coastal development, but he hopes that it can 

 help convince planners and developers to 

 adopt "greener" practices — maximize green 

 space, maintain natural buffers along creeks 

 and streams, and safeguard wetlands. The goal 

 is to filter pollutants flowing into sensitive 

 waters. 



Individual citizens also need to take 

 responsibility, Mallin says. His studies suggest 

 that a high percentage of nutrients and fecal 

 coliform pollution is due to pet waste. "Pet 

 manure can continue to release high levels of 

 fecal bacteria up to a month after deposition," 

 he warns. He suggests burying the manure a 

 few inches below the surface of the ground 

 where it is not subject to storm runoff. 



Mallin is the lead scientist on a number 

 of collaborative programs concerned with 

 coastal water quality issues, including the City 

 of Wilmington's Watersheds Project, the New 

 Hanover County Tidal Creek Project and the 

 Coastal Ocean Monitoring Project. 



He frequently teams with Barbara Doll, 

 North Carolina Sea Grant water quality 

 specialist, on stream and wetland restoration 

 efforts in the region that seek to improve the 

 viability of important shellfish habitat. 



He also directs the research component 

 of the Lower Cape Fear River Program, an 

 unprecedented collaboration among 

 academia, government, industry and the 

 public. This large-scale water quality and 

 environmental assessment effort covers the 

 Cape Fear River Estuary and a large portion 

 of the lower Cape Fear watershed. "It is an 

 attempt to develop an understanding of the 

 fundamental scientific processes shaping and 

 controlling the ecology of the river system," 

 Mallin explains. It also provides a forum for 

 information exchange and public education. 



Steve Skrabal's Sea Grant-funded 

 research might provide an interesting round 

 table discussion. 



Skrabal, an assistant professor of 

 chemistry at UNC- Wilmington, is examining 

 the cycling of trace metals such as copper, 

 zinc and iron in estuarine and coastal waters 

 and sediments. He is interested in what 

 influences trace metal speciation — the 

 distribution of a metal among its various 

 chemical forms. He wants to know how 

 speciation affects the availability and 



potential toxicity of the metals to aquatic 

 plants and animals. 



Trace metals have many sources, he 

 explains. Copper, used in protective paints on 

 boat bottoms, and zinc, used in most 

 galvanized products, can leach off into the 

 water. And, because copper and zinc are 

 nutritional ingredients of livestock feeds, they 

 also may be deposited by agricultural runoff. 



An important feature of this work, he 

 says, is determining the role of sediment-water 

 exchange in influencing metal speciation. So 

 far, it appears that nearly all dissolved copper 

 in the middle estuary is chemically bound to 

 organic substances, possibly as a result of a 

 flux from bottom sediments. 



Skrabal and his research associates also 

 are collaborating with Sea Grant researcher 

 Troy Alphin at UNC-Wilmington to examine 

 the role of bottom-dwelling organisms on the 

 sediment-water exchange and speciation of 



copper and zinc in the Cape Fear Estuary. 

 Data from this work will enable the scientists 

 to calculate the potential for toxic concentra- 

 tions of these metals in the benthic, or sea 

 bottom, environment. 



More teeth 



Mallin wishes the scientific data 

 documented on many fronts had been used to 

 give The 2000 Cape Fear River Basinwide 

 Water Quality Plan more "teeth." Mallin 

 says, "The information about the river 

 system is useful, but the plan needs to come 

 out in favor of regulations based on the 

 scientific data, not just voluntary measures." 



It's true that the Cape Fear River is not 

 categorized "nutrient-sensitive" as is its sister 

 rivers, the Neuse and the Pamlico, whose 

 nutrient-rich waters linger in the Pamlico 

 Sound and slowly escape through narrow 

 inlets into the Atlantic. 



The map of North Carolina water basins is based on the 1997 work of John Fels 

 Cartographies, designed to promote environmental awareness. It was adapted by Lee 

 Ratcliffe for the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. 



10 WINTER 2001 



