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Sick Shellfish, Drought and Air Pollution: Summer in the City
Enviornmental experts offer more than ot air on hottest issues facing state's enviornment
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Business New Haven
8/5/2002
By: Melissa Nicefaro
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When you think of summertime, you think of seafood, swimming and warm air. Those who monitor the state's environment think about some different issues - traffic, pollution and aquaculture among them.
BNH talked with three experts: Long Island Soundkeeper Terry Backer, Regional Water Authority spokesperson Joan Huwiler and New Haven's representative for the Clean Cities Coalition, Lee Grannis, about some of the most pressing environmental issues facing Connecticut.
Terry Backer, Long Island Soundkeeper and Stratford State Representative (D-121)
Are we having a good summer for oysters and shellfish?
When you think of oysters and clams, you can't think in seasons, you have to think in years. They take three to four years to get to market size. It is a cultivated crop, a farmed crop. About five or six years ago we had a disease problem in the Sound with a disease called MSX and another called Dermo that only affects shellfish. They pretty much decimated the population of shellfish in the Sound. Some areas [suffered] up to 90 percent lost. Since that time, the shellfish industry has been working at recovery and harvesting of small seed oysters and moving them around and applying various aquaculture techniques to bring along, so the landings of mature oysters ready for market remain substantially down. However, the inventory of growing product is slowly increasing.
So the incidence of the diseases has receded?
There doesn't seem to be any significant recurrence of these two diseases. Both of these diseases are responsible for the decline in the Chesapeake Bay oyster production. We have traditionally, this far north, not experienced it but those five or six years ago we got hit pretty heavy. Since that time, there may be some mortality, but nothing that looks that substantial. One thing we do worry about when we get this excessive hot weather is that Dermo and MSX love that warm water. One of the reasons we don't get it here very often is that our water isn't that hot for that long. If the water is over 60 degrees, [Dermo and MSX] really enjoy it and the water temperature out here these days is probably mid-70s. So this is the time, if we were going to see the effects of disease we would start to see it late summer as the cells multiply in the [shellfish]. We might see a little at the end of July, but typically the end of August and September is when we see the largest [shellfish] mortality.
Are you seeing any indications of disease now?
Right now we're not seeing very much, if any. There are a lot of stocks growing in the water. It's nowhere near where it was, but it will take cooperation of the gods so we will be continuing to see the landings increase each year.
These diseases are specific to oysters. Everything in the world has its diseases and is a target, but this is one that that is problematic to oysters.
How are lobstermen faring this summer?
There seems to be a recovery in the lobster fishery in various areas after we experienced another die-out that decimated the lobster population three or four years ago. Dr. French from UConn had identified some sort of protozoan that had affected the lobsters, resulting in their death. There was a lot of speculation - some people saying it was pesticides, some think it was other problems. My tendency is to agree with UConn and the reason for that is we saw these lobsters dying and having difficulties two years before they started doing the heavy mosquito spraying, so the timing doesn't fit for our observations. But someone else's observations may be different. We are seeing some recovery in that area as well.
How are the shellfish and lobster industries in Connecticut doing? Did many lobstermen and shellfish fishermen leave the industry when problems hit a few years ago?
A number of the lobstermen did leave the industry. A lot of those were guys I grew up with, working on the water. They're all reaching their mid-40s, early 50s and we all grew up working for our fathers and they looked around and said that by the time this recovers and they could make the kind of money they needed to make to support their business and family, they'd be retirement age. So a lot of them left. Some cross-trained and went out to be teachers, or moved someplace else to do some other kind of fishing, but there are those who hung in there. But the competition is somewhat less.
Are there any other major issues in the fishing industry?
Part of the trouble for the business of fishing has always been getting pushed off the waterfront by both residential and commercial development. They yield a bigger return to investors and so part of the problem with having an indigenous fisheries business - providing fresh fish, lobsters and so forth to the local communities and restaurants - is very, very difficult for them to hang on to a place to operate. There are more offices on the waterfront and that's taken its toll, along with those other natural problems. It's going to struggle back, but it will come back.
