Greenversations

Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.

“Amber waves of grain” conjures up images of vast expanses of grassland across middle America. In contrast, can you picture meadows of seagrasses covering broad areas of the seafloor?

Seagrasses are underwater marine flowering plants that have long, narrow leaves. Because they photosynthesize, seagrasses must grow in shallow water where light penetrates. Most of the light required for these plants disappears below 30 feet.

Florida alone has about a half-million acres of seagrass meadow.

Seagrasses provide essential “ecological services,” such as reducing erosion, improving water quality, and supplying refuge and food for aquatic animals. They are vital to commercial and recreational fisheries that are a major part of a coastal community’s economy.

Unfortunately, the health of seagrass meadows has been compromised in many places due to pollution from land-based activities. Excess nutrients from fertilizers and wastewater cause algal blooms which deprive seagrasses and aquatic organisms of essential oxygen. In addition, over-fishing, over-crabbing, and other harvesting practices change the ecological balance within seagrass meadows, leading to shifts in both plant and animal populations.

My PhD thesis brings me to the shallow waters off Bermuda where I am measuring the simultaneous effects of heavy grazing and excess nutrients on the overall health of seagrass pastures. Seagrasses here are being eaten (grazed) by green turtles and parrotfish while fertilizer runoff is also affecting them.

My main focus is to understand how grazers with different feeding strategies—where and how they feed—control the effects of nutrient pollution. I am working in both the laboratory and the field to manipulate and measure nutrient levels.

A conservationist at heart, I constantly seek to educate others about how human actions can either positively or negatively impact the physical environment. My research looking at the indirect effects of local fishing practices and wastewater treatment on seagrass ecosystems has pressing applications for coastal conservation and management worldwide.

About the author: Kim Holzer is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. Funding for her research is provided by a 2007 EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Graduate Research Fellowship. Kim expects to graduate in the spring of 2011 and continue working as a scientist in environmental protection.

Each year, as the summer season comes to an end, I reflect on the experiences that made it a great summer. As a new employee at EPA, this summer was particularly exciting. I had the experience of working with the Mid-Atlantic Region’s Coastal Science Team, led by Renee Searfoss and Jim Gouvas . The two-week monitoring cruise, aboard EPA’s Ocean Survey Vessel (OSV), the BOLD consisted of two surveys spanning from North Carolina to the south tip of New Jersey. Working in shifts of four hours on and eight hours off, I worked from noon until 4pm and again from midnight to 4am! Those lucky enough to work the 4-8 shift were able to enjoy both the sunrise and sunset!

EPA is required to biannually monitor the Region’s two designated ocean disposal sites - the Norfolk Ocean Disposal and the Dam Neck Ocean Disposal Sites - to ensure that no further degradation has occurred from the placement of dredge material or fish waste. For the first survey, we collected sediment samples, monitored fish waste and conducted sonar scanning.

At the Dam Neck Disposal Site, we collected fifty surface sediment samples, which were analyzed for grain size, total organic carbon (TOC), metals, distribution, biomass and the presence of bottom-dwelling species. By comparing data with a control site, we could tell what has occurred at the waste sites due to the material disposed there.

The team conducted eight tow runs using a rocking-chair dredge to collect sediment from the ocean floor (picture), such as Horseshoe crab and Hermit crab, which were identified and returned to the site. Lastly, the team conducted eight transects using a trawl net. This part was exciting - you never know what you could catch! Although different species of fish, such as Northern Sea Robins and Spotted Hakes, were identified, you won’t find any fishermen fishing the area, there weren’t any commercially useful fish present.
In short, the voyage was very successful and made for an extremely memorable summer experience. Everyone comes with a wealth of experience and all shared a passion for the ocean and its continued preservation. Research expeditions like this one are crucial to maintain our knowledge of the effects humans have on our oceans.

Matthew Colip works as a biologist in EPA Region 3’s Water Protection Division dealing with issues related to data and information systems management.

Recently, EPA was asked to defend the fact that dredging stirs up PCBs in the river, which causes more PCBs to go downriver and over the Federal dam in Troy. This is called “loading,” and we monitor it closely. If you live south of Albany, I’m sure you appreciate that we try not to send any more PCBs your way than we have to in order to get this work done.

