Jan-Feb 2003 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter

8/9/2019 Jan-Feb 2003 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter

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Bright Future for Jerseys M eadow lands

In 1968 New Jersey chartered a new regional planning entity called theHackensack M eadowlands Development Com mission. Last year this agencywas retitled the New Jersey M eadowlands Comm ission. With the new namecame stronger resolve to acquire and preserve 8,400 acres of wetlands in theMeadow lands District encompassing 14 north Jersey towns that face New YorkCity.

The revised nom enclature and mission underscore a substantial shift inthought about the meadow lands, home to 55 rare bird and 29 rare fish species. This

ecologically fr agile, 21,000 acre area has long pr incipally been a heavily polluteddumping ground for trash and a focal point for developers to drain wetlands forhighw ays, sports facilities, shopping malls, housing com plexes and industrial sites.The new concept calls for economic grow th to be concentrated on already devel-oped areas or on t he reuse of brow nfield properties, leaving m ajor portions of theregion off lim its to development of any sort.

Some 7000 acres w ill become a nature preserve tenfold the size of NewYork Citys Central Park. On the development side, the Tampa, Florida firm EnCapInc. has embarked on a $1 bill ion scheme to transform six ol d landfil ls into a 72-holegolf resort complex. The M ills Corporation of Arli ngton, Virginia has abandoned acontroversial proposal to install a huge shopping center on Meadowlands wetland(Atlantic CoastWatch, March/April 2001). Instead, the company recently concluded adeal to morph the Continental Arena, a sports center built on dry land in East

Rutherfo rd, into a $1.3 bill ion famil y entertainment and recreation com plex.(Continued, p. 8)

Statehouse Paradigm Shift?

At the federal level, all but a few Republicans tend to remain faithful to theWhite House wi th regard to environm ental issues. With in many Atlantic coastalstates, Republicans have become just about as likely as Democrats to championenvironmental causes.

Strongest environmental advocate among new Republican Atlantic coastalgovernors is M itt Romney of Massachusetts. His campaign included strong pleasfor a clean environment. A key appointment to his team was that of Douglas Foy

as chief of comm onwealth development in charge of housing , transportation ,environment, and energy. Form erly head of the pri vate, nonprofi t ConservationLaw Foundation, Foy is know n for having sued the state to clean up Boston harbor.In publ ic office one o f Foys early acts was to propose cutbacks in the states fleet of nonessential SUVs. With assistance from Foy, Romney also announced a $15mi llion Green Energy Fund to help state-based renewable energy businesses.

Rhode Islands new Republican governor, businessman and pol itical noviceDon Carciere, gladdened environm entalists hearts by quashing a long-simm eringproposal to transform the old Quonset Point Naval Air Station in to an expensive andecologically destructive port for container ships. Al l five candidates for the

(Continued, p. 7)

News For Coastal Advocates

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Jersey Meadowlands

Statehouse Shifts

Sayings

Cour ts & the Seashore

Bridge Loans

Publications

LI Sound Cable Issues

Asian Oysters in Bay?

Golf Course Runoff

Environm ental Film Festival

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Recurring

People; Awards; Species &Habitats; Restorations;

Report Cards; Products;Funding;

Atlantic CoastWatchis a bimonthlynonprofit newsletter fo r those inter-ested in t he environmentally sound

development of the coastlinefrom the Gulf of Maine

to the Eastern Caribbean.

Coastal News Nuggets, our weeklynews headline service, is available

through the Atlanti c CoastWatch website: www.atlanticcoastwatch.org.

Atlantic CoastWatch

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January - February 2003


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Sayings

From an article entitl ed Conservation i s Conservative, by w riter andenvironmentalistDuane Pierson,recently published inNorthern Sky News:

Republ ican leaders continue to misread and m isunderstand the environ-

mental m ovement. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both came into of fice witha top priority to stamp out Public Enemy Num ber onethe environmentalists. Bothpresidents were soon shocked to find their perceptions not as commonly acceptedas they thought, particularly w ithin the Republican rank and file.

How can these Republican leaders repeatedly be wrong? They suffer ahistor ical mistake com mon to pol itical leaders. They develop a scapegoat, usuallyby creating a negative stereotype. It becomes the opposition force; an evil thatembodies all that does not comfortably fit w ithin friendly designs. Environm ental-ists make an easy enemy. In reality environm entalism is an all-encom passingconcept. Every element in our existence from b iology to econom ics is a factor. It isno wonder there is so much misuse and confusion. Here are some considerations:

Environmentalism is the most conservative of m ovements. We have a

strange semanti c situation in our society where those who demand radical changeand exploitation call themselves conservatives. There is nothing m ore conservativethan saving and preserving what is.

