OUR ENDANGERED TREASURE – LONG ISLAND SOUND  

                On September 18, I had the privilege to address the New Rochelle League of Women Voters at Five Island Park in Echo Bay.  Appropriately, the topic was Long Island Sound.  This was the day that hurricane Isabel was due to strike New York.  Fortunately, for us, it veered inland and we were spared significant damage.  However, the storm provided a dramatic setting for the talk as it churned up waves in the Sound and Echo Bay outside the park pavilion.  In spite of the weather, about 40 hardy souls ventured out to hear my message.  The heart of my message follows.  

                The web page of the organization, “Save The Sound,” best describes the Sound’s current situation.  “Living on the water is a privilege and a great responsibility.  Many that share in this maritime heritage often take their inheritance for granted.  They reap the commercial, recreational, and aesthetic benefits without any regard to the repercussions of their actions.  The productive ecosystems found in estuaries, such as Long Island sound, cannot withstand the stresses placed upon them by their surrounding communities.  Contaminants produced through human activity have made their way into Long Island Sound due to poor land use practices.  Over time, these pollutants have degraded the Sound’s waters and impaired its ability to provide the resources on which so many people depend.”  

                To better understand how this has happened and what we can do about it, we need to understand the Sound better.  It is an estuary: a place where fresh water from the land mixes with salt water from the sea. Unlike most estuaries which have one entry for sea water, the Sound has two (The “Race” to the east and the East River to the west).  Ninety percent of its fresh water comes from three Connecticut rivers, the Thames, Connecticut, and Housatonic.  It is moderately large with a surface area of 1,268 miles.  However, it is  relatively shallow, averaging only 65 feet and its greatest depth being 120 feet.  

                The entire land area that drains into the Sound is known as its watershed.  This is the area of land that all of the fresh water, sediments, and dissolved materials flow over or under on their way to the Sound.  The watershed has a huge area of 16,000 square miles, including northern Long Island, parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, and a large portion of New England running up to southern Canada ( 71% of which is the Connecticut River watershed).  

                There are over 8 million people living in the watershed which includes 105 sewage plants that discharge over 1 billion gallons/day directly or indirectly into the Sound.  None of these plants have been upgraded to provide tertiary (the highest level) treatment of the waste before it is released.  Yet, over 5 billion dollars is generated by the Sound annually from recreational activities and commercial fishing.  Unfortunately, over the years it was becoming clear that the Sound was deteriorating.  Beach closings due to pollution were increasing and fish, lobster and certain bird populations were declining.  

                In a effort to address these problems, the Federal Government and those of the states of Connecticut and New York initiated the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) in 1985 to analyze and correct the Sound’s most pressing environmental problems.  This was followed by the Clean Water Act Amendments in 1987 which included a National Estuary Program established by Congress.  In this program, Long Island Sound was designated as an “Estuary of National Significance.”  It was one of the first four so designated (out of a total of 28) and is the only one with its own budget line.  

                In 1994, The Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) was developed by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect and preserve our vital estuary.  The LISS Management Conference (citizens, environmentalists, business leaders, academics, local, state and federal governments, working to implement the CCMP, identified 7 issues that merited special attention:  low levels of dissolved oxygen (hypoxia), toxic contamination, pathogen contamination, floating debris, living resources and habitat management, land use and development, and public involvement and education.  

                In 1996 the New York Clean Water/Clean Air Act allotted 200 million dollars for implementing the Long Island Sound Cleanup Plan.  By the year 2000 over 80 million dollars had been appropriated for nitrogen removal projects, upgrading sewage plants, non-point pollution control efforts, and four specific habitat restoration projects.  

                In spite of the passage of these bills/laws, the Sound is still in jeopardy.  Tight federal and state budgets have severely reduced the money being allotted to repair decades of neglect and misuse of the Sound.  It is critical that all concerned citizens be vigilant and vocal to ensure that this great treasure is not squandered.  In February the President sent a budget to Congress that included a 90% reduction in funds for the Sound cleanup, and that being prior to the recent realization of the cost of the Iraq situation!  

                Pollution, which continues to be the major contributor to the degradation of the Sound, has many sources:  Farming (fertilizer, pesticides, sediment, animal waste), Gardening (fertilizer, pesticides, sediment), Boating (fuel, discharged waste, trash, exhaust, oil), Construction (sediment, debris), Automobiles (fuel, rubber emulsion form tires, exhaust, detergent, oil, trash), Sewage (nitrogen, pathogens, toxins), Industry (toxins), Roads and Parking Lots (salt, sediments, trash, surges of fresh water, rubber emulsion, gasoline, oil).  These are problems that we, as citizens can partially address.  We can reduce our use of pesticides, reduce the area of impermeable surfaces (e.g. paved driveways), drive cars that get better gas mileage and use smaller tires, stop littering, demand construction techniques that reduce run-off, demand improved sewer and sewage plant efficiency, advocate restoration of buffering marshes, in other words, “Be pro-environment in both your words and your actions.” 

                Your Sound.....Our Sound is in jeopardy!  Our property values, our health, our way of life....fresh seafood, water based recreation, inspiring walks, fresh salt air, great vistas, wildlife......are all in jeopardy.  You can sit back and hope somebody else will do something...but those “somebody else's” have been doing something and their numbers and influence are no longer adequate!  Go to meetings and speak up...its better than “reality TV”.....support candidates and help elect people who really care and show that by their actions, not just their words!  Go to the polls!  Let YOUR voice be heard!!!!!

                                                                                                 John Moyle

Copyright©2004 Bronx River ~ Sound Shore Audubon Society

Dr. John Moyle (914) 723-4609