The river bottom doesn’t keep the PCBs locked safely inside a mud sandwich. This river scours, floods and changes its course. So loading of PCB’s was always a problem. .It’s impossible to know for sure, but engineers estimate about 500 pounds of PCBs a year were loaded in the past. Now, because of dredging, we actually know the PCB levels in the river, and we know there’s much more contamination than we estimated, so the loading was probably more too. However, by dredging we’re finally doing something to lower the PCB levels, forever. I get a lot of satisfaction watching each loaded barge, because I know that contaminated sediment is no longer contributing to the problem.

Dredging opponents point out that the monitoring station nearest the dredging, and another about 18 miles away, have exceeded the PCB loading amount targeted for this year and so the project should stop. We explained the load target represents an overall requirement for the project and not for a single year. The higher loads during this dredge season will be addressed through lessons learned and improvements recommended for future dredging.

I’m a newcomer to Fort Edward and the dredging debate. Having never lived near a river before, I didn’t understand how important a river can be in people’s lives. Since moving here, I’ve spent hours and hours talking to people who are personally and, in some cases emotionally affected by the project. I‘m very sympathetic — they didn’t create the horrendous pollution problem, but they’ve been forced to deal with it for years, and it’s taken a stressful toll. I’ve spent countless hours on the river thinking about the far-reaching consequences of the PCB contamination. After five months of dredging, I’ve learned firsthand how persistent, shallow, mobile and voluminous the PCBs are in the Upper Hudson. But, as of September 5, there are about 190,000 cubic yards less of contaminated sediment contributing to the stress and loading problems, and I’m proud to be part of the monumental effort that made that happen. As intrusive and irritating as the project is for some people, it’s very important for the safety and sanity of future generations.

About the author: Kristen Skopeck is originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is an 11-year Air Force veteran and was stationed in California, Ohio, Texas, Portugal, and New York. After working for the USDA for three years, Kristen joined EPA in 2007 and moved to Glens Falls, NY to be a member of the Hudson River PCB dredging project team. She likes to spend her time reading, writing, watching movies, walking, and meeting new people.

Although I have been surrounded by radiation my entire life, it wasn’t until 2003, when I began my doctorate work, that I entered the “radiation world.” Since that time I have learned so much about radiation and realize there is much more to learn. I have also come to recognize a variety of challenges that exist in the radiation world.

Despite being surrounded by naturally occurring radiation, very few people really understand it. This is just one challenge we, radiation professionals, need to address. Other challenges include understanding the unique behavior of each radioactive element (or radionuclide), the various areas of study within the field of radiation, the multiple uses of radiation in our society, the fear of radiation, and the decreasing workforce knowledgeable in the field of radiation.

Some areas of radiation work include understanding: the fate and transport of radionuclides (how they behave in water, soil, air); biological effects of radiation (effects on human health); how to prepare, prevent and respond to radiation emergencies; how to set protective regulatory limits; and how to use radiation as a benefit to society (medicine, energy…).

Each radionuclide exhibits unique biological, chemical, and physical properties. What does this mean? It means that different radionuclides behave differently in various media (soil, water, air) as well as in the human body. Radionuclides also have unique radiological properties, such as the type of radioactive decay (alpha, beta, gamma) or the length of time they will be around before being transformed into a stable (non radioactive) element. Fully understanding the world of radiation means understanding all of these things for multiple radionuclides; what a challenge!

Another challenge is addressing the fear of radiation while improving the public’s general knowledge of radiation. EPA is meeting this challenge through various radiation education products like RadTown USA.

It will be increasingly difficult to increase public knowledge without the right staff. The number of radiation professionals is not growing at the rate it should be. More students need to be encouraged to not only study STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) areas, but also to specialize in one of the diverse fields of radiation.

As an Engineer at EPA, I look forward to meeting all of these challenges head on, learning more about radiation and working to get the word out about radiation, educating people about the role of radiation in their daily lives, and encouraging them to join the “radiation world.”