Environm entalism is basically a scientifi c endeavor rather than a poli ticalmovement. Its bedrock is the rigorous science of ecology, the study of the relation-ships and interactions between living organisms and their natural or developedenvironment. Extrem ists, left and right, make it a socio-politi cal issue.

The need for scientifi c credulity. Those who do not understand science arenot aware that no matter how strong a scientifi c tenet, someone can always befound to disagree. This factor plays into the hands of those who have reactionaryreasons to disagree.

Technology wi ll save us. There are those who can justify any course ofaction by rationalizing that if we go wrong technology w ill rescue us. The infallibilityof technology i s not necessarily true, nor alw ays desirable.

Quality of life vs. standard of livi ng. We are always in conf lict betw eenthose thingsoften very simplethat add quality to our li ves and those thingsusually materialthat bring us material well-being.

In summary, we need to accentuate the positive. Capitalism and conserva-tion are positi ve forces. There is no need for them to dem onize each other. Capital-ism brings us good things. Conservation preserves good things. Work it out.

Courts & the Seashore

In May 1993, says the Florida Keys National M arine Sanctuary, adredge pipe being towed by a tug came loose and dragged along the bottom ofFlorida Bay. The result w as a 13-mile scar and the destruction o f 196,764 squarefeet of seagrass and other sanctuary resources. Another tug, attempting to passthe one slowed by the dragging pipe, ran aground and did extensive furtherdamage to seagrass and coral. Lawsuits filed by NOAA against Great LakesDredge and Dock Com pany and Coastal M arine Towing have resulted insettlements totaling alm ost $1.6 mi llion for dam ages and to recover restorationcosts. The latest award o f almost $1 mi llion is the largest ever made for damagesto seagrass in the sanctuary. URL: ww w.fknms.nos.noaa.gov

(Continued, p. 3)

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Atlantic CoastWatch

Vol. 7, No. 1

A project of the SustainableDevelopment Institute, which seeksto heighten the environmental quality ofeconomic development efforts, in

coastal and in forest regions, bycommunicating information about betterpol icies and practices. SDI is classifiedas a 501(c)(3) organization, exempt fromfederal income tax.

Board of Directors

Freeborn G. Jewett, Jr., ChairmanRobert J. Geniesse, Chairman EmeritusRoger D. Stone, PresidentHart Fessenden, TreasurerHassanali Mehran, SecretaryEdith A. CecilDavid P. HuntGay P. Lord

Lee PettySimon Sidamon-Eristoff

Staf f

Roger D. Stone, Director & PresidentShaw Thacher, Project ManagerRobert C. Nicholas III, Contr. EditorSarah Dixon, Program AssociateAnita G. Herrick, CorrespondentLaura W. Roper, Correspondent

Major Donors

Avenir FoundationThe Fair Play Foundation

The Curtis and Edith MunsonFoundation

With Appreciation

In 2002 Atlantic CoastWatch received atotal of $50,100 in financial support from110 different donors. We should like toreiterate our special thanks to our majordonor s listed above. They collectivelyprovided $20,000 of the total. Thosewho donated smaller but nonethelessgreatly appreciated amounts in 2002, notlisted in previous issues of the newslet-ter, were:

Richard W. Angle, Jr.Douglas BankerJohn S. ChatfieldThomas J. DevineFreeborn G. Jewett Jr.Ellen H. KellyRobert Leeson Jr.Hunter LewisLee M. PettyFrederick A.O. Schwarz Jr.J.T. SmithHenry S. Ziegler


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Courts & the Seashore, Continued from p. 2

After struggling for more than four years, the South Carolina CoastalConservation League (SCCCL) and 14 other plain tiffs have won a signal courtvictory for the states extensive publi c trust tidelands. The states Office ofCoastal and Resource M anagement (OCRM) and LandTech Inc. had argued in

favor of a private bridge, to be constructed across public marsh, to facilitatedevelopm ent of 29-acre Park Island along the Wando River near the town of Mt.Pleasant. Overturning an earlier ruling, circuit court Judge Victor Raw l unearthed no evidence in the record supporting a finding of public need for such a bridge.Even though the Rawl ruling i s itself already being challenged, SCCCL feels that animportant point has been made about the need to protect public marshes. Said theLeagues water quality director Nancy V inson: Judge Rawls ruling hasat leastfor the tim e beingcurtailed the onslaught of proposals to build pr ivate bridgesacross the publics marshes to hundreds of remaini ng small islands.

