Abstracts from Environment Cape Cod Volume 1 Number 2, 1998

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Introduction : The Background of the Coalition for Buzzards Bay
The Coalition for Buzzards Bay is a regional, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmental education and public advocacy for the protection of natural resources of Buzzards Bay and its 432 square mile watershed. Our mission, simply stated, is to restore, protect and sustain the waters of Buzzards Bay and its watershed.
In 1985, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that our nation's coastal waters were facing an ecological crisis. That same year, the Buzzards Bay Project was established to coordinate management, technical advisory & citizens' advisory committees to begin in-depth scientific research and assessment of Buzzards Bay. This research culminated in the development of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), the blueprint for the protection of Buzzards Bay. In 1988, the EPA designated Buzzards Bay as an estuary of national significance, and in 1992, the CCMP was approved by both the EPA and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Now entering its tenth year, the Coalition for Buzzards Bay was originally formed by a small group of activists from the citizens' advisory committee. These citizens were concerned about polluting contaminants entering Buzzards Bay and the need to get the public involved in its protection.

Abstract
A nitrogen-rich septage-effluent plume is being monitored in order to quantify the movement, chemistry, and possible ecological effects of nitrogen in a coastal aquifer underlying Namskaket Marsh and Creek in Orleans, Massachusetts. The plume originates at a septage-treatment facility that discharges a treated, nitrogen-rich effluent to the ground. The part of Namskaket Marsh and Creek where the plume is expected to discharge is about 1,000 feet downgradient of the facility and 1 mile inland from Cape Cod Bay.
By early 1997, the leading edge of the effluent plume extended about 800 feet downgradient from the effluent disposal area and was about 175 feet from the marsh. In late 1992, after 2 years of effluent discharge, concentrations of nitrate ranged from 10 to 40 mg/L (milligrams per liter) as nitrogen, and dissolved ammonium concentrations ranged from 2 to more than 8 mg/L as nitrogen. The center of the plume was anoxic by late 1992 because of oxygen consumption by subsurface bacteria. About 25 percent of the total mass of nitrogen discharged from the facility has been removed by subsurface processes in the unsaturated zone and aquifer beneath the site. Seepage zones near the marsh-upland boundary and the bottoms of Namskaket Creek and tributaries are possible discharge areas for the effluent plume. High rates of ground-water discharge (averaging 0.30 gallon per square foot per hour) were measured in these zones during the ebb portion of the tidal cycle. Measurements of ambient (background) nitrate uptake by the sediments of the creek and marsh indicate significant potential for removal of plume nitrogen by these sediments after the potential arrival of the plume in the marsh.
However, the portion of the plume nearest Namskaket Marsh has moved beneath a layer of clay and silt that extends as deep as 60 ft below sea level. If the clay layer has a sufficient areal extent below the marsh, the layer may largely impede plume discharge to the marsh.
Baseline monitoring of water quality in Namskaket Creek from March 1993 through September 1995 showed a seasonal pattern in dissolved ammonium and orthophosphate concentrations, with peak concentrations in the mid to late summer. Ammonium concentrations at the most downstream sampling site ranged from 0.03 to 0.40 mg/L as nitrogen, and orthophosphate concentrations ranged from 0.03 to 0.30 mg/L as phosphorus. Nitrate concentrations ranged from 0.11 to 0.87 mg/L as nitrogen, and showed no seasonal pattern. The marsh vegetation is dominated by Phragmites australis (common reed) in areas of low pore-water salinity near the marsh boundary, and by Spartina patens (salt-meadow grass) in the interior areas of the marsh. Because the septage-effluent plume has not reached the marsh to date, further study is needed to (1) map the potential path of the plume, (2) measure rates of nitrogen transformation and removal in the marsh before and after plume discharge, and (3) monitor the possible effects of the plume on the water quality and vegetation of the marsh ecosystem.

Abstract
The majority of the drinking water samples received by the Barnstable County Department of Health and the Environment Water Quality Laboratory show water of excellent quality. The laboratory receives drinking water samples from municipal public water supplies, non-community public supplies, and private wells from all regions of the Cape. Tests performed include microbiological, nutrient, metals, physical parameters, volatile organic, and semi-volatile organic analyses. This report presents data for three selected key water quality parameters: nitrates, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and coliform bacteria. Nitrate datais presented for 4500 public water samples for 1995-1996 and 7660 private well samples for 1987-1996; VOC and coliform data is presented for July 1995-June 1996 for public wells and 1993-1996 for private wells. Based on these results, no public water supplies exceeded maximum contamination levels for any of the three parameters. 3.2 % and 0.3 % of private wells showed contamination levels above the maximum contamination level (MCL) for nitrates and VOCs, respectively. Trends in private well water quality for 1981-1996 are also analyzed and show an increasing number of wells with moderately to significantly increased nitrate levels.