About the Author: Dr. Angelique D. Diaz joined EPA in June of 2008 after completing her Ph.D., where she studied the behavior of plutonium in the environment. Dr. Diaz is an Environmental Engineer working at EPA’s Region 8 office in Denver, CO, where she works on a variety of radiological-related activities, including regulating radon emissions from uranium mines and mills.

Starfish are mysterious creatures. Some people and articles I have read say they should be called sea stars because of their shape and their lack of relationship to fish. I had never taken an interest in them until recently when I visited Alaska and kayaked on the Tatoosh Islands. The Tatoosh are located north of Ketchikan and are part of the Tongass National Forest,  U.S largest national forest.  While kayaking along the coast, I spotted an incredible array of these colorful creatures. Bright orange and pale lavender, spiny and fat, each one more different than the other, they nestled into the dark rocks along the shore.

The starfish on Alaska are extremely different from the giant ones I have seen before on Vieques, Puerto Rico. While their Caribbean relatives are larger and rounder, the ones in the north Pacific cold waters are smaller in size. After kayaking around the Tatoosh, I began my research on these particular sea habitants. Starfish are echinoderms or marine invertebrates with a five-radial symmetry that radiates from a central disc, hence their resemblance to a star. They move by using small water-filled sacs that protrude from their body. This hydraulic vascular system, aside from helping them move, aids them with feeding. Speaking of which, they have two stomachs: one for engulfing their prey and the other one for digestion!  They have a microscopic eye at the end of each arm which helps them move and distinguish between light and dark. While they have a complex nervous system, they lack a centralized brain. I was also very surprised to learn that they are able to regenerate lost arms and that they can travel considerable distances and migrate to breed and search for food.

Starfish have been around five hundred million years and there are around 1,800 species. This region of the North Pacific is among three areas of the world that yields the greatest variety of these echinoderms. Starfish are vital to marine ecosystems because they are calcifiers. Marine calcifiers play important roles in the food chains of nearly all oceanic ecosystems, help regulate ocean chemistry, and are an important source of biodiversity and productivity.

In order to celebrate my new found love for these unique and mysterious creatures, I acquired during my trip a beautiful ring with a silver starfish adhered to a blue stone resembling the ocean.

About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialist in the San Juan, Puerto Rico office and also handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

Have you joined Pick 5 for the Environment, where you can choose 5 actions out of 10 and commit to them? We launched Pick 5 on Earth Day this year, and so far 2,300 people have taken the pledge.

Beyond signing up, though, we want to hear from you: what you’ve done, how you did it, etc.  We’re going to start working our way through the 10 actions.  Please share your stories as comments below.

Let’s start with Pick 5 Action #1: Use less water.

I’ve done several things around my home to achieve this goal: I placed a timer in the bathrooms to shorten showers and replaced my old toilet with water saving toilets.  I also make my laundry loads larger instead of doing several small loads. To use less hot water, which saves energy, I also cold water to wash laundry instead of hot water.  Finally, by placing barrels under my rain spouts, I’ve been able to use the recycled water to water my garden and outdoor plants.

Now it’s your turn:  what do you do to use less water?

Note: to ward off advertisers using our blog as a platform, we don’t allow specific product endorsements.  But feel free to suggest Web sites that review products, suggest types of products, and share your experiences using them!

About the author: Denise Owens has worked at EPA for over twenty years. She is currently working in the Office of Public Affairs in Washington, DC.

It feels like going home when I arrive at the Washington County Fair near Schuylerville, New York. This year, the fair was held August 24-30 and I helped staff EPA’s information booth for the Hudson dredging project. Walking around the fairgrounds, I could almost see my Uncle Joe showing his prize Jersey cattle at the Southeast Missouri District Fair in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, my hometown. I also saw all the many distractions and temptations, like the 4-H milkshakes, livestock exhibits (the poultry barn is my favorite), Ferris wheels, and tractor pulls!