Since 2000, the Water Keeper Alliance and local co-plainti ffs have beenmounting a strenuous legal campaign against North Carolinas giant industrial hogindustry. The campaign, said the Alliances southeastern representative Rick Dovein testimony to the US Senate Committ ee on Government Affairs, is designed

to address pollu tion and health problems caused by the hog industry. The goal,Dove added, is to civilize the factory pork industry through a series of lawsuits andadmin istrative actions under federal environm ental laws, state nuisance andhealth laws, and the federal racketeering law (RICO). Recently the effort suffered asetback when the state Court of Appeals dismissed the coalitions court claim thathog industry leaders should pay the full cost of cleaning up waterways impacted byhog w aste, and also end their use of unhealthy li quefied manure lagoons and cropsprayfields. The groups had no standing on w hich to sue the companies to achievecleaner rivers, the court argued. Wrote Judge Albert Thomas: The state is thesole party able to seek non-individualized, or publ ic, remedies for alleged harm topubl ic waters. URL: ww w.waterkeeper.org

Bridge Loans Clinch Land Deals

For years the Delaware & Raritan Greenway, central New Jerseysregional land conservancy, had been eager to secure protection for a key 58-acrepiece of property in the Sourl and Mountains. As last year neared an end, negotia-tions w ith the owners for the purchase of a conservation easement were welladvanced. But whi le they required a closing on the deal in 2002, it was becomingapparent that prom ised state funding would not arrive in tim e.

Enter a deus ex machina: the innovative New Jersey Conservation LoanProgram, wh ich was able to m ove quickly and wi re a $230,000 bridge loan into theD&R bank account on December 20. The deal closed. Linda M ead, D&Rs execu-tive director, says that the state funding is solid and fully approved, and that theloan will be repaid in the near future. Everybody w ins. The loan is the first for aninnovative program recently announced by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

in M orristown. The foundation has committed an initial $2.5 million in bridge loanfunds to help nonprofi t groups protect open space in key areas of the stateshigh lands, its pine barrens, and the Delaware Bay shoreline.

The aim of the fund is to supply br idge loans to smaller land trusts andother nonpro fits that too often lack the ready cash to close open space preservationdeals at the critical moment. Established as a Program Related Investment, thefund i s being administered by New Yorks Open Space Institut e. Its bridge loansto New Jersey recipients wi ll usually exceed $200,000 in magnitude. The durationof almost all loans to be made under the program w ill be less than one year, at a 3%interest rate. Loans are guaranteed by the balance sheet of the borrow er.

(Continued, p. 6)

People

Ed Woodsum , Board Chairm an of theM aine Coast Heritage Trust , for 30years, has retired. During hisextended tenure over 110,000 acresand 275 coastal islands w ere con-served. Incom ing chairm an is Rich-ard G. Rockefeller.

The founder of the Pelican MansBird Sanctuary, Dale Shields, diedat age 75. Shields started helpinginjured pelicans out of his hometwenty years ago. Since then his wo rkhas grown to have 24 people on staff,300 volunteers, a mailing list of 25,000and an annual budget of $1 mil lion.

Environmental crusader John Coledied at age 79. Cole was the co-founder of Maine Times, a weeklyenvironm ental newspaper, as well as

an author and conservationist. Hetried to protect every part of M aine,speaking out on issues such asdeforestation and hunting. He was theauthor of many books including LifeList: Remem bering th e Birds ofM y Years(Atlantic CoastWatch,August 1998).

Dawn Gallagher has been named tohead Maines Department ofEnvironmentalProtection.Gallagher has an M A in public admin-istration, and a law degree from the

University of M aine. For the pastfive years Gallagher has been a legaladviser, legislative li aison and adeputy commissioner for the MaineConservation Department .

Former Maryland Governor Parris N.Glendening , now a private citizen, ismaintaining his strong interest inmanaging grow th and preservingopen space. Recently he was namedhead of the Washington, DC-basedSmart Growt h Leadership Insti-tute, part of a larger organization

called Smart Growth Am erica. TheInstitute trains state and local offi cialsin sprawl-control techniques. InMaryland, meanwhile, the Depart-ment of Nat ural Resources paidtribu te to Glendenings many open-space accomp lishments. The southernportion o f the 2180-acre ChapmansForest property that Glendeninghelped save from development will becalled the Parris N. GlendeningNatural Environment Area.

