There Are Many Paths To Clean Water In Maine

Transcription

1 There Are Many Paths To Clean Water In Maine Jane E. Disney, Ph.D., Director, Community Environmental Health Laboratory MDI Biological Laboratory

2 Citizen Based Water Quality Related Projects: Partners in Monitoring Program Somes Sound Shoreline Survey Red Tide Monitoring Project Eddie Brook Watershed Survey 2003 Maine Healthy Beaches Program Stanley Brook Watershed Survey Cruise Ship Monitoring Project

3 Citizen Based Water Quality Related Projects: Partners in Monitoring Program Somes Sound Shoreline Survey Red Tide Monitoring Project Eddie Brook Watershed Survey 2003 Maine Healthy Beaches Program Stanley Brook Watershed Survey Cruise Ship Monitoring Project

4 Keys to Accomplishing these Projects: Partnerships Partnership with state programs Maine Coastal Program Partnership with state agencies DMR, DEP, Maine Conservation Corps Partnership with local non-profits Frenchman Bay Conservancy Partnership with community organizations Seal Harbor Village Improvement Society Partnership with municipalities and Acadia National Park Town of Bar Harbor and Town of Mt. Desert Partnership with UMaine, UMCE and Maine Sea Grant Maine Healthy Beaches

5 Maine Conservation Corps AmeriCorps members have been integral to: Creating and maintaining partnerships Training citizen volunteers Implementing projects

6 Maine Healthy Beaches

7 Beach Water Quality Monitoring a citizen based project in Seal Harbor, Maine One of the most popular swim beaches on Mount Desert Island Local summer camps frequently visit. Town officials concerned about swimming illness.

8 Bacterial Pollution on Seal Harbor Beach Source: Stanley Brook Because it is warmer than the ocean, children tend to play in the brook.

9 Background Bacterial counts would rise & fall in Stanley Brook but were consistently high at the Route 3 Bridge from Mid-July to the end of August

10 Residents were upset when the beach was closed.

11 The Stanley Brook Watershed Survey Residents donated funds and helped to conduct the survey.

12 What is a Watershed Survey? Typically, a watershed survey is a inventory of pollution types in a watershed.

13 How was the Stanley Brook Watershed Survey Different? The Stanley Brook Watershed Survey combined the best features of a sanitary shoreline survey and a watershed survey. We looked for pollution types and pollution sources.

14 Why Combine a Shoreline Survey and a Watershed Survey? To address citizen concern for the human health & water quality of Stanley Brook & Seal Harbor To comprehensively understand where pollution is occurring in the watershed in order to fix problems related to both human health and watershed health

15 Goals for the Stanley Brook Watershed Survey Identify types of pollution affecting the watershed and locate the possible sources of those pollutants Engage local citizens in protecting the health of their watershed Recommend mitigation strategies Create a model for coastal watershed surveys in Maine

16 Watershed Survey Process 1. Notify landowners of watershed survey 2. Train volunteer surveyors 3. Visit properties & collect water samples 4. Publish final report 5. Present findings at public meetings 6. Work with partners to mitigate impacts on the brook and beach. Report% pdf

17 Property Form A Property Form was completed for each property A section of each form was filled out with Property Owner Name Address and Sector

18 Problem Form A Problem Form was filled out for each pollution source located

19 Stanley Brook Watershed Survey: The Final Results

20 Potential Pollution Sources

21 Types of Pollution

22 Sources of Bacteria Above Ground Sewer Lines Break Every Year

23 Has the Watershed Survey made a Difference? Enterococcus Levels at Rte. 3 Bridge At Seal Harbor Beach Geometric Means First reported cases of swimming illness from water contact at Seal Harbor Beach: July June July August

24 A New Ordinance in Mt. Desert passed at town meeting on March 6 th 2007! Dictates that all above ground private sanitary sewers must be inspected on or before June 1 st of each year Requires conformance with local, state, and federal regulations Addresses Sewer Pipe Materials and Installation (HDPE, PVC, Ductile Iron Pipe) Prohibits construction on town property

25 A Plan to Slow and Re-direct Storm Water Acadia National Park and Town of Mt. Desert When road ditches were paved in 2006, mudslides occurred in the watershed after heavy rain, sending sediments into Stanley Brook

26 Cruise Ship Monitoring A citizen based project in Bar Harbor, Maine

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28 Environmental Concerns from Community Conversations Citizens were concerned about the number of ships, tenders, and buses in terms of effects on air quality, water quality, and the culture of Bar Harbor. Citizens supported the idea of a monitoring program to ensure that cruise ship discharges are not impacting Frenchman Bay.

29 Variables that might indicate a ship discharge Bacteria Chlorine Transparency Salinity Nitrogen Temperature BOD Plankton

30 Enterococcus

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32 Transparency

33 Salinity

34 Dissolved Oxygen

35 Biological Oxygen Demand

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37 Small Passenger Vessels

38 Enterococcus at Town Pier 2004 Colonies per 100 ml /6 7/12 7/19 7/20 7/26 8/9 Dates American Glory in port

39 Nutrient Analysis is done by Maura Thomas at University of Maine

40 Sampling for Nitrogen

41 Average Nitrogen levels at Bar Harbor Cruise ship anchorages Nitrogen Tow n Pier Alpha Cruise ship anchorage

42 Nitrogen Levels at Anchorage Alpha Aurora Nitrogen (um) QM2 control Star Princess Nitrogen Alpha /13/ /15/ /17/ /19/ /21/ /23/ /25/ /27/ /29/ /1/ /3/ /5/ /7/ 2006 control Date 10/13/ /15/ /17/ /19/ /21/ /23/ /25/ /27/ /29/ /31/ /9/ /11/2006

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44 Cruise Ship Monitoring Ship Name Date BH Dock MDI-4 MDI-5 Enteroccous/100ml Enteroccous/100ml Enteroccous/100ml Independence 7/19/ Control 6/22/ Control 6/29/ Independence 7/3/ Control 7/6/ Independence 7/11/ American Glory 7/14/ Independence 7/17/ Control 7/20/ Independence 7/25/ American Glory 7/30/ Independence 8/2/ American Glory 8/4/

45 Has Cruise Ship Monitoring Made a Difference? Bar Harbor Town Council has made assuring that cruise ships do not have a negative impact on water quality in Frenchman Bay an annual goal. Cruise passenger fees are used to fund monitoring in Bar Harbor. Small passenger vessels are in compliance with Harbor Policy. Increased communication with visiting ships has led to better understanding of harbor policy.

46 Recommendations for the future Continued baseline data collection Continued water quality monitoring at cruise ship anchorages when ships are in port and when they are not; establish control sites away from anchorages Continued communication with visiting ships may prevent beach contamination from discharges.

47 Identified Paths to Clean Water Establishing and maintaining partnerships Identifying key people in communities Dovetailing with state programs and agency work Aligning citizen and municipal priorities Drawing on local and state-level expertise