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Metals, Organic Compounds, and Nutrients in Long Island Sound: Sources, Magnitudes, Trends, and Impacts

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Long Island Sound

Part of the book series: Springer Series on Environmental Management ((SSEM))

Abstract

Long Island Sound (LIS) is a relatively shallow estuary with a mean depth of 20 m (maximum depth 49 m) and a unique hydrology and history of pollutant loading. These factors have contributed to a wide variety of contamination problems in its muddy sediments, aquatic life, and water column. The LIS sediments are contaminated with toxic compounds and elements related to past and present wastewater discharges and runoff. These include nonpoint and stormwater runoff and groundwater discharges, whose character has changed over the years along with the evolution of its watershed and industrial history. Major impacts have resulted from the copious amounts of nutrients discharged into LIS through atmospheric deposition, domestic and industrial waste water flows, fertilizer releases, and urban runoff. All these sources and their effects are in essence the result of human presence and activities in the watershed, and the severity of pollutant loading and their impacts generally scales with total population in the watersheds surrounding LIS. Environmental legislation passed since the mid-to-late 1900s (e.g., Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act) has had a beneficial effect, however, and contaminant loadings for many toxic organic and inorganic chemicals and nutrients have diminished over the last few decades (O’Shea and Brosnan 2000; Trench et al. 2012; O’Connor and Lauenstein 2006; USEPA 2007). Major strides have been made in reducing the inflow of nutrients into LIS, but cultural eutrophication is still an ongoing problem and nutrient control efforts will need to continue. Nonetheless, LIS is still a heavily human impacted estuary (an “Urban Estuary,” as described for San Francisco Bay by Conomos 1979), and severe changes in water quality and sediment toxicity as well as ecosystem shifts have occurred since the European colonization in the early 1600s (Koppelman et al., 1976). The Sound has seen the most severe environmental changes over the last 400 years during its 10,000 year history (Lewis, this volume), suggesting that human impacts have overwhelmed the natural forces at play.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 06459, USA

    Johan C. Varekamp

  2. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Anne E. McElroy

  3. US Geological Survey, East Hartford, CT, 06108, USA

    John R. Mullaney

  4. Science Education and Environmental Studies, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, 06515, USA

    Vincent T. Breslin

Authors
  1. Johan C. Varekamp
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  2. Anne E. McElroy
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  3. John R. Mullaney
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  4. Vincent T. Breslin
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Correspondence to Johan C. Varekamp .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA

    James S. Latimer

  2. US Environmental Protection Agency Long Island Sound Office, Stamford, Connecticut, USA

    Mark A. Tedesco

  3. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    R. Lawrence Swanson

  4. University of Connecticut, Stamford Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Stamford, Connecticut, USA

    Charles Yarish

  5. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Great Bay National,Estuarine Research Reserve, Durham, New Hampshire, USA

    Paul E. Stacey

  6. Div. Science & Environmental Policy, California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), Seaside, California, USA

    Corey Garza

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Varekamp, J.C., McElroy, A.E., Mullaney, J.R., Breslin, V.T. (2014). Metals, Organic Compounds, and Nutrients in Long Island Sound: Sources, Magnitudes, Trends, and Impacts. In: Latimer, J., Tedesco, M., Swanson, R., Yarish, C., Stacey, P., Garza, C. (eds) Long Island Sound. Springer Series on Environmental Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6126-5_5

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