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Publications

z Sustainable Planet(Beacon Press 2002) presents 16 inspir ing andpractical essays on how we can spend less, consume less, and restore greaterbalance to our li ves. Co-editors are Juliet Schor, a wr iter and professor atBoston University, and Betsy Taylor, executive director of the Center for theNew A merican Dream. Authors include green architect William McDonough,green econom ist Herman Daly, and Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez.Follow ing on m odels built by the late Aldo Leopold and elaborated in such earlierworks as Nat ural Capitalismby McDonough and the businessman Paul Haw kenSustainable Planetoffers sound guidelines for how to transform green dreams intoworkable, everybody-wins scenarios for life on the already-battered planet duringthe new century.

z The Dance of the Flying Gurnardsby John Waldman (Lyons Press2002) explores not only these flying fish lookalikes, but a cornucopia of naturaloccurrences along the coastline of North America. We learn of a guidebook help-fully no ting that the effects of a stingrays lance only seem fatal (Captain JohnSmith had his grave dug before recovering to eat the ray). Aristotle, although akeen observer of nature, believed that eels arose spontaneously from the mud

(they breed in the Sargasso Sea). The fortunately in frequent tsunami can strikewi th a force of 50 tons per square yard while a more common 12 foot breaker canstill pack 1,755 pounds a square foot to carve a coastline. Why sperm w hales makeambergr is, whats Saint Elmos fire, where birds and butterflies migrate and thebest places to spot them: its all in here, and written w ith a light touch.

z A recent EPA Office of Waterrelease is Community Culture and theEnvironment: A Guide t o U nderstanding a Sense of Place. The volumeprovides detailed guidance on how comm unity groups m ight w ork together to planthe assessment o f a region and fo rm a design for it s management based on sharedaspirations. Watershed planning is emphasized. A lso included is useful practicalmaterial about inform ation already available and how to get it, and a set of com-mun ity case studies. URL: ww w.epa.gov/ecocomm unity

z Generalists wr iting about coastal issues stand to benefit f rom the newedition of Coastal Science Experts, a comprehensive resource directory recentlypublished by the m edia relations office of the Nat ional Sea Grant CollegeProgram . Scholars willing to talk with w riters are grouped by discipline andlocation. Complete contact information is prov ided. URL: ww w.seagrantnews.org

z Newly published by the nonprofit organization Environmental Guide-lines is The Environmental Guidebook. This 312 page volum e profil es 500organizations and information sources concerned with environmental issues. Acompanion CD-Rom prov ides 15,000 pages of material referenced in the gui de-book, as well as 3,800 Internet hotlinks to addit ional inform ation. URL:www.envirofront.org

z Local Knowledge and Local Stocks: An At las of Groundfish

Spawning in t he Bay of Fundy(Centre for Community Based Management2002) provides detailed historic and current information and maps defining spawn-ing areas for the regions principal groundfish species. Purpose of the document,and the research that preceded it, is to imp rove fishery management. Authors areJennifer Graham and M aria Recchia of the Centre for Com munity BasedManagement in Antigonish, N.S. Stephen Engle of the Quebec-LabradorFoundation/Atlantic Center f or t he Environment in Ipswich, MA producedlayout, design, and m aps. URL: ww w.stfx.ca/institutes/ccbm

z The M id Atlantic Gardeners Guide(Cool Springs Press, 2003) describescare and other requirements for 182 native plants for the region . Authors are well-known gardeners Andre and M ark Viette, and garden wr iter Jaqueline Heriteau.

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Awards

The US Fish and Wildlife Service

and the Georgia Soil and WaterCommission granted a Private LandsStewardship Award to Bob andSusan Woodall. The Woodall s haveset aside 533 acres of their 750 acre

farm as wildlife habitat, while usingthe remain ing 162 acres for l ivestockproduction. Alm ost two miles offencing keep livestock from enteringstreams, and 55 acres of bu ffer havebeen created to help filt er pasture run-off.

President Bush selected MarshallJones, deputy director of the US Fishand Wildlife Service as a recipient ofa Presidential Rank Award, gi venannually to career senior executivesto recognize long-term achievements.Jones served as acting director forover a year after the January 2001presidential inauguration, helping theservice transition to the new leader-ship of Steve Williams.

