Note: This information is provided for reference purposes only. Although the information provided here was accurate and current when first created, it is now outdated.

"We will go where winds blow, waves dash, and the Yankee clipper sweeps by under full sail." - Walt Whitman

New Englanders love the Atlantic coastline. The ocean serves a variety of needs, contributing a great deal to the New England economy and our quality of life. As a result, a large majority of New England's growing population is concentrated in coastal areas , placing a great deal of pressure on the protected areas where freshwater from rivers mixes with salty sea water -- areas known as estuaries. Plants and animals in these sensitive ecosystems thrive in a delicate balance of nutrients and flow patterns unique to estuaries. This balance is increasingly under siege by large volumes of sewage, polluted runoff from city streets and parking lots, and heavy boating and shipping traffic. Our need to balance the commercial, recreational, and residential needs of a growing New England with the protection of sensitive coastal areas is a critical challenge before EPA and all New Englanders. The bond between shellfish and New England is as thick as clam chowder. The commercial shellfish harvest is worth about $200 million per year to the region and represents a livelihood for thousands of people. Recreational shellfishing -- the fun, messy harvesting of clams , oysters and mussels -- draws tourists to New England shoreline and mudflats every summer. The health of New England's shellfish beds is important not only as a source of economic strength and wholesome recreation; it is important also as an indicator of water quality along the coasts. To protect consumers from exposure to contaminated shellfish, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the states classify shellfish growing habitat based on levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the overlying water. These bacteria, which are present in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, are indicators that warn us that harmful contaminants, known as pathogens, may be present as well. Sources of pathogens contaminating shellfish beds include improperly treated or untreated sewage, storm water polluted with animal and other wastes, as well as other nonpoint (or diffuse) sources of pollution. Not surprisingly, shellfish beds permanently or conditionally closed for harvest are located in densely populated areas. Although the total acreage of open, productive shellfish beds has increased over the years, primarily due to offshore beds that have been opened to harvesting, the percentage of closed beds has increased. A disturbing trend in the last two decades is an increase in shellfish bed closures near suburban and rural areas (Fig. 2) . In the effort to open healthy shellfishing beds for commercial and recreational use, the tension between development and conservation is quite apparent. As the landscape becomes developed, previously vegetated areas are converted to impervious surfaces such as parking lots and rooftops and storm water runoff, which carries with it contaminants, increases dramatically. Instead of being absorbed into the ground and taken up by plants, rainwater is washed directly into streams and estuaries -- carrying with it any pollutants in its path. As a result of this phenomenon, shellfish beds often suffer; on Cape Cod, for instance, one of the fastest growing areas in New England, the acreage of productive clam flats closed or restricted rose from 700 acres in 1980 to 3500 acres in 1986. To combat these unwanted side effects of development, EPA has spearheaded community-based efforts to protect Casco Bay in Maine; Great Bay in New Hampshire; Massachusetts Bays and Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts; Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island; and Long Island Sound off Connecticut. This approach relies on coordination among federal agencies, local towns and state shellfish staff to increase monitoring, identify and address sources of pollution, and re-open formerly closed shellfish beds. In part thanks to these pollution control efforts, 40,000 acres of shellfish beds have been opened in Massachusetts in the last year, including 10,000 acres on Cape Cod. Harbor Masters, Port Authorities, and state and federal agencies continually grapple with the management of the large volumes of sand, silt, and mud -- known as sediment -- that accumulate in harbors and estuaries. For safe navigation, excess sediment must be dredged regularly, or removed, to ensure safe passage through shipping channels. Fully one million cubic yards of sediment are dredged from New England harbors on an annual basis to allow for the shipment of about 70 million tons of cargo. The discharge of wastewater, often treated sewage, and the runoff of stormwater, bringing with it pollutants from industrial activities and urban centers, often end up contaminating the sediment that needs to be dredged to allow boats to pass. While most of the sediment is not contaminated, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that between 5 and 15 percent of sediment is unsafe for disposal in open waters and requires particular care. These contaminants must be disposed of in a safe manner. Sediments can build up toxic contaminants such as trace metals (cadmium, lead, mercury), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which come from the use of petroleum products. These contaminants accumulate in sediments over time. They are a problem because they pose a direct risk to the health of bottom-dwelling plants and animals. Fish and shellfish, which are further up the food