Make A Resolution to Stop StormWater Pollution
Impacts of StormWater Pollution Along the Alabama Gulf Coast
Jessica Pierce, Carson Smith, Jordan Terry, Baker High School, Mobile, AL
Mrs. Doris Gladen, Mrs. Heather Normand, Mr. David Nix, Baker High School
Dr. Tina Miller-Way, Dauphin Island Sea Lab
101 Bienville Blvd.
Dauphin Island, AL
(251) 861-2141
Table of Contents
Problem Statement
Page 3
Issue Components
Page 6
Project Implementation
Page 14
Target Audience
Page 15
Specific Action
Page 15
Works Cited
Page 16
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Problem Statement:
Every day after school we walk outside and notice trash scattered
throughout the parking lot at our high school. We wanted to know where that
trash goes if left on the ground. Then we saw footage on our local news of large
amounts of trash floating in Dog River. Our high school (Baker High School) is
located in the Dog River Watershed. A watershed is an area of land where all the
water that drains off of it goes into the same place (Environmental Protection
Agency, 2012). So the rain that falls at Baker High School flows into Dog River. As
this rain falls onto the impervious surfaces of our parking lot, it carries all of the
litter into nearby creeks and streams, which eventually flow into Dog River. As
rain falls onto the increasing number of impervious surfaces in our watershed, it
also carries oil from the road, silt and clay from construction sites and even
sewage that might overflow from inadequate lines into creeks, streams and rivers.
Several rivers, including Dog River, flow into Mobile Bay which is an estuary. An
estuary is a body of water where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with
seawater from the gulf or ocean (Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, 2011).
Estuaries are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, so there is a
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great abundance of animals and plants that live there (National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, 2013). Mobile Bay is home to this great abundance
of plants and animals including larvae, juvenile and adult members of many
species. The litter that is carried into Mobile Bay is harmful to many of the
animals living there. This litter also makes its way into our treasured Gulf of
Mexico and poses threats to animal and human health. We go to the beach to
spend time with our friends and family and are distracted by litter along the sandy
shores. We go fishing and our catch might have a stomach full of plastics.
A storm drain is an opening along the road that is meant to transport water
to prevent flooding. Unlike sewage, storm water is NOT TREATED before entering
our waterways (City of Mobile Public Services, Storm Water Management, 2012).
The storm drain, an unexpected culprit, is often responsible for transporting trash
into waterways. Stormwater runoff from rain or snowmelt picks up trash from
roads, sidewalks, and parking lots and then carries it into nearby storm drains.
Some storm drains empty directly into nearby rivers, lakes, and streams, releasing
any accumulated trash into the waterway (Environmental Protection Agency,
2011).
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Litter that is being thrown out of vehicles and into ditches or carelessly
dropped by people is washed into drains after a heavy rain. The litter is carried
into local rivers and streams by the stormwater runoff, until it eventually reaches
the bay and later the ocean. This is especially a problem in Mobile, Alabama. Our
city has more average annual rainfall than any other city in the United States
(LiveScience, 2007).
Covering nearly three-quarters of the Earth, the ocean is an extraordinary
resource. The ocean supports fishing industries and coastal economies, provides
recreational opportunities, and serves as a nurturing home for a multitude of
marine plants and wildlife. Unfortunately, the ocean is currently under
considerable pressure. The seeming vastness of the ocean has prompted people
to overestimate its ability to safely absorb our wastes. For too long, we have used
these waters as a receptacle for our trash and other wastes (NOAA Marine Debris
Program, 2007). There are many types of marine pollution such as marine debris,
sewage, oil, gasoline, toxic chemicals, fertilizer, animal waste, and pesticides that
are released on land or empty into the ocean.
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Issue Components:
As members of the community on the Gulf Coast, we are constantly
impacted by stormwater pollution. We have investigated some causes of
stormwater runoff pollution such as litter, sewage overflow and the construction
of impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces are usually asphalt or concrete
surfaces that do not allow water to seep into the ground. As cities become
urbanized, the natural landscape is replaced by roads, buildings, housing
developments, and parking lots. In a developed watershed covered with
impervious surfaces, much MORE water arrives into a stream much more quickly
(U.S. Geologic Survey, 2013). We have noticed worsening effects from this
pollution such as increases in marine debris and siltation and their negative
impacts on wildlife, tourism, and human health.