Species & Habitats

A recent study of the Caribbean spinylobster has provided evidence that aninvertebrate can possess true naviga-tion skills. Until this study, scientistsdid not believe invertebrates couldhave such a complex system. Accord-ing to research by Larry Boles andKenneth Lohmann published in the

journal Nature, the Caribbean spinylobster uses the earths magnetic f ieldto find its way hom e. The mineralmagneti te has been detected inlobsters and m ay be how the lobsterssense the earths magnetic fields.

Mary lands oyster harvest may reacha new low . According to Eric C.Schwaab, director of the Depart-ment of N atural ResourcesFisheries Service, only 28,000 bushelshad been harvested through Decem-ber. This may m ean season totals ofless than 80,000 bushels, the statesrecord low to date. Drought condi-tions kept salinity in the bay high,creating a thriving environment forparasites such as MSX and Dermo.The result is higher wholesale pricesand more im ported oysters.

Oil pollution is threatening seabirds off

the Atlanti c Coast of Canada. World


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LI Sound Cable Issues

In May 2002, the Cross-Sound Cable Co. installed a 24 mi le-long cableacross Long Island Sound from New Haven, Connecticut to Sho reham, New York.Cross-Sound is a joint venture between Hydro-Quebec and United IlluminatingCo , aimed at bring ing cheaper Canadian power to Long Island.

Past troubles with the project include damage to New Haven harbor clam sassociated wi th the cable laying. For a different reason, the company has yet toreceive perm ission to turn on the $130 mi llion 330-megawatt line. The requireddepth of the cable is 48 feet below the mean low -water mark, and the cable hasfailed to reach this level in eigh t places in New Haven Harbor. Seven of the loca-tions are soft bottom areas, while the eighth is a 600 foot section of bedrock.

Despite not m eeting regulations, Cross-Sound has put in num erousrequests to turn the switch on while attempting to fix the problem areas. The hopeis to have the cable operational in tim e for summ er 2003, when energy use willpeak on the pow er-hungry i sland. Connecticuts Departm ent of EnvironmentalProtection (DEP) currently has a moratorium on new energy lines in Long IslandSound. This moratorium does not expire until June 2003. In addition to the morato-

rium , there is a ban on harbor excavation dur ing shellfish spawning season, whichextends from June until fall.

Early in 2003 the company went to the states Superior Court in its mostrecent effort to activate the cable. According to the New Haven Register, Cross-Sound lawyer William H. Prout Jr. claims the DEP should rule on Cross-Soundsrequest because the moratorium doesnt apply to requests for minor modi fica-tions of existing permits. Richard Blumenthal, state attorney general, defendedthe DEP in its decision to follow the moratorium. Blumenthal challenged the claim of minor changes to the permit, mentioning the 600 feet of bedrock as a largerprob lem. The company expects a ruling from Judge Lynda B. M unro by mid-March. Says company spokesperson Rita Bowlby: We are very optimistic onthis. URL: ww w.crosssoundcable.com

Asian Oysters in the Chesapeake?

With the Chesapeake Bay oyster harvest heading for an all-tim e low (seeSpecies & Habitats, p.4), interest mounted this winter in long-simm ering proposalsto introduce an Asian species in Bay waters. The question is whether Cassotreaariakensis, a species of oyster found along the coast of China, can successfullyresist the two diseases that have ravaged oysters native to the Bay and also passthe consum er taste test.

Even though the possibility of in troducing the Asian oysters is attractive inmany quarters, scientists continue to express concerns about the introduction of anexotic species. Last year Maryland and Virginia solicited the advice of the National

Academy of Sciences whose report is expected later this year.

Pre-empting those results, the Virginia M arine Resources Commissionrecently decided to proceed. The Virginia plan calls for 1 mi llion Asian oysters to beplaced in 10 Bay locations thi s summer to see how they do. The oysters w ill bepackaged for easy retrieval, and genetically altered to be sterile.

Virginias plan meets all but one of conditions set by Maryland o fficials alsoconsidering the question. Maryland , wh ich supports the Virginian program in allother respects, wanted the Asian oysters back out o f the water by June 2004;Virginia intends to leave them in the water until April 2005. While no one in

(Continued, p. 7)

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Wildlife Fund Canada reports thatup to 300,000 auks and other seabirdsdie annually from oil purposelyreleased into the sea. This is alm ostequivalent to the num ber killed by theExxon Valdezoil spill. The areaCanada must patrol i s large, andpolluters often get away wi th illegaldumping. The fines and penalties donot deter violators. Governmentofficials are hoping new satellitetechnology w ill increase the ability todetect and catch i llegal releases of oil.

