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Tag Archives: public engagement

The Use of Living Shorelines

By Mary Schoell and Marnita Chintala

As we looked out over the water, sounds of laughter from distant kayakers could be heard over the soft ripples that lapped the eroded edge of salt marsh. From this view, it was easy to understand that Sengekontacket Pond—the same pond where Jaws was filmed 41 years ago—and the adjacent salt marsh habitat at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary represented the quintessential beauty of Martha’s Vineyard. However, this area is threatened by both impaired water quality and negative environmental changes, which have eroded almost ten feet of marsh in recent years.

The need for shoreline stabilization inspired a collaboration with the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, the Shellfish Departments of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, the University of Rhode Island, and a team of us from EPA’s Atlantic Ecology Division to address the social and ecological aspects of coastal restoration.

a group works on installing the living shorelines

The crew hard at work installing the living shoreline

For the ecological component we applied a natural approach to salt marsh restoration, called a living shoreline. This technique uses natural materials such as coconut fiber coir logs and oyster shell bags that cup the marsh edge (see photo to the right). These materials are arranged to reduce wave energy to both enhance the existing marsh and facilitate the growth of new salt marsh area.  Because of concerns with nutrient loading in Sengekontacket Pond, the project has also provided us with the perfect opportunity to examine how the use of alternative technologies such as a living shoreline can aid in nitrogen removal.

Understanding changes in nitrogen, water, soil, plant, and animal health at our sites over time will provide novel information about the practicality and success of living shorelines in New England. The endeavor also incorporates a University of Rhode Island social science study about the public response to this type of restoration and how personal interests and values influence and define restoration success.

hand made bags filled with shells

We designed and sewed our own biodegradable shell bags.

To date, we have installed two living shoreline areas. We have deployed close to 50 coir logs (12 ft long and 130 lbs each) and around 600 shell-filled bags (3 ft long and 30 lbs each) out onto the marsh this summer—making this surely one of the more physically demanding projects that we have gotten ourselves into here at the Atlantic Ecology Division.

Because this is a collaborative project, many stakeholders means many different values and needs. Although we designed this project as an experiment to answer specific quantitative questions about living shorelines, we quickly learned that compromise and communication are crucial for success. Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary values the preservation of nature and is committed to providing opportunities for the public to gain environmental awareness. To honor these goals, we tailored our sampling and monitoring methods to minimize the impact we have on the marsh landscape. To ensure that every piece of the project is environmentally friendly, we avoided the use of plastic shell bags and instead designed and sewed our own biodegradable bags. We have also created an informative poster so marsh visitors can learn about what we are monitoring along the shoreline and why it’s important to track these changes over time.panorama of shoreline

The project is at the interface of physical restoration, scientific research, social science, and public education. Not only will this living shoreline work help shape decision making in the context of shoreline stabilization techniques, but it will facilitate public awareness of salt marsh erosion and the need for natural shoreline restoration.

About the Authors: Mary Schoell is a student services contractor working with EPA’s Atlantic Ecology Division. Marnita Chintala is a Branch Chief at the Atlantic Ecology Division and is a Task Lead within the Sustainable and Healthy Communities research program.

 

Editor's Note: The views expressed here are intended to explain EPA policy. They do not change anyone's rights or obligations. You may share this post. However, please do not change the title or the content, or remove EPA’s identity as the author. If you do make substantive changes, please do not attribute the edited title or content to EPA or the author.

EPA's official web site is www.epa.gov. Some links on this page may redirect users from the EPA website to specific content on a non-EPA, third-party site. In doing so, EPA is directing you only to the specific content referenced at the time of publication, not to any other content that may appear on the same webpage or elsewhere on the third-party site, or be added at a later date.

EPA is providing this link for informational purposes only. EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of non-EPA information provided by any third-party sites or any other linked site. EPA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, internet applications or any policies or information expressed therein.

Posted in It All Starts with Science, Posted on August 24, 2016 | Tagged ecosystem services, marsh restoration, nitrogen removal, public engagement, shoreline stabilization, social science, Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research

On the Ground in Flint: How We’re Partnering with the Community

By Micah Ragland, Associate Administrator for Public Engagement and Environmental Education

Five generations of my family have called Flint, Michigan home. We’re Flintstones. We work hard and we are some of the best and strongest people you will meet. I was born here, spent the first part of my childhood here and still have many friends and relatives who reside in the city. To me, Flint is more than just a popular news headline about a city coping with contaminated water. It is a community that I cherish, populated with people I love.

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Associate Administrator for Public Engagement and Environmental Education, I am charged with leading the agency’s outreach efforts and developing strategies that enable the EPA and the entire federal response team to form meaningful partnerships with the city, local community organizations and advocates. Since January 2016, I have worked out of EPA’s command post in Flint and have assisted the agency with outreach efforts to keep residents up to date on measures they should take to safeguard their health as the city’s water system continues to recover.

One of the most important lessons I have learned in this position is that true community outreach is not just about informing the public on an issue. Effective community outreach is a multi-tiered approach that involves frequent engagement, active listening and getting feedback from the community. With this approach, we can deliver responsive and adaptable actions that reflect the sentiments of the people being served.

Over the last several months, EPA has partnered with two local community organizations – Michigan Faith in Action and Flint Rising – on door-to-door canvassing operations. EPA staff has assisted volunteers from these organizations in developing canvassing materials, knocking on over 10,000 doors, having over 5,000 conversations, and passing out thousands of EPA fact sheets.

This allows us to listen and receive valuable feedback from community members. EPA has developed a portfolio of over 500 public locations such as places of worship, libraries, schools, daycare centers, elderly centers, barber shops, beauty salons, community centers, and neighborhood associations that agency staff visit throughout the week to hear firsthand from residents on their sentiments and concerns. EPA staff have made over 500 visits to approximately 450 of these locations throughout Flint.

As part of this effort, I have been working with the City of Flint, and the State of Michigan on our #FlushforFlint campaign to encourage residents to run water from their kitchen sinks and bathroom tubs for 5 minutes each day for 14 straight days during the month of May. Because if we can get more water flowing in the water system, it will help flush out additional lead particles in the system. The State of Michigan is paying for the program and credit will be added to residents’ water bills.

Our team is in Flint and we’re not leaving until we get the water system back on track and we’re confident that the needs of the community are being met because to me, this is about more than just water, this is about my family and building a new foundation for all of the strong and hard-working Flintstones I care so deeply about.

Learn more about our work at www.epa.gov/flint.

Editor's Note: The views expressed here are intended to explain EPA policy. They do not change anyone's rights or obligations. You may share this post. However, please do not change the title or the content, or remove EPA’s identity as the author. If you do make substantive changes, please do not attribute the edited title or content to EPA or the author.

EPA's official web site is www.epa.gov. Some links on this page may redirect users from the EPA website to specific content on a non-EPA, third-party site. In doing so, EPA is directing you only to the specific content referenced at the time of publication, not to any other content that may appear on the same webpage or elsewhere on the third-party site, or be added at a later date.

EPA is providing this link for informational purposes only. EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of non-EPA information provided by any third-party sites or any other linked site. EPA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, internet applications or any policies or information expressed therein.

Posted in EPA Connect, Posted on May 4, 2016 | Tagged #FlushForFlint, contaminated water, Flint Michigan, flush for flint, public engagement, water

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