A large component of the quality of New York City beaches depends on water quality. Polluted beaches are simply not as safe, not to mention not as enjoyable, as clean beaches, and pose an serious health risk. One major threat to beaches of particular concern is that of sludge. Sludge is derived from sewage waste and can be harmful to living organisms in oceans. The city is responsible for ensuring that our beaches’ waters are clean and safe. Several tactics have been implemented to ensure that our beaches do not contain dangerous amounts of sludge.
Water cleanliness at New York City beaches is an important consideration; polluted water can result in the diminishing of waterfowl and marine life in the New York area, as well as in beach closings and public health advisories. Ocean water requires a certain balance of chemicals and nutrients to support the vast number of organisms living there. Pollution can destroy that balance, diminishing oxygen available to aerobic organisms, and inhibiting light available to photosynthetic organisms. In addition, pollution from sewage can have a deleterious affect on people who visit beaches. Clearly, the monitoring and maintenance of water conditions at New York City Beaches is key in ensuring the overall quality of the beaches.
Sludge is a major source of pollution in urban areas
such as New York City. It can enter open water in a number of ways including:
· Discharge from water pollution control plants
· Sewage system malfunctions
· Illegal sewer connections
· Storm water runoff
· Failing septic systems
· Sewage that bypasses treatment due to heavy rains
Sewage dumped close to coastal regions can have an
enormous impact on both humans and on ocean life. Microorganisms derived
from sludge, including bacteria viruses, and parasites can infect humans
at beaches as well as fish. Various nutrients in the waste products contained
in sludge, including nitrogen and phosphate based fertilizing agents, cause
oceans to undergo eutrophication. When this occurs, the ocean water becomes
enriched by inorganic nutrients used by phytoplankton (small, free-floating
aquatic plants found in plankton). This, in turn, leads to excessive bacterial
growth, and algal bloom. When the algae die off, decomposers use up all
of the available oxygen during cellular respiration. The result is a massive
fish kill, and a depletion of fish populations.
Sources Leading to Eutrophication
| Pollution Type | Examples | Source |
| Oxygen Demanding Wastes | Sewage | Processing Plants |
| Plant Nutrients | Nitrates, Phosphates | Processing Plants |
| Sediments | Enriched Soil | Erosion |
| Thermal Discharges | Heated Water | Power Plants |
In recognition of these effects, Congress issued the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act: Part II- Ocean Dumping in 1972. This act prohibited offshore dumping, and ordered that sludge be dumped at least 12 miles away from the coast. Over time, the act expanded the limitations, mandating a 106-mile dumping site in an attempt to keep sludge away from our beaches. Applying fines to violators of the act enforced this prohibition. Even at this distance, pathogen levels accumulated, and fish populations were affected, and declined significantly. Finally, ocean dumping was banned by the Ocean Dumping Ban Act even at the 106-mile site, and now requires a special permit.
The 106-mile mandate had its impact on the ocean floor, where the sludge had settled. The National Undersea Research Program (NURP) has documented that 42 million tons of sewage-derived sludge had been dumped about 8000 feet off the Mid-Atlantic coast between 1986 and 1992. NURP investigated 106-mile dumpsite southeast of New York Harbor, and found that sludge was having a profound impact on deep-sea organisms in the area. Particles from the 106-mile site traveled west and southwest, and finally settled on the ocean floor. Increased levels of chemical found in sludge were detected in these areas, as were increased levels of intestinal bacterial.
The ocean floor is home to roughly 10 million species. In comparison to other areas, the ocean floor affected by the dumping contained an increased biodiversity, especially with respect to urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers, all of which feed on organic matter contained in sludge. Thus, the benthic, or ocean-bottom, community 106 miles off of the New York coast underwent an ecological restructuring favoring organisms that can utilize the sludge-derived material. After the dumping at the site was curtailed, the benthic population became less dense, and the intake of sewage derived materials tapered off. The benthic community composition is currently similar to the way it was before the dumping began. Research at the 106 miles site continues as the long-term effects of dumping have yet to play out.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) is responsible for monitoring the water quality in New York Harbor, including the 14.3 miles of beaches in the City. The department reports that water quality from 1991-2002 has significantly improved. They attribute this improvement to the upgrade of pollution control plants, increased maintenance of the sewage system, improved response to sewer overflows, deceleration of illegal discharges, and enhanced sewage treatment.
One major step taken by the NYCDEP was the implementation
of the Enhanced Beach Protection Program (EBPP) in 1997. This program was
designed in response to several beach closures in 1997 due to a failure
of sewage collection and conveyance systems. The EBPP calls for extra monitoring
of stations where sewage is handled, and for increased action to 
prevent
spillage that might cause beach closures due to water contamination. The
program was so successful that it has become a yearly course of action
from the end of May through August. The goals of this program are to prevent
all beach closures due to the malfunction of collection facilities and
to respond to problems within 8 hours of their occurrence.