The Maine urchin fishery w ill remainopen this season, but officials mayshut it down next year. Only about10% of the stock remains alongsouthern Maines coast after a decadeof intensive harvesting, according topeer-reviewed com puter modelingdata compil ed by researcher YongChen at the University of Maine.

An emergency shutdown that thestates Department of M arineResources considered for thi s yeardid not happen for fear of a lawsuit.Even some fishermen are in suppor tof a closure. According to the PortlandPress Herald, state officials polled 359licensed fisherman about the move,and received a response from 87. 38fishermen, 44% of those who re-sponded, suppor ted a closure. URL:www.state.me.us/dmr

Restorations

Marylands summ er flounder fi sherymay face fewer restrictions in 2003.According to Phil Jones of theFisheries Service of the MarylandDepartm ent of N atural Resources,the flounder stock is improving andcan almost be declared restored. The2002 regulations included a mid-season closure, 17-inch minim um sizelimit and daily catch lim it of 8 perperson. Options for 2003 includemaintaining 2002 regulations, elim i-nating the m id-season closure or

reducing the minim um size, oreliminating the closure and reducingthe minimum size limi t.

Invasive species are again threateningthe Everglades. One concern is OldWorld climbing fern, which presentlycovers about 110,000 acres of SouthFlorida. According to the SouthFlorida Sun Sentinel, PatrickGleason, board member for theSouth Florida Water M anagement


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Bridge Loans, Continued from p. 3

The Dodge Foundations hope is not only that the fund w ill replenish it selfthrough repayments; but that future infusions of new capital will cause it to grow toperhaps $5 million or even $10 million . Though other foundations have in various

ways suppor ted efforts to pro tect open space, Dodge program offi cer RobertPerry knows of no other program in the Atlantic coastal zone with a similar struc-ture and purpose. We had to build it fr om scratch, he says.

In some instances, funds already lodged within land trusts can help landthe deal. The M aine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) for example, recently an-nounced its $4.1 mi llion acquisition of 775 acres or 80% of the magni ficent, almosttotally undeveloped M arshall Island in Jericho Bay southw est of Mt. Desert Island.The prio r owners, conservation-m inded Richard and M arcia Herrington, hadpurchased the land at auction in 1992 after developers proposing a 14-housesubdivision lost it to bank foreclosures. The Herringtons had turned down m anypurchase offers before coming t o terms with MCHT.

While funds from the state as well as from private sources are ultim atelyexpected to finance the project, the most ambi tious in M CHTs 33 year history,what m ade the closing possible was bridge financing from its own revolving loanfund. This has been on our wish list for many years, says MCHT developm entdirector Janice Wingate. Were just thril led that its really happening.

MCHT, Wingate adds, also finds opportun ities to help smaller local landtrusts in the state. Just a few thousand dol lars can often make or break the deal.And were pleased to be able to chip in w hen we can.

But the participation of foundations, along the lines of the Dodge model,would give a big boost to M CHT and the m any smaller land trusts that are prolifer-ating all along the coast. URLs: ww w.grdodge.org; www .osiny.org; ww w.mcht.org

Golf Runoff Above ParThe Rancocas Creek watershedspreads across 230,000acres of land in

southern New Jersey. Land uses wi thin the watershed, which covers portions ofthree counties, vary w idely from closed forest land to farming, residential andindustrial.

In 2001 elected officials in Bur ling ton County, as part of a broader effort todevelop a management plan for the watershed, comm issioned a one year study toevaluate the sources of nonpoin t pollu tion affecting the creek.

From data collected by USGS and New Jerseys Department of Envi-ronmental Protection, M ark Robson of the states University of Medicineand Dentistry prepared a report that he recently p resented to the county and its

Watershed Management Commi ttee.

The surpr ise results were that of all nonpoint pollution sources, the highestconcentration of pesticides came from the regions golf courses and recreationalfacilities. Second ranking went to residential lawns, and the low est impact fromfarms, wh ich had been considered the likeliest leading source.