Litter that is being thrown out of vehicles and into ditches or carelessly
dropped by people is washed into drains after a heavy rain. The litter is carried
into local rivers and streams, until it eventually reaches the bay and later the
ocean. The construction of impervious surfaces contributes to the problem
because they do not allow rainwater to soak into the ground. Instead, the
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rainwater runs off while carrying the oils, toxins, and litter with it. Most of this
litter is plastic that takes 450 years to degrade or break down (EPA, 2012). Plastics
are synthetic organic polymers, which are derived from the polymerization of
monomers extracted from oil or gas (Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2011). Globally,
we use over 240 million tons of plastic each year and discarded “end-of-life”
plastic accumulates, particularly in marine habitats, where contamination
stretches from shorelines to the open ocean and deep sea. Over the last fifty
years, the global population density of humans has increased 250% from 19 to 48
individuals per square km. During this time, the abundance of micrometer-sized
fragments (MICROPLASTICS) of acrylic, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide,
and polyester have increased in surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean
(Environmental Science and Technology, 2011). The Sea Education Association’s
“Plastics At Sea” program even recorded a plankton tow that included 23,000
pieces of plastic in a thirty minute tow which translates to about 26 million pieces
per square kilometer (SEA, 2010)
Marine debris is any persistent solid material that is manufactured, or
processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of
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or abandoned into the marine environment. The ease with which debris degrades
dictates how long it remains intact in this marine environment. An object
degrades as natural forces cause it to be broken down into smaller pieces. The
most common materials that make up marine debris are cigarettes, plastic
caps/lids, cloth, glass, metal, paper, PLASTIC, rubber and wood (NOAA, 2011).
Marine debris poses serious threats to both marine wildlife and human health.
Marine debris such as abandoned rope, fishing line, six-pack rings, and plastic
bags can entangle, maim, and even drown many wildlife species. It can cause
wounds that can lead to infections or loss of limbs. Animals can also mistake
some debris like plastic bags and plastic pellets as pieces for food. Plastic bags can
resemble jellyfish and plastic pieces can resemble fish eggs. Once ingested, these
materials can cause starvation and/or choking (NOAA, 2011). Many of the species
vulnerable to impacts of marine debris are threatened or endangered. These
animals are in danger of becoming extinct because their population numbers are
so low. One hundred thousand (100,000) marine mammals die every year from
entanglement, or ingestion of marine debris. These include seals, sea lions,
manatees, humpback whales and gray whales (NOAA, 2011). Seabirds are
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especially vulnerable to entanglement and ingestion of marine debris. Thousands
of seabirds are thought to die from these problems each year. Birds like the
brown pelican are especially in danger from entanglement as they prey upon fish
that are entangled in nets and fishing line. In our investigation of stormwater
pollution, we met a brown pelican with a broken wing caused by entanglement in
fishing line. The pelican was nursed to health by the Environmental Studies Center
in Mobile, Alabama. The bird can never be released into the wild since it can no
longer fly and feed itself. The plastics throughout our oceans have adverse effects
on organisms you would not expect. The mass of neustonic plastic fragments can
be two and a half times higher than that of plankton and even three times higher
after rain (Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2002). Plastic debris can sink in the ocean
and affect benthic deposit feeders like sea cucumbers. Plastics are broken into
small pieces by natural processes and found in the sand and sediment along the
ocean floor. Some studies have shown as many as 215 pieces of plastic per liter
of sand collected in Florida. Sea cucumbers ingest the plastic as they shovel large
amounts of sand into mouths to extract the organic debris and microorganisms
(Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 2009). In a study in 2011,
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9.2% of mesopelagic fishes were found to contain plastics in their digestive
systems. The ingestion rate of plastic debris by mesopelagic fishes is estimated to
be between 12,000 to 24,000 tons per year (Marine Ecology Progress Series,
2011).