chain, sometimes develop lesions and other abnormalities and in turn can be hazardous to humans consuming them. A winter flounder, for instance, is more at risk of developing cancer in estuaries with contaminated sediments like Salem Sound, Boston Harbor, New Bedford Harbor, and New Haven Harbor than in areas with clean sediments, such as Pleasant Bay on Cape Cod. Contaminated sediments are a particularly challenging environmental issue because the problem cannot be fixed simply by eliminating the source of pollution. For example, sediments in Salem Sound in Massachusetts still exhibit high levels of chromium, a compound formerly used to cure leather in tanneries. The vast majority of the tanneries in that area, however, are no longer operating. EPA and its sister agencies are addressing the problem of contaminated sediments in two ways. Where possible, we are working with the states and local communities to prevent pollutants from getting in the water in the first place. And where it is already too late to prevent the pollution, EPA is working to find suitable options for the treatment and disposal of contaminated sediments. These tasks can be complex and expensive. But because keeping the navigational channels of New England's ports open and safe is such a necessity, this work is very important to the economic and environmental health of the region. Just as a houseplant needs the right combination of water and sunlight, plants and marine life in estuaries need the right amount of nitrogen for healthy growth. If there is too little nitrogen, plants do not get enough of a nutrient they need; if there is too much nitrogen in an estuary, then planktonic algae grows, which can cause a problem for plant and animal life in the estuary. When the surplus algae that grew because of the high level of nitrogen dies, decays and settles to the bottom, large volumes of oxygen are consumed in the process. This shortage of oxygen causes a condition known as hypoxia. Hypoxia means that there are inadequate levels of dissolved oxygen to support healthy populations of lobsters, fish, and other aquatic life. As part of the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) -- which is funded in part by EPA -- academic, state and federal scientists have conducted extensive monitoring over the past decade to characterize water quality and provide direction to state and federal management efforts. The study confirmed that excessive nitrogen discharges were the primary cause of hypoxia in the Sound. Ammonia in sewage treatment plant effluent is a major source of nitrogen to the Sound. Every day, over a billion gallons of treated sewage is released into the Sound -- a product of the 8 million people who live and work in the Long Island Sound watershed area. Recently, we have been able to stop additional environmental degradation from occurring thanks to major efforts in installing de-nitrofication equipment at municipal wastewater treatment plants along the Sound. In Connecticut, installation of control equipment at 12 treatment plants will be completed by December 1996, resulting in a decrease of 5,000 pounds per day of nitrogen discharged to Long Island Sound. Sound protection efforts today are focused on pursuing additional nitrogen reduction from both point and nonpoint sources. Using a computer model to predict the changes in dissolved oxygen levels that would result from varying levels of nitrogen reduction, EPA and the state environmental agencies in New York and Connecticut are working together to implement a phased approach to reducing "nitrogen loadings" -- instances in which nitrogen accumulates in the water -- from sewage treatment plants and nonpoint sources. The model allows EPA to compare dissolved oxygen levels in the Sound with different nitrogen loading scenarios, from pre-settlement times to the present day. The model, (Fig. 3), can also predict what conditions will be like after we have reduced the level of nitrogen in the future . Among our most important coastal wetlands are the extensive eelgrass meadows found in protected shallow bays along the New England coast. One of the reasons that Penobscot Bay in Maine, for instance, is such a critical environmental resource is that it boasts the most extensive eelgrass beds in New England. These meadows consist of a single species of plant, Zostera marina, and the numerous animals and seaweeds that live on or among its long thin blades. In addition to providing important habitat and nursery areas for juvenile fish and other estuarine life, eelgrass meadows function as natural pollution control systems by keeping sediments near the shore in place and absorbing nutrients from the water column. Eelgrass is also a valuable indicator of how clear the water is because, like all plants, it cannot thrive without adequate light. The abundance of eelgrass meadows has declined since the 1800s in part because of naturally-occurring disease. More recently, their recovery has been hampered by waters that are too rich in nutrients, erosion of the surrounding coastline, dredging, and boating. EPA and its state and local partners are becoming increasingly interested in protecting the remaining eelgrass meadows. Locating and mapping existing eelgrass beds is the first step in protecting them. Over the past year, EPA's New England office has begun to develop a detailed regional inventory which has already been used in planning dredging projects and in influencing port development. For example, the need to protect extensive eelgrass beds near Sears Island -- the largest uninhabited island on the Maine coast -- was a major factor in the state's decision to drop plans to develop a shipping port on the island.