The total pesticide runoff from all three sources was found to be minim al,says the reportwell below maxim um levels allowed under state and federalregulations. County officials reacted positively. Others expressed concern aboutthe presence of some 30 pesticides, some considered potent ial carcinogens, at allfour test sites. URL: ww w.co.burlington.state.nj.us/rancocas

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District , calls the fern the singlebiggest threat to Everglades restora-tion. Scientists are unsure how toeradicate the fern, and funds arescarce. A second concern is the giantBurmese python, one of the w orldslargest snake species. It is believedthat the snake may no t just be

surviving , but breeding in the Ever-glades. There are no known naturalpredators. The snake, which rout inelyreaches 12 to 14 feet in length, wouldbe a threat to native plants andanimals.

Reports

If present pollution trends continueunabated, says a scientifi c panelconvened by the Chesapeake BayProgram, gains scored over the past15 years will be wiped out by 2030.

Meeting the goals established in thebroad Chesapeake 2000 Agreementcould by 2030 restore the Bay to1970s conditions, with m ore oxygen atbottom levels and greater clarity butless underwater grass and few ershellfish. Applying m ore progressiveprograms than those now agreedupon, as well as new technologies,concludes this Chesapeake Futuresforecast, could result in a Bay asproductive in 2030 as it was in therelatively bountiful 1950s. URL:www.chesapeake.org/stac

Within the past tw o years, all 5 of themajor facilities in Beaufort, NC thathold federal environmental permitshave undergone inspections. Two ofthese had viol ations. One has beensubject to an enforcement action by afederal or state agency. This inform a-tion comes from a new online report-ing service that EPA is currentlytesting. Called ECHO (Enforcementand Compliance History Online), theuser-friendly database prov ides fullinform ation on compliance inspection,violation, and enforcement records,covering some 800,000 facilitiesnationwide, by zip code or communityname and state. Using ECHO, theBoston Globeestablished that only 27percent of major facilities in Massa-chusetts had been inspected in the lasttwo years; the figure for majorfacilities in minority communitiesdrops to 15%. A public commentperiod about the new reportingmechanism is underw ay. URL:www.epa.gov/echo


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Products

When impervious surfaces cover aslittle as 10% of a w atersheds landarea, reports the Center f or Water-shed Protection, pollution fromrunoff can do serious damage towater quality and aquati c species.Roads and parking lots rank high ascontributors to the problem. Onepartial solution available to develop-ers is to switch to perm eable pave-ments such as pea gravel or crushedseashells. Among commercialproducts is UNI-Group USAs Uni-Eco Stone, a system of interlockingconcrete blocks equipped withdrainage openings to facilitate waterinfiltration. Another option, reports EMagazine, is to park on grass lotsfortified by plastic grid systems thatallow grass to grow th rough. The grids(sometim es made of recycled materi-

als) prevent erosion and bear theweight of vehicles so roots arentcrushed. URL: www.uni-groupusa.org

Funding

Royal Caribbean Cruises LtdsOcean Fund awarded grants in the$12,000 to $75,000 range to 6 organi-zations in Flori da and the Caribbean:the Bermuda Biological Stat ion,Island Dolphin Care in Key Largo,the University of the West Indies inBarbados, the Florida Aquarium , thePerry Instit ute for M arine Science,and the Bermuda Underwat erExploration Institut e. Over the past6 1/2 years, the M iami -based Fund hasallocated close to $7 milli on in grantsfor m arine conservation. URL:www.royalcaribbean.com

For $35 a head, those who attended arecent Ducks Unlimited fundraiserat the Thirsty Mallard bar in OceanCounty, NJ were offered a richassortment of attractions. Amongthem: tw o cigars, all the Coors Lite

beer they could drink, the presence oftwo Coors Lite girls, a lingerie show,and a chance to buy at auction the useof a Humm er vehicle for a weekend.Some complained. I dont know whatall the fuss was about, says eventorganizer Joseph DiMartino. It wasabout as sinfu l as a Victor ias Secretcomm ercial. It was a different kind ofa thing that attracted new people. Webrought in close to $10,000. Net net.

Stat ehouse Shifts, Continued from p. 1

governorship opposed the plan; Carcieri led the charge wi th a strongly voicedopinion that the scheme wou ld be economically as well as environmentally un-sound. Current proposals for the use of the site center on pub lic use for leisure and

recreation. General aviation wil l also continue there.

To be sure, Mary lands new Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.has stirred few green hearts wi th either his statements or his appointm ents.Vowing repeatedly to restore balance between environm ental and economicinterests and correct his states anti-business image, Ehrli ch ousted many careerenvironmental officials as well as prio r politi cal appointees.