Joan Huwiler, spokesperson, Regional Water Authority
What is our water situation? I understand the drought [restrictions were] lifted early in June.
As of June 30, which was the last time we measured, we are at 80 percent [reservoir] capacity. Normally, at this time of the year, capacity of reservoirs should be at 88 percent. We do have enough water and we are meeting demands, but it keeps us right now in what is an 'alert stage.' In a drought, there are several stages and if you look on our Web site (www.rwater.com), you'll see under “Do We Have Enough Water?” a fact sheet and a drought-response plan. The plan is designed for our ability not only to provide water for public health and fire-fighting, but it also outlines in five stages of drought intensity and the procedures that one goes through.
At what stage are we right now?
It's the first stage, or what we call a 'water supply alert.' That's when reservoirs fall below their normal levels. In an 'alert stage,' we take our own precautions to curb usage of water. We cut down internally, through internal procedures. This stage does not affect consumers, and consumers do not have to take any special steps.
Were we in a true drought through the first week of June?
Yes, we were in the second stage, where we had gone into a water supply advisory. On February 1 we went into a water supply advisory, where we ask consumers to cut their water consumption by ten percent. Water supplies are not only critical for public health, but also for other needs such as fighting fires. That's when we entered into voluntary restrictions. If people voluntarily conserved, our thought process was that it would help avoid mandatory restrictions in the future.
At what point are we not able to wash cars, fill swimming pools and water lawns?
In February we were in a second-stage water advisory. And then in stages three through five, that is if the precipitation continued to fall below normal, we would enter Phase 1, Phase 2 or Phase 3 emergency. At the time we were taking precautions and planning to issue mandatory restrictions if necessary. We are fortunate that in our history, we have not had to do that. Until April of this year, we remained in Water Supply Advisory, but there was lots of rain between February and April.
Are water shortages cyclical?
In February, lots of water companies across the state were keeping an eye on the reservoirs and wells. Reservoirs usually reach a low point late in the fall and then they recharge in the winter because of the snow and the rainfall, so come January, they're full again. Normally your high-volume water use is in the summer because of filling pools, washing cars, watering gardens and lawns and so forth.
Most of what we hear about water conservation is directed toward residential users. What do you ask of businesses?
They can take a water audit. We've done audits for a variety of consumers. We just finished an audit for the Cheshire Correctional Facility and once we do a complete review there, we give them recommendations on how they can conserve some water. We also did an audit with Simkins [Industries in New Haven] several years ago and now there is some recycling of water through some of their measures.
In general, one of the things we're looking at is making sure we have an adequate supply of water and if we bring back Lake Whitney [on the Hamden-New Haven line] - which has been offline for a number of years - back in service. Lake Whitney was brought offline because there were many technology changes at the treatment plant itself. In the case of Lake Whitney, that is going to be a 50-million-gallons-a-day treatment plant. Around the 1960s was one of the more significant droughts, and Lake Whitney was online along with our other reservoirs, we didn't have to impose restrictions then, either.
Does bringing Lake Whitney back into operation decrease the likelihood that we will experience a drought?
While we're not asking people to conserve, or decrease consumption by ten percent as we did when we were in advisory, it's always good to practice wise water use. So little things like leaks in the homes to making sure that if you're going to water your home or garden, do it at a proper time, which is early or late in the day and not at high-noon when there is much more evaporation and it won't penetrate into the soil.
Lee Grannis, Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition
What is the Clean Cities Coalition all about?
Our job is to put alternative fuel vehicles on the road that are designated under EPAC, the energy policy act of 1992. That's a designation of the fuel and/or the vehicle. Hybrids do not fall in there; they run on a smaller internal combustion motor and an electric motor that both work together.
