Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 13, 2009
4. Water Quality-
Mothball fleet's flaking paint taints shellfish
The San Francisco Chronicle
The
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Mothball fleet's flaking paint taints shellfish
Federal scientists have concluded that the mothball fleet of rust-forsaken ships in
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a study Thursday that found hazardous materials such as lead and zinc were at low to medium levels for toxicity to shellfish near the reserve defense ships.
The study determined that most of the heavy metals are at concentration levels comparable to other parts of
Rob Ricker, a NOAA regional manager, said that flaking paint from the 70 or so decommissioned ships of the National Defense Reserve Fleet was the most likely source of heavy metals and other toxic chemicals found in bay sediments in close proximity to the mothballed fleet. The paint often contains lead, zinc, copper and other toxic materials such as PCBs.
"You can see paint blowing off the vessels," Ricker said. "As the paint goes into the water and with the break down of the paint, you have a release of heavy metals."
A 2007 study by the federal Maritime Administration had concluded that as much as 19 tons of paint has flaked off the sides of these ships and contaminated nearby sediments.
Three environmental organizations have sued in federal court to force the Maritime Administration to scrap of most of the ships. The Natural Resources Defense Council, Arc Ecology and San Francisco Baykeeper say the ships have "ceased being useful for transportation and are now just floating junkyards."
The NOAA study included more than 200 sediment samples from 72 locations in the bay and tested mussels and clams collected from 15 sites near the fleet and in the
Ricker said the study found that contamination levels near the ships were relatively low.
"What determines toxicity is dose," he said. "There are various sites around the bay where the levels are much higher, and places where remedial actions are being taken.
"This isn't like up in
Remedial actions of contaminated bay mud can include capping a hazardous site or removing sediments.
Ricker said tidal flushing in
"The study itself was not designed to answer bigger questions such as: Did the fleet pollute the bay?" said Mike McGowan, an oceanographer for Arc Ecology. "Their idea was that anything that fell off the ships would be retained nearby. They chose to sample right around the source itself."
The NOAA study also did not take up two issues that are part of the federal litigation: whether the Maritime Administration should stop the paint flaking, and whether the rusting ships should moved out of the bay.
The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board has suggested that the ships be patched and repainted, but there are concerns that the ships are too fragile to be lifted out of the water. Federal maritime officials have talked for years about dismantling the ships and selling them for scrap - or towing them offshore.#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/13/BAG616EDCL.DTL
Slotted curbs allow runoff to flow into planters, which filter impurities that usually end up in the ocean.
The
By Susan Carpenter
Pico and Midvale. Hope and 11th.
They're the sites of infiltration planters that divert untreated runoff from its one-way trip to the ocean, ushering it instead to landscaping that filters the water, beautifies the city, replenishes the area's groundwater and reduces the amount of contaminants flushed from streets into the ocean.
During the wet season, the city of
As
Using a natural process called bio-retention, they send some of the runoff through notched curbs, where the water feeds landscaping and percolates through the soil. The city and county governments, real estate developers and non-governmental organizations such as Northeast Trees are ramping up their use of such planters as the area's water resources diminish and pollution issues persist.
"We're looking to weave the textures of nature into our streets and sidewalks because we've learned over the past decade or so that nature has a really elegant solution to pollution," said L.A. City Board of Public Works Commissioner Paula A. Daniels. Daniels also heads GreenStreets L.A., a program established in 2007 to bring together city agencies and jump-start urban runoff solutions.
"Polluted urban runoff is the No. 1 source of pollution to our ocean, and the types of things that make that water polluted are the kinds of things that plants can actually use as nutrients," Daniels said.
None of the oils, fecal matter, heavy metals, chemicals and other storm water pollutants monitored during a five-year study of six L.A.-area sites had a negative effect on the groundwater after filtering through plants and soil, according to a 2007 Water Augmentation Study led by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council in partnership with federal, state and local agencies.
"People look at end-pipe solutions, such as putting a filter or net at the outlet to catch trash, but if you do good work along the way, then you don't have to worry about taking care of it all in one place at the end," said Sonia Nicholson, project manager of Northeast Trees, an L.A.-based organization that has partnered with the city of L.A. to install an infiltration planter along a section of Oros Street, near Dodger Stadium.
Half of the projects that have been installed as a result of Proposition O have been types of infiltration planters. They include a "bio swale" at
Though the city's Bureau of Sanitation is in charge of
All three agencies had to approve one of the city's newest infiltration planters at the privately developed Luma building, which opened on
In front of the building's glass-and-steel facade, the planter seamlessly weaves street and plant life.
Every 10 feet or so, the curbs are notched, leading to below-grade, rock-strewn planters filled with grasses, trees and flowers. All seemed surprisingly healthy considering the street gunk they've been drinking.
"Some people say you're capturing pollutants and creating a contaminated area," said Tom Liptan, who heads the sustainable storm water division of the Bureau of Environmental Services in
"We have some going on over five years, and there isn't a problem with any of the soils yet. But it's just a basic maintenance thing like you do on anything: When it gets to capacity, you clean it out."#
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-stormwater13-2009mar13,0,1142942.story
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