As environm ental secretary he appointed Lynn Y. Buhl , a longtim e autoindustry lawyer; her deputy comes from Lockheed Mar tin . Dentist and hunt ingand fishing shopowner C. Ronald Franks is Ehrli chs choice to head up the statesDepart ment of Nat ural Resources. Ah balance, snorted Baltimore Suncolumnist Tom Hort on, cataloguing a long list of M arylands environm ental frailties. How can anyone dream this situation needs balancing w ith a w eaker, morebusiness-oriented Departm ent of the Environment?

Ehrli ch also proposed to carry on w ith m easures to protect his statesbeleaguered but beloved Chesapeake Bay, principally by upgrading wastewatertreatment facilit ies, and to continue the Governors Office of Smart Growth estab-lished by his ardently envi ronm entalist Democrat predecessor, Parris N.Glendening. Many M aryland citizens will be watching closely to see more broadlywhat Ehrli ch means by balance. Said the on-line newspaper Bay Weekly: Whathes accomplished by identify ing the Bay as one of his prior ities is constant scrutinyof w hether he li ves up to h is goals.

In New Jersey, the nations most densely populated state, incomingDemocratic Governor James McGreevey made measures to control sprawl thecenterpiece of his fir st State of the State address in January. It is time to draw theline and say no m ore to mindless sprawl, he said. We must m ake our govern-

ment a fo rce for change, rather than an instrument that is mi sused to enable moremisplaced developm ent.

Specific measures that McGreevey proposed include new protections forfarmland and open space, new limits on funding for highway construction, initia-tives to give counties and regional planners new pow er over towns and local

jurisdictions, enabling towns to adopt a one-year construction m oratorium whilethey plan for better managed development, and charging developers new impactfees to cover rising local infrastructure costs. Am ong di verse reactions to theseideas, it was widely noted that the states Republican fo rmer Governor ChristieWhitman had said much the same thi ngs in her second inaugural address in 1998.

Asian Oysters?, Continued from p. 5Maryland is yet ready to launch in-water work w ith the Asian oysters, proposals todo so are being prepared.

The Virginia plan requires a permit from the US Army Corps of Engi-neers before the oyster bags can hit the drink. A U.S. Fish & Wildlif e Servicespokesman told the Baltimo re Sunthat his agency would try to b lock the Corpspermit on the grounds that it could not support bringing another species in fromafar to replace one we have managed to the brink of extinction. The Sunalsoreported that the Nat ional M arine Fisheries Commission plans to act to havethe Corps decision m ade not at the regional, but at the headquarters level.

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Meadowlands, Continued from p. 1

With environm entalists, the Chamber of Commerce,and developers all cheering them on, state and MeadowlandsComm ission officials are now fine-tuning a comprehensivemaster plan for the region. It will undergo perhaps a year ofpublic scrutiny and comment before going to the commissionfor a final vote. Concurrent ly, the US Army Corps of Engi-neers and the US Fish & Wildlife Service recently launcheda 3-year, $5 mi llion study of the region to guide the details ofits future restoration and developm ent. The Commission itself,it says, is empowered w ith regional planning and zoningauthority to ensure the environmental protection and enhance-ment of the district.

Too good to be true? Sure, something could still go wrong,

admits one of the schemes principal architects,HackensackRiverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan. Our plan is to strikewhile the iron is hot, he says. Once we have it all and knowwe can protect it from development, then w e can breatheeasier. But he adds that officials are continuously provingthemselves on this and that no one currently involved has ahidden agenda impeding the current move to regard theMeadowlands not as a target for random development andcontinu ing pollution , but as an ecosystem. In a newspaperintervi ew, he referred to the pol icy shift as monum ental.URLs: www.hackensackriverkeeper.org;www.meadowlands.state.nj.us

By presenting the w ork of m any talented film makers,including 70 premieres, this Sustainable D evelopmentInstitute sponsored pro ject hopes to broaden and deepenpeoples appreciation of that perplexing word : environm ent.

In collaboration w ith 65 partners including museum s,libraries, embassies, environm ental organizations, interna-tional institutions and community centers audiences atevents throughout the city can enjoy documentary, ani-mated, feature, archival and childrens films. Most screen-ings include discussions with f ilm makers and experts, andare free. URL: www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org

Celebrating a

rainbow s spectrumof 130 outstandingfilms from 30countri es, the 2003Environmental

Film Festival in

the Nat ionsCapital transportsits audiences toplaces beyond theirreach and providesa renewed under-standing of life onearth.

Documents

Jan-Feb 2003 Atlantic Coast Watch Newsletter