EPA gives Coast waters generally low grades

Sea Technology, May 2002

A recently released federal report card on the waters off America's coasts concludes that the best have earned only a grade of "fair," while many deserve a grade of "poor" because of continued pollution.

The report, the first of its kind from the Environmental Protection Agency, concludes that 44 percent of coastal waters are so damaged that they cannot fully support aquatic life, human activities such as fishing, or both.

Farming, industry, runoff from development and more have contributed to unhealthy plant and animal populations, polluted mud and unnaturally high levels of plant nutrients along the nation's coasts, according to the report.

"What it's saying is there are significant problems with more of our coastal waters," said Robert Wayland, director of wetlands, oceans and watersheds for the EPA. "The message here for the public is not to take these valuable resources for granted."

The EPA released the study, the National Coastal Condition Report, in late March.

To calculate grades for the water in coastal areas, scientists looked to estuaries. These bodies of water, which include the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound, filter pollution and shelter wildlife.

Researchers collected data on estuaries from a host of federal agencies. Then they looked at seven common factors that indicate estuary health to decide how coastal waters stacked up. The report does not consider the water off Alaska and Hawaii because not enough data are available.

The report found the sickest coastal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which suffers from ills ranging from major loss of wetlands to contaminated fish. Wayland attributed the gulf's low standing in part to the vast acreage from which it collects water. More than 40 percent of the land mass of the continental U.S. discharges water to the gulf, he said.

The highest marks went to the waters off the Carolinas, Georgia and the east coast of Florida, which scored well on most measures. Their lowest scores were on wetlands loss and the health of bottom-dwelling creatures.

The biggest problem for coastal waters is the pollution from countless farm fields, lawns, construction sites, roads and other sources. And that makes the problem harder to solve. "It's a much more difficult challenge when you're trying to inform and motivate millions of landowners," Wayland said.

Other experts gave the EPA high marks for putting out the report, which can serve as a baseline for measuring progress. But experts differed over how trustworthy the grades are. "It appears to me to be a fair assessment," said Steve Higgins, a member of the board of the American Coastal Coalition, which is made up of officials from coastal areas.

Jacquiline Savitz, executive director of the Coastal Alliance, as environmental group, said, "It paints a very depressing picture but still manages to understate the problem. They really don't have data on a lot of what's going on there."