In the year 2000, the EBPP was incredibly successful. The 7.8 million total gallons of raw sewage that were bypassed remained consistent with that of 1999, and is actually 60% lower than the raw sewage bypassed in 1997 when EBPP was first implemented. Although there was an unexpected rise in bypasses from pump stations in 2000, the EBPP provided the DEP with information that allowed them to rehabilitate problematic pump stations, and to respond to such bypasses within the 8 hour target window. Perhaps the best news for the EBPP’s continuing implementation and for New York City’s bathers is that the bypass regulation system was so successful that no bypass stations were responsible for beach closures in 2000, and there were no closings at all in 2002.
Before the 1930s, sludge
facilities would consistently dump sludge, the solids in sewage that separate
out during treatment, into the waters surrounding New York City. This practice
caused massive water pollution, affecting beach quality, marine life and
water quality. It was evident that something had to be done to rectify
the situation. Borrowing the idea from Scotland, the New York Department
of Sanitation employed marine vessels to transport and dispose of sludge
in offshore waters.
The first three such vessels, known as Motorized Vessels, were crewed by 20 men and remained in operation through World War II. Sludge was transported to the Dumping area in the Narrows and to the open waters in the Long Island Sound for disposal. Over the years more ships were required to supplement the original crew as more sludge was produced. As the vessels became larger, with a greater capacity for sludge transport, the crews became smaller until they reached their current size of six men. In addition, the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act issued by Congress put a progressively greater demand on sludge dumping procedures as it mandated that dumping sites be increasing farther away from the coast. Thus, as the 12-mi site mandate in 1972 was increased to a 106-mi site mandate in 1987, sludge vessels would transport their sludge to new ocean-going barges, which would ensure that the sludge was dumped at the proper location. The 1991 Ocean Dumping Ban Act put a stop to this, however, and the main task of sludge vessels was altered to transporting sludge from plants without dewatering facilities or other means of transportation to plants with dewatering facilities for processing. Meanwhile, the barges were no longer useful to the sludge disposal program, and three out of the four were retired. The fourth was kept in the fleet of marine vessels for emergencies.
Motorized Vessels
remain a vital part of keeping sludge off of New York City’s beaches. Four
vessels remain in operation, each with a crew of six. They are the M/V
Newton Creek, the M/V North River, the M/V Rockaway and the M/V Owl’s Head.
These vessels are remarkably capable, earning an efficiency score of 99+%
in 2000. Efficiency is measured in the number of trips made compared to
the number of trips required to service the plants. These vessels work
12-hour shifts, 6 days a week, serving the four City plants that do not
have dewatering facilities. They are operated and maintained by their crews,
and require major repairs about every 2 years.
Additional municipal marine vessels are used to protect New York City’s beaches in other ways. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) is responsible for monitoring the water quality along the city’s coastlines as well as identifying long-term water quality trends and determining City-wide compliance with New York State water quality standards. In 1909, the Metropolitan Sewage Commission established the New York Harbor Quality Survey, a monitoring program that assesses and provides information regarding the human effects on the city’s water environment. In 19991, the survey began to employ special custom-made marine vessels to aid with water sampling.
Scattered throughout
New York Harbor, the 53 NYCDEP water quality survey stations are centers
where the NYCDEP monitors water quality and analyzes pollutant concentration.
Among the tools used in water quality assessment is the HSV Osprey, a twin-engine
diesel vessel containing a fully equipped laboratory capable of doing quality
control assessment on the samples collected. The Osprey’s hull is made
of aluminum, and is 55 feet long.
Another key role of the NYCDEP is to monitor illegal
sewer connections. Illegal sewer connections are a major source of beach
pollution, as runoff from these connections can flow into open water, polluting
beaches to the extent that the city must close them if the runoff is too
concentrated. Once again, marine vessels are highly important in monitoring
these connections 
and
maintaining water quality. A program known as the Shoreline Survey Program
utilizes 25-foot vessels, known as Poseidon and Neptune, to check the outlets
of sewers and drains as they empty into larger bodies of water. These surveys
are supplemented by the Sentinel Monitoring Program, which uses the same
vessels to extract samples from the harbor and compare the water with normal
standards set by the city.
A final type of vessel used by the NYCDEP is known as a Skimming Vessel. Issued by the City-wide Floatables Containment Program in 1993, these vessels remove debris from the water surrounding New York City, ensuring that they do not wash up onto beaches. They frequent areas of the city with problematic sewer outfalls, in an attempt to clean up garbage that enters the water via sewer and storm overflow. The type of debris removed includes timber, and floating garbage. The vessels use either conveyors or rakes to propel the debris into the boats, and then transport the trash to dumpsters. There are several sizes of skimming vessels, with debris capacities ranging from 20 square yards to 24 tons. It is clear that marine vessels are vital to the maintenance of New York City’s beaches, ensuring cleaner and safer water.
Clearly, sludge pollution in ocean waters poses a major health risk to both human and aquatic populations. New York City’s DEP has taken measures to ensure the continued safety of New York City’s beaches, protecting it from the effects of sludge. Of course, New York City must look to the future to further ensure that sludge does not harm human or ocean communities. The upgrade of processing plants is essential in attaining this goal. Hopefully, increased vigilance and enhanced facilities will ensure a sludge-free future for New York City’s beaches.
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