You can easily feel a strong sense of community and meet salt-of-the earth locals who tell it like it is. It’s EPA’s sixth year at the fair and a unique opportunity to gauge local issues outside of the media coverage and beyond what we hear at EPA’s public meetings. Many who came to the EPA booth had not been to our public meetings. Most folks seemed to really enjoy the chance to talk with us about dredging in a personal setting. It’s not every day that you can watch a tractor pull while discussing barge tugs pushing loads of sediment.

We spoke to 850 property owners, teachers, kayakers, retired seniors, children and others who paused from the fun and food to say hello, watch a dredging video, look at a map. “Where’s my property on this map?” ”When are they going to dredge there?” “Why did EPA select clamshell dredging over hydraulic?” A few of the typical questions asked. Some felt dredging is unnecessary. “Let sleeping dogs lie!” a few said, but then stuck around to learn more. What struck me was the number of “thank yous” (some whispered) and support for the cleanup. It was encouraging to hear in these dog days of dredging.

Sneaking over to the 4-H food booth, I remembered my dad, who worked as a riverboat mechanic on the Mississippi River. He taught me a lot about rivers. Summer mornings as a child were spent fishing the Mississippi. We set out trot lines baited with chicken liver. Every morning my heart would be racing as we pulled in the lines, mostly catching catfish (some taller than I was). Occasionally we’d get a real surprise when we pulled in a snapping turtle or an eel. My summers on the Mississippi ignited a love of and respect for rivers and a desire to clean and protect them for others to enjoy. I guess I also learned then, as I’m reminded now with the Hudson, that when it comes to rivers, be surprised if there are no surprises!

Like the midway rides at the fair, with their ups and towns, the dredging project has shown us some ups and downs and surprises. But EPA and its partners in the cleanup persevere, I believe, because on some level a river connects us all. And the fair reminds EPA who exactly the Hudson connects us with.

About the Author: David Kluesner grew up in rural southeast Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Geological Engineering. He has worked for EPA for 22 years as a hazardous waste site cleanup manager in EPA’s Atlanta office, and in EPA Headquarters in enforcement and policy development, and presently serves as a Community Involvement Coordinator in EPA’s New York City office where he works on a number of sites in New York and New Jersey, including the Hudson cleanup project.

I have known and worked with Dan Mosley for almost 15 years, and every moment has been a great experience. In 1989, Peter Husby a biologist in EPA’s Richmond, California laboratory, and I started providing technical assistance to tribes. Our first task was to do a tribal bioassessment training hosted by the Washoe Tribe in Carson, NV. Little did I know there was a ringer in the crowd who knew more about aquatic organisms than I did, or ever will. So, what do you do with a ringer? Simple, we made him part of the tribal technical support team. It was the smartest move we ever made. Over the years Peter and I have learned more from Dan than he has learned from us. We learned about First Nation People, gained insights in working with tribal environmental programs, and acquired an appreciation and understanding of tribal cultural practices.

Dan has been working for Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (PLPT) since 1989. Dan recognized early the importance of bioassessments in detecting impairments from stressors on aquatic communities, and has applied his knowledge and expertise as an aquatic ecologist to the assessment of the condition of PLPT surface waters and biological resources. In his time at PLPT, Dan has worked to improve water quality and habitat for aquatic organisms and wildlife on the Pyramid Lake Reservation. Many of the concepts and programs Dan has established and managed at PLPT have been exported to other tribes. Dan has communicated his knowledgeable of ecology by teaching tribal members the benefits of establishing and sustaining a viable ecosystem using scientific evidence. The important component to understanding ecological function is to know tribal cultural practices, sacred sites and areas of natural vegetation cover present and past. Dan uses a practical approach in communicating these scientific concepts at the local level and to the scientific community.

As an aquatic ecologist, Dan has conducted trainings and provided technical assistance to Tribes, and has given presentations at numerous national and international workshops and conferences.

Dan was recently presented the Conner Byestewa, Jr., award for his environmental achievements. Conner Byestewa, Jr., was a strong advocate for new technology in agriculture, environmental protection, and water quality on tribal lands. Dan is also deserving of his recognition as an EPA Southwest Pacific Region Environmental Award winner.

