Other Long Island Sound Issues

Floatable Debris

Floatable Debris - EFFECTS

• Unsightly • Strangulation/entanglement of marine

organisms• Choking marine organisms• Hazard to navigation

Floatable Debris - Sources

• Boaters• CSOs – combined sewer

overflows

• Beachgoers• Runoff from street litter

Toxic Contaminants

• Poisons in the water• Cause acute (sudden) or chronic (long-term)

effects on organisms• Bioaccumulate through food web• Can pose problems for human consumers of

seafood (warnings for striped bass, eel and bluefish in LIS)

Toxic Contaminants - SOURCES

point sourcesfrom one particular spot such as a sewage treatment plant

or discharge pipe

non-point sourcesfrom all over such as stormwater runoff ,

atmospheric deposition and groundwater

watershed – the entire land area that drains into a stream, river, lake, estuary or ocean

• Long Island Sound watershed covers 16,245 square miles

• Long Island Sound watershed extends to Canada

• Any pollutants in this watershed wash into Long Island Sound

Thermal Pollution

• Power plants take in water to cool the plant• Warm water is discharged back to LIS• Organisms can only tolerate specific temperature

ranges• Speeds up metabolism• Prevents seasonal migrations• Affects spawning times• Lowers dissolved oxygen• Can increase disease incidences

Thermal Pollution

Northport Power PlantPort Jefferson Power Plant

Also power plants in Connecticut at Waterford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Norwalk

Dredging and Dredge Disposal

• Underwater excavation of bottom sediments• Disposed in another location

Dredging

• Sediments settle and accumulate on bottom

• > 500 million cubic yards per year in U.S.

• Dredged for navigation - clear waterways,harbors, ports, marinas, channels- oil delivery and othertransport- recreational boats- defense

Dredge Disposal• Dredged material must be disposed somewhere –

LIS, ocean, on land?• Disposal site depends on level of toxic

contamination of sediments• Uncontaminated

dredged material may be used forbeach nourishment, fill, construction, cap landfills

Dredge Disposal - PROBLEMSDisturbs benthic communities at dredge site, disposal area and nearby

– Kills existing organisms by smothering them– Change grain size of sediment– Replace one benthic community by another –

ecological succession may occur– May upset benthic fisheries (clams, lobsters, flounder)

and submerged vegetation (eelgrass beds)

Dredge Disposal - PROBLEMS• Increases turbidity of water

• Often dredged from industrialized areas• Sediments may contain toxic contaminants,

including:mercury, lead, copper, PCBs and pesticides

• Sediments resuspended when dredging occurs

Dredge Disposal - EFFECTS

• Can be long-term degradation of ecosystem due to contaminants• Chronic effects on organisms• Biomagnification of toxic contaminants up food web – even to humans

Dredge Disposal - OPTIONS

• Cap disposal sites to prevent leaching of contaminants to water and isolate contaminants from organisms

• Dredge from inner harbor (more polluted) to outer harbor (less polluted) – less polluted covers more polluted sediments

• Locate dump sites in deeper water

Dredge Disposal - OPTIONS

• Restrict dredging and disposal to fall and winter (less biological activity)

• Can use on-land sites or containment islands instead

• Put dump sites in areas with high natural rate of deposition – less likely to erode

2005 – NY and CT agreed to phase out all dumping of untreated and contaminated dredged material in LIS and develop a management plan to deal with it

Dredge material disposal sites in LIS

Underwater Cables

• 2 electric transmission cables between CT & NY• Several fiber optic telecommunications cables

between CT and NY• Others within CT or NY waters• On or beneath

sea floor

Cross Sound Cable - electric

• 24 miles long• Connects New England power grid with L.I. power grid• Connects New Haven, CT to Shoreham, NY• Power mostly flows toward L.I.• Was supposed to begin operations in 2002 – legal fight• Started after blackout in 2003• Buried beneath floor of LIS

1385 Cables - electric

• Runs between Norwalk, CT and Northport, NY• series of 7 cables• older – operating since 1970• lay on bottom• have been punctured by boat anchors and

coolant around cable released• removed and replaced – 2008 – now buried 6

feet beneath bottom – now 3 cables

Underwater Cables - PROBLEMS

• Older ones are filled with oil as insulation – leaks if punctured by anchors – has happened in LIS

• Construction disrupts benthic communities – including productive shellfish beds

• Benthic communities do not recover to original state

Natural Gas Pipelines – Iroquois Pipeline

• Carries natural gas from Canada

• Crosses LIS from Milford, CT to Northport, NY

• Sections of pipe are on or buried beneath seafloor

• Branch to NYC• Would connect to

Broadwater LNG facility

example of a natural gas pipeline on land

Proposed and Existing Natural Gas Pipelines

Natural Gas Pipelines - PROBLEMS

• Construction disrupts benthic communities – including productive shellfish beds

• Benthic communities do not recover to original state

• Potentially hazardous if punctured

Long Island Sound Crossings: Ferries

• Port Jefferson to Bridgeport• Orient Point to New London

Long Island Sound Crossings:Bridges

• bridges crossing LIS have been proposed in the past but have never been built

Long Island Sound Crossings:Tunnel

• Proposed in fall 2007• Travel between Syosset, LI and Rye, West

Chester• World’s longest highway tunnel = 16 – 18

miles• Would be privately financed, owned and

operated – for profit – cost $10 billion• Cost $25 per car• Expected traffic = 80,000 cars per day

Long Island Sound Crossings:Tunnel

proposed path

Long Island Sound Crossings:Tunnel

• Purpose is to relievetraffic congestionaround NYC andreduce air pollution

• Must go throughmajor permitting

• Open around 2025• Underground and under Sound = less opposition• Parks on top of entrances• Three lanes each direction

Oil Spills• Major transport route of oil to NYC and other

LIS ports• Potential for damaging oil spills• Have been minor oil spills in the past• Effects on organisms, including

fisheries

Wind Farms

• Alternative, renewable source of energy• None currently planned for LIS• May be in future• Plans for wind farms off

Jones Beach (cancelled)and Cape Cod

cancelled

Habitat Destruction• Especially salt marshes, tidal flats, seagrasses• Filling in for development• Draining for agriculture• Dredged for marinas• Ditching for mosquito control• Fragmentation – breaking

into smaller pieces• Increased turbidity

Invasive Species

• Introduced or non-native• Often no natural predators• Often outcompete native species• Can do major economic damage• Almost impossible to remove• Often spread due to connectivity of the water

Invasive Species - EXAMPLES

Asian shore crab

Phragmites – common reed

Green crab

Codium – dead man’s fingers

Global Warming

Global Warming - EFFECTS

• Increase LIS temperature• May have contributed to lobster die-off• Make hypoxia worse• Sea level rise – damages coastal habitats• Increased shoreline erosion• Increase ocean acidity – corrode shells• Salt water contamination of drinking water• Affect species distribution