Marine debris has adverse effects on humans too. Coastal communities can
lose millions of tourism dollars when large amounts of marine debris make their
beaches unattractive and unsafe to visitors. Fishing nets can wrap around boat
propellers and plastic bags and sheeting can clog boat intakes. Human lives are
endangered when the vessel is rendered disabled. Human health is also
endangered by marine debris. People may step on sharp objects, such as broken
glass or rusty metal, and may cause injuries when people step on them on the
beach. Contaminated debris, such as medical waste, may pose a public health
hazard through disease transmission (NOAA, 2011).
Stormwater runoff is a problem because the water picks up debris, chemicals,
dirt, and other pollutants and flow into a storm sewer system or directly into a
lake, stream, river, wetland, or coastal water. Anything that enters a storm sewer
system is discharged untreated into the bodies of water we use for swimming,
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fishing and providing drinking water (EPA,2003). Stormwater also carries
sediment into bodies of water. Construction sites that have loose sediment are
usually responsible for this pollution. Construction companies are supposed to
use silt fences and straw to hold loose sediment in place. However, with heavy
rains, many times the sediment flows with the storm water into a drain anyway.
This excess sediment clouds the water and makes it difficult or impossible for
aquatic plants to grow. In Mobile Bay, we have sea grasses that provide food,
shelter and nurseries for many species of commercially and recreationally
important fish and shellfish. Seagrass beds around Mobile Bay have declined by
over 70% over the last forty years due in large part to turbidity and sedimentation
(Mobile Bay NEP, 2011).
Stormwater runoff carries fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides from
residential areas and agricultural lands. These substances can poison aquatic life.
Land animals and people can become sick from eating diseased fish and shellfish
or ingesting polluted water. The excess nutrients from fertilizer, livestock and pet
waste promote algal growth. When algae die, they sink to the bottom and
decompose in a process that removes oxygen from the water. Fish and other
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aquatic organisms cannot live in water with low dissolved oxygen levels. Harmful
algal blooms such as “Red Tide” occur as a result of too much nutrient input from
fertilizers. Stormwater carries oil, grease, and toxic chemicals from motor
vehicles and roadways. It carries bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet
wastes, or faulty septic systems (Mobile Bay NEP, 2011). All of these substances
can harm both the aquatic wildlife and can cause diseases in people.
Enterococcus bacteria from sewage leaks cause ear infections, eye infections, skin
infections, respiratory infections, gastrointestinal illness, meningitis and even
hepatitis in humans. This bacterial contamination comes from septic tanks and
faulty septic systems that spill into urban runoff (AL Dept. Public Health, AL Dept.
of Environmental Management, 2013).
Our mission in this project is to show people how their actions contribute to
stormwater pollution and how they can stop it. The obvious solution is to
convince people to stop littering. Some states like California are banning plastic
bags in stores to reduce the number of plastics that end up in the ocean. They are
promoting the use of brown paper bags that break down faster
(www.healthebay.org, 2006). The use of pervious (permeable) asphalt in parking
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lots and on roads would allow water to soak into the ground. The impervious
surfaces that are covering more of our coast do not allow storm water to seep
into the ground but force the water to run off into storm drains carrying litter, oil,
sediment and other pollutants with it. In urban areas where land has been
covered by impervious surfaces, 90-100% of stormwater runs off into storm
drains (Scanlan, 2001). Another solution to the problem is to recycle plastic bags,
bottles and containers, glass containers, and aluminum and tin containers. People
should properly dispose of insecticides, pesticides, paint, solvents, and motor oil.
They should never pour any of these on the ground or into storm drains. People
should limit or stop using fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides on their lawns
(EPA, 2012). The excess fertilizer is carried by the stormwater into coastal waters
and leads to eutrophication. Eutrophication refers to the process in which a body
of water acquires a high concentration of nutrients, especially phosphates and
nitrates. This concentration of nutrients leads to excessive growth of algae. As
these algae die, decomposing organisms deplete the water of needed oxygen,
causing the death of other organisms, such as fish (USGS, 2013). To reduce
sedimentation and its effects on sea grasses, construction companies should use
silt fences and straw to keep sediment at their sites in place when it rains. To
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reduce bacterial pollution carried by stormwater runoff, septic systems should be
inspected and pumped every three years (EPA,2012). We followed a MAWSS
(Mobile Area Water and Sewer System) crew for a few hours to watch how they
used a remote camera to inspect their sewer lines for breaks. Crews perform
these actions daily throughout the city of Mobile to insure that sewage does not
overflow from broken lines and flow into coastal waters.