About the author: Robert Hall is an environmental scientist for EPA Region 9’s Water Division. Robert provides technical assistance to all of Region 9’s tribes, which includes bioassessment training, strategic planning, grant writing and other water program trainings.

Did you know that water covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface? With that much water, it may be hard to imagine that water could ever be in short supply. However, out of that total amount of water, only 2.5% is fresh water. And, more than half of that is locked up in the polar ice-caps, leaving just a tiny percentage of the Earth’s water available for our use. Ironically, this relatively small amount of fresh water is all there is to serve more than the 6.7 billion people that live on this Earth,

We need water to satisfy our thirst, bathe ourselves, wash our dishes, water our crops, and take care of our pets. For some of us, it is a fortune to be able to use water for these purposes with no fear of ever running short. However, for some 600 million people, satisfying their own thirst is an impossible task. Less than 50% of people in Africa have access to safe drinking water. 20% of people living in the giant continent of Asia lack access to safe water. In several villages in Vietnam where I come from, people have to use water in the same pond for bathing, cooking, and drinking. The government has not passed legislation like the US’s Clean Water Act to protect its citizens. There is no fund or expertise to upgrade the water treatment system. Therefore, many people are or will become susceptible to disease vectors, pathogens, or contaminants. Around the world, the number of deaths associated with unclean water has mounted to 2.2 million.

If you are the person with great heart and want to share your beautiful world with others, then it is time for you to start taking action. There are faucets in your home that need to be checked and fixed as soon as possible because one leaking faucet can waste up to 2,750 gallons of water per year. Likewise, if you are brushing your teeth, then turning off that running faucet in front of you is necessary because one stuck faucet can waste more than 2,500 gallons of water every day. Remember, there is no need to join an organization to start changing the world or to save someone’s life because you can do all these things yourself!

About the author: Thanh Pham is an undergraduate student at George Mason University. She is interning with EPA this summer.

In 2009 dredging began in the Upper Hudson River to remove sediments with PCBs. Read more.

On August 14, a dredge operator working along the southeastern side of Roger’s Island, near the site of a colonial-era fort (built in the 1750s) that is the namesake of the Town of Fort Edward, unfortunately dislodged two timbers associated with the ancient fort’s purpose as a supply depot. Sadly, next to nothing is left of this important historical structure within the archaeological site that contains its artifacts, so the incident greatly alarmed local residents, historians, and archeologists.

Prior to the project’s start, archeologists extensively studied the river bank in the entire 40-mile project area, and they did a river bottom survey. However, because of the PCB contamination, they were not allowed to disrupt the river bottom. In their investigation of the six-mile dredge area (where the project is taking place this year), the archaeologists found and documented more than 10 underwater vessels, the timber thought to be part of the fort, and several other artifacts.

Because the timber was thought to be the only remaining remnant of the fort extending into the river, dredge operators were instructed to avoid it, as well as a section of the river where the timber rested. However, unbeknownst to everyone, another timber was buried in the sediment underneath the exposed timber, and this timber extended past the exclusion zone and into the area approved for dredging by EPA. This second timber was 21 feet long. When the dredge operator came in contact with the buried timber and pulled it upward, it caused the other (exposed) timber to come free from the riverbank.

A flurry of archeological activity has been focused on the timbers and riverbank. Although experts need to determine the extent of contamination of the timbers, this incident now provides an excellent opportunity to carry out a detailed archaeological investigation of both the land area of the fort site, as well as the in-river areas adjacent to the site. The work will focus on defining the context and function of the timbers in question, as well as adding to the understanding of the activities carried out at the fort by controlled excavation and subsequent analysis of recovered artifacts. Of particular interest to the officials in the Town of Fort Edward is the opportunity for the public to observe the excavations.

About the author: Kristen Skopeck is originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is an 11-year Air Force veteran and was stationed in California, Ohio, Texas, Portugal, and New York. After working for the USDA for three years, Kristen joined EPA in 2007 and moved to Glens Falls, NY to be a member of the Hudson River PCB dredging project team. She likes to spend her time reading, writing, watching movies, walking, and meeting new people.