New Haven became a Clean City in 1995. I was on the planning staff for the Special Olympics World Games and I went to a meeting about Clean Cities. A month later a guy called me and said, 'Can you help us, because nobody else is doing anything.' So about three months after the Games were over we were designated a Clean City. Nothing happened for a little while, about two or three years.
What was your first project?
The electric trolleys. And before the trolleys were on the street, we had Ford Electric Ranger pickup trucks. They're used by various departments in New Haven: Parking & Traffic, Livable Cities and Public Works. The Electric Rangers are totally zero-emission. And of course, the trolleys are zero-emission, too.
What is the future of electric cars in Connecticut?
We have to do something here in Connecticut because we are in a non-attainment area for ozone and diesel particles. When you are out of attainment, the federal government looks at you and puts more money on the table for you to correct the problem. Part of the problem we have is that we have crap that comes up from the power plants in the Ohio Valley - that's what they call a transportation zone - that comes due east out of the Ohio Valley, hits the coast, comes up the coast and lands here. And of course, there are the Sooty Six [power-generation plants]. We don't have anything to do with that- we are mobile source-emission eliminators. We don't get involved with power plants.
Is Connecticut's situation different from other states?
The state has ignored vehicle emissions. They look at stationary-source emissions, but don't pay any attention to the amount of pollution generated by the vehicles. There are a couple of major arteries that run right through the state and [vehicles on those highways] are emitting all sorts of stuff. Another area we're looking into is school buses. We don't push any particular fuel, just whatever works with each application. Sometimes fresh natural gas is good, propane may be good, and sometimes ethanol or E85 may be the way to go (in the mix we get 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline), or even biodiesel, which is derived from soybeans. We also push a lot of renewable fuel, in other words, to cut out dependence on foreign oils. E85 is from corn - it's alcohol - and the state is considering going to E85 for its fleet vehicles. Right now, three or four heavy equipment sites and the Norwalk transit district are using biodiesel.
How big a difference does a few vehicles here and there make?
Well, if the state does it and the transit districts start doing it, it will start making a difference and cut down on diesel emissions. Our whole thing is to get those diesel vehicles out of the city. Gasoline vehicles don't cause as much concern as diesel does, but they do cause a problem. If you buy a Ford Taurus, you are getting an E85 burner, automatically set up to take E85. If you get some Dodges and Chryslers, a Mercury Mountaineer or a Ford Explorer, you are getting an E85-capable vehicle. Come 2004, a lot more of Dodge's vehicles will be E85-capable. You lose 30 percent of your range on it and it's not really available here to the public yet, so the cost is questionable. If enough people here get interested, it can be gotten here. We just need to get a service station say they want to use it. They'd have to have special pumps. All the new pumps are E85-capable, since the alcohol corrodes rubber, so that's not an issue.
Does Connecticut face any unique problems when it comes to pollution?
The problem in the state is there is no energy policy. The current administration in Hartford doesn't seem to understand the issues with mobile source emissions, so they pretty much ignored it. They've taken all the federal money and put it into traffic mitigation. They build more roads and fancy traffic signals. That's all well and good. A lot of the money goes to rail, too, and that's good because a lot of the rail here is electric, but there is no energy person or office in this state like there is in New York or Massachusetts. There is nobody coordinating all this. We're losing a lot of federal money that we could be getting in grants if we had an energy office. The Connecticut [Department of Transportation] doesn't seem to care at all about it. All they seem to care about is traffic congestion and alleviating that, which amounts to building more roads. It's nothing to do with alternative fuels.
The state is mandated under federal law to have 75 percent of its new vehicles alternative-fuel vehicles. It doesn't mean they have to burn the fuel; they just have to buy the vehicle. We are way behind our surrounding states. Gov. [George E.] Pataki in New York is a leader in alternative fuel. The mayors in our towns are starting to understand the issues. [New Haven] Mayor [John] DeStefano [Jr.] has taken a lead in this, but he can only do so much.
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