Project Implementation:
The specific action we hope to accomplish with this project is to educate
others about the causes of stormwater pollution, and how it impacts our coastal
environment. We also hope to educate the public on choices they can make daily
to help stop the problem of stormwater runoff pollution. Our plan is to film a
short documentary that outlines the causes, impacts and solutions to the problem
of stormwater runoff pollution. We borrowed cameras from our Baker High
School News team to film scenes throughout Mobile and Dauphin Island,
Alabama. The communications department of Mobile County Public Schools also
helped us film several interviews with experts on stormwater pollution and its
impacts. We have interviewed biologists, the director of the Environmental
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Studies Center, Keep Mobile Beautiful, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, a
geology professor, a Sea Lab scientist, a city engineer, MAWSS employees, and
Baker High students. One of the members of our team was a member of Baker
High’s news team last term. We used her experience and guidance to edit our
footage and voiceovers to make a film that we hope will make viewers think
about how they contribute to this problem and compel them to change their
irresponsible actions.
Target Audience:
Our target audience is all of the students and parents throughout Mobile
County Public Schools. We specifically want to target Baker High students since
we see them constantly littering each day as they get in their cars to leave
campus. We plan to sponsor campus cleanup days to help clean up the trash that
is on campus and is very likely on its way to coastal waters. We plan to show our
film to all the students at Baker on the school’s website. All teachers have access
to the site to show the film using laptops and smartboards. We plan to show the
film to parents and members of the community in the school auditorium at night.
The members of our team will share their experiences in filming the documentary
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and attending the CELC Student Summit in Washington, DC in March. Our team
will visit some fifth grade classes in Mobile County elementary schools to teach
younger students how their choices can contribute to stormwater runoff pollution
and its impacts on wildlife. We want to make them realize they can make daily
choices that can lessen and possibly stop the problem.
Works Cited :
1) Howard Perlman, http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/impervious.html (1/10/2013)
2) Water.epa.gov (3/6/2012)
3) Andrea Thompson, LiveScience, Study Reveals Top 10 Wettest U.S. Cities
(5/18/07)
4) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Debris Program,
Turning the Tide on Trash, 2007
5) Environmental Protection Agency, Marine Debris: Trash on the Move, Retrieved
from http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/marinedebris, 2011
6) http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/estuarylife.html,1/11/13
7) John Bell, City of Mobile Public Services, Storm Water Management, 2012
8) Environmental Science and Technology, Accumulation of Microplastic on
Shorelines Worldwide: Sources and Sinks, 9/6/11
9) Matthew Cole, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Microplastics as contaminants in the
marine environment: A Review, 2011
10) C.J. Moore, Marine Pollution Bulletin, A Comparison of neustonic plastic and
zooplankton abundance in southern California’s coastal waters, 2002
11) Erin Graham, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Deposit
and suspension feeding sea cucumbers ingest plastic fragments, 2009
12) Peter Davidson, Marine Ecology Progress Series, Plastic ingestion by
mesopelagic fishes in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, 2011
13) EPA, Water: After the Storm – Weather, 2012
14) Sea Education’s Association “Plastics At Sea” Program, June 30, 2010
15) www.healthebay.org/sites/default/files/pdf/California%20Single-Use%20
Plastic%20Bag%20Ordinances.pdf
16) Jody Scanlan, The Citizen’s Guide to Reducing Polluted Runoff in Coastal
Alabama, 2001
17) http://toxics.usgs.gov
18) http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/edresources/debris_t.html
19) http://www.adem.state.al.us/programs/coastal, ADEM/ADPH Beach
Monitoring Program, Microbiological Analyses, 2013