Introduction
In recent years arthropod-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and Eastern Equine Encephalitis have received a great deal of media coverage. The public, in response, has become more aware of the possibility that insect bites can be a factor in disease transmission. The threat of certain mosquito-borne disease has become so much a part of our society that almost every dog owner gives their pet invermectin once a month to prevent dog heartworm infections. While the public has become more sensitive to blood-feeding arthropods they have also become more aware of the environmental impacts of controlling these pests.
The most serious mosquito-borne disease agent in the state of Massachusetts is the Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) virus. This virus can cause permanent brain damage or even mortality when infecting a very young child or elderly individual. In middle aged and younger adults, the EEE virus can induce coma. Many isolates of this virus were detected in mosquitoes in Rhode Island and Connecticut communities in September of 1996. Fortunately, no human or equine cases were reported.
Birds act as the reservoir for the EEE virus. The key species of mosquito in the disease cycle is Culiseta melanura (Hayes et al. 1962, Crans and McCuiston 1993). Cs. melanura transmits the EEE virus between the birds. Although another species of mosquito is involved in transmitting the disease to humans and horses, reduction of Cs. melanura populations could help prevent future outbreaks of EEE virus. Unfortunately, this species is very difficult to control because of the protected habitat in which the larvae develop.
Current methods of mosquito control are concentrated on the control of mosquitoes in their developmental stages. These control techniques can be grouped into the following three categories: 1) water management (e.g., selective ditch maintenance), 2) application of a chemical larvicide and 3) biological control (e.g., natural predators or parasites). The majority of the work done today centers on the first and third categories of control. Until now biological control has been limited to the use of a bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis).
Cs. melanura larvae develop in permanent water habitats; thus, water management or modifying the water level is not a practical method in controlling this species. Cs. melanura develop under the roots of trees in swamps and other submergent aquatic vegetation - not in open water. This makes effective application of a larvicide extremely difficult (Woodrow et al. 1995). Because these methods of mosquito control are not effectively controlling Cs. melanura another technique needed to be considered.
The use of natural predators to control mosquitoes has been very limited. Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, are used with some success in different parts of the United States (Meisch, 1985). Mosquitofish are native to the mid-western and southern area of the United States. These fish are not native to Massachusetts or any other New England state. As a result, their introduction is neither environmentally responsible nor permitted by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
There are a few species of fish native to Massachusetts that have been identified as useful for biological control of mosquitoes; two fish, the Banded Sunfish (Enneacanthus obesus) and the Swamp Darter (Etheostoma fusiforme ), have also been shown to survive in the low oxygen and low pH environment of a freshwater swamp. The purpose of this study was to determine if these fish can be used as an effective biological control for Cs. melanura.

Introduction
Under current environmental regulations and permit requirements, golf course projects proposed within the State of Massachusetts will not go forward without first addressing several significant environmental issues. Golf developers and golf architects must resolve many environmental issues of concern to the regulatory agencies, including such issues as wetland mitigation, pesticide usage and chemical contamination concerns, water quality and groundwater protection issues, wildlife habitat conservation, and the preservation of wildlife habitat diversity. The preservation of wildlife habitat diversity on constructed golf courses is an area of increasing concern to the permitting authorities. Golf courses are generally thought of as artificial ecological systems with limited biological diversity and devoid of wildlife habitat. Golf proponents must overcome the public perception that all golf courses are turf grass “monocultures” with limited wildlife habitat value.

Introduction
Nutrients, particularly nitrogen, are required for primary productivity in marine systems. When present in excessive concentrations, however, nitrogen can be a source of pollution, can stimulate eutrophication and can result in a variety of public health and marine ecosystem health problems. One effect of eutrophication is excessive growth of macro algae which has been shown to lower benthic diversity, decimate spawning sites and affect changes in the distribution and abundance of species present (Costa, 1988; Chase, 1994).
Two main approaches have been used to quantify the degree of eutrophication of an embayment and design management measures to control or mitigate these effects. Firstly, various modeling efforts have been used to estimate sources of nitrogen in a watershed to an embayment (Eichner and Cambareri,1997; Costa et al, 1996; EPA and EOEA, 1990). These models estimate total nitrogen inputs in the watershed and project whether present or future land use will result in exceeding a theoretically "critical" level. This "critical" nitrogen load, above which deleterious effects may theoretically be observed, is derived from various ecosystem studies (Costa et. al., 1996). Because of the various tasks involved, this approach can be very costly, depending on the level of refinement needed. The Cape Cod Commission has estimated costs for these individualized studies to between $500,000 and $750,000.
A second approach to understanding the assimilative capacity of a system is to actually monitor the system for nutrient levels in the water column, use this data to assess the present "health" of the system at observed nutrient levels, and render an estimate as to any additional assimilative ability. The Falmouth Pondwatchers first used this approach in 1993 (Goehringer, 1994), overcoming the usual high expense of monitoring by establishing a coalition of participants including citizens, local government, and scientists who performed the water sampling.
Both of the above methods were used in the Wellfleet Harbor Project, a joint effort of federal, state, and local officials. The Wellfleet Harbor Project, supported by the Massachusetts Bays Program, conducted extensive water quality monitoring over a five year period while also performing the watershed-based studies necessary to complete a nitrogen loading model. Water quality monitoring parameters included traditional indicators of primary productivity such as phytoplankton chlorophyll-a and total pigment, bioavailable nitrogen and phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen.
Recognizing that nutrient monitoring is a major expense in assessing the ecological health of a system, and further that many communities lack the necessary funds to conduct expensive ecological assessment, the Wellfleet Harbor Project investigated the efficacy of using macroalgae abundance as an inexpensive surrogate for more expensive chemical monitoring. The anticipated advantages of macroalgae sampling are that it can be accomplished without requiring extensive technical training and hence lends itself to a citizen-monitoring approach, and it requires no sophisticated or expensive instrumentation or analysis.

Background
Plans for construction of a Testing Center for Alternative and Innovative Onsite Wastewater Treatment Technologies (septic systems) have been moving ahead through spring and summer of 1997. The Test Center is a joint project of the Buzzards Bay Project, a unit of MA Coastal Zone Management, the Barnstable County Department of Health and the Environment (BCDHE), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and MA Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP). Funding for the Center is provided through a U.S. EPA Environmental Technologies Initiative.