But urban marine debris can be re- 

 duced or eliminated at four points in its 

 lifeline — source generation, on-land 

 management, transport and deposition. 



The reduction actions include source 

 reduction, improved industrial and mu- 

 nicipal wastewater management and 

 cleanup of waterways and beaches. And 

 to accomplish these actions, resource 

 managers can use a variety of tools — 

 technological improvements, legislation, 

 education, economic incentives, enforce- 

 ment and increased funding. 



Source reduction is the most cost- 

 effective way to remove urban debris 

 from the waste stream. Manufacturers can 

 help by reducing packaging, altering 

 product design and using less environ- 

 mentally harmful and/or more easily recy- 

 clable base materials. If you can't stop it 

 at its source, then proper waste disposal 

 becomes the next logical place to stop 

 debris flow into coastal waters. Finally, 

 removing refuse from surface waters, 

 shorelines and ocean bottoms is the last, 

 most costly and most resource-intensive 

 point at which to stop marine debris and 

 lessen its impact. 



Education must be a significant com- 

 ponent of an effective urban marine de- 

 bris control program. The residential, 



commercial and industrial communities 

 should be educated to understand the 

 importance of debris control. But when 

 education doesn't work, enforcement 

 agencies should stand ready to force com- 

 pliance for all offenders. 



Municipal governments across the 

 globe must come to realization that source 

 reduction, waste management, debris 

 removal, education and enforcement cost 

 money and time. The public, industry and 

 all levels of government must recognize 

 the need for action. Citizens must be will- 

 ing to alter their behavior, and municipal 

 governments and industry must be willing 

 to change their wastewater management 

 practices and consider alternative tech- 

 nologies. And when all else fails, govern- 

 ment must step in with regulations and 

 enforcement efforts to stem the tide of 

 marine debris. 



Everyone — the citizen, the factory 

 owner, the legislator, the regulator, the 

 enforcement officer and the educator — 

 should examine the marine debris con- 

 tinuum to see where he or she can make a 

 difference. D 



STEIN CI LIN (J AS A "KEEP CLEAN" REMINDER 



Drop a wrapper or drink bottle into 

 the street and chances are it will eventu- 

 ally wash into the nearest storm drain. 

 No longer an urban eyesore, this litter is 

 headed someplace where it will spoil 

 more than the view. 



It's flowing into a nearby creek, 

 stream or river. 



Many people don't know that storm 

 drains are, in effect, garbage gateways 

 from city streets to local waters. Rainwa- 

 ter washes along neighborhood gutters 

 and into the drains, carrying antifreeze, 

 motor oil, cigarette butts, paint, plastic, 

 yard wastes and anything else in its path. 

 These wastes never visit a treatment 

 plant before journeying to the coast, do- 

 ing untold damage along the way to 

 wildlife, human health and safety, and 

 even businesses that rely on clean waters. 



Storm drain stenciling is one solu- 

 tion to this problem. By painting drains 

 with a "Keep Clean!" message, volun- 

 teers throughout North Carolina are alert- 



ing passers-by that only rainwater be- 

 longs in these drains, says Barbara Doll, 

 N.C. Sea Grant's coastal water quality 

 specialist. 



Doll organized the N.C. Storm 

 Drain Stenciling Project as a Year of the 

 Coast activity. It was launched in Sep- 

 tember by Gov. Jim Hunt and state Rep. 

 Karen Gottovi, who painted storm 

 drains on the Cape Fear River water- 

 front in Wilmington. Throughout the 

 coastal watershed, the project has had 

 the winning combination of a strong 

 educational message and the support of 

 cities and volunteer groups. More than 

 35 cities and towns, plus the Cherry 

 Point Marine Corps Air Station, have 

 agreed to work with volunteers to sten- 

 cil storm drains and catch basins. The 

 stencils are tailor-made for drainage 

 basins that flow to the Cape Fear River, 

 Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound. 

 Cities outside these basins will use ge- 

 neric sound and ocean stencils. 



Volunteer groups have collaborated 

 with city officials to map out the streets 

 that they will paint, and they've agreed 

 to follow strict safety guidelines. They 

 have also agreed to pick up litter near the 

 storm drains and record their finds on 

 data cards, which will be returned to the 

 Center for Marine Conservation and filed 

 in a national data base. 



In addition to local support, the 

 project has been backed by Year of 

 the Coast, N.C. Division of Coastal 

 Management. N.C. Sea Grant, U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service, N.C. Cooperative 

 Extension Service, N.C. Department 

 of Environment, Health and Natural 

 Resources (Divisions of Water Resources 

 and Environmental Management), 

 N.C. Big Sweep and the N.C. Coastal 

 Federation. 



Stenciling organizers hope to extend 

 the storm drain project farther inland next 

 year. For information about the project, 

 contact Doll at 919/515-5287. □ 



COASTWATCH 1 3 



