Rutgers Enviro-Notes
Current environmental research, news, and activities from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and the Rutgers communityContents
Impacts to Coastal Systems” Symposium
CRSSA releases report on New
Jersey Land Use Change
The rapid pace of development and land use change has resulted
in a high demand for updated land use/land cover data to inform
ongoing land use planning and growth management programs within New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and other
state and local agencies. With funding from the NJDEP, the Walton
Center for Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis (CRSSA) investigated
the utility of medium scale satellite imagery to provide a
consistent and cost effective means of mapping New Jersey's rapidly
changing landscape.
CRSSA Director, Richard Lathrop, recently completed an assessment of
the major trends in the land use changes occurring between 1995/1997
and Year 2000. This project provides an update to earlier work
examining urban growth and land use change occurring between 1986
and 1995/1997 which was based on air-photo interpreted data for both
time periods.
The overall trends revealed in the 2000 Land Use Update show that
New Jersey's urban development continues at a pace comparable with
the 1986 to 1995 time period. Taken on an annual basis (based on
unadjusted figures from the map analysis), New Jersey adds
approximately 14,640 acres of new urban land use and 4,170 acres in
transition to future development or mining while losing
approximately 9,590 acres of forest, 5,180 acres of farmland, and
1,020 acres of natural wetlands. These results suggest for the 1995
to 2000 time period that the annual rate of forest loss to
development has remained relatively steady, while the rate of
farmland and wetland loss has declined. (for more information go to
www.crssa.rutgers.edu/projects/lc).-R. Lathrop
NJ Remote Sensing Workshop
The Walton Center for Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis and NJ
Office of Information Technology hosted a one day workshop on May
14, 2004 at the Rutgers EcoComplex Center. The objective of the
workshop was to introduce public sector personnel to remote sensing
as a technology and to inform them of the different types of remote
sensing technologies, readily available imagery sources and types
and related applications. The audience of over 100 people included
geospatial practitioners and managers in state, county, municipal,
and regional governments and non-profit organizations such as
environmental commissions, watershed associations and greenway/land
trusts.
A web site concerning the workshop with copies of the speakers'
presentations (as a downloadable pdf file) can be found at
www.crssa.rutgers.edu/rs04 . -R. Lathrop
Youth Environmental Education at the EcoComplex
To date, approximately 350 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students total from six schools located in Mercer, Burlington, and Camden Counties have participated in the K-12 Environmental Education Pilot Program at the Rutgers EcoComplex this Spring. These students participated in learning stations that have hands-on activities regarding water resources and solid waste management, and they participated in tours of the on-site greenhouse and landfill. Feedback to date has been very positive from both the students and the teachers. The Water Resources Program is currently assessing student and teacher evaluation forms from the pilot program. The Rutgers EcoComplex hopes to offer a full program by Fall 2004, which will not only accommodate grades K-12, but will also provide teacher training workshops for hands-on lessons in environmental science. -C. Obropta
Developing a New Plan for Environmentally Benign Lawn Management
Representatives from such diverse backgrounds as The Scotts Company, The National Audubon Society, The Toro Company and the Las Vegas Valley Water District gathered in San Antonio this March for a serious discussion on a topic of common interest...lawns and the environment. What spurred such an unlikely gathering is a growing concern about the future supply of clean water in our urban and sub-urban communities. Reliable evidence from certain parts of the country has cemented the link between the way we manage the developed landscape and the quality of our water resources. In response several Water Supply Authorities in partnership with USDA, EPA, the lawn care industry and assorted environmental interests employed the Center for Resource Management of Salt Lake City, Utah to facilitate a process of dialog and consensus to move towards a common vision of environmentally friendly lawn and landscape management beginning with this conference.
Geoff Brosseau of the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association told of the situation they faced when diazinon and dursban were found to exceed established TMDL levels in all tributaries to San Francisco Bay. It was determined that the only significant source of these two insecticides in the watershed were landscape, principally lawn, applications. Reps from the San Antonio Water System related how they were able to observe seasonal fluctuations in nitrogen levels in their aquifer that coincided with lawn fertilizer applications. However this was not a meeting convened for finger pointing and debate, as it could easily have turned into. Interests from both industry and environmental and educational interests focused on developing two documents that would embody a consensus view of best management practices for residential landscapes. Paul Parker of the Center for Resource Management shared examples of similar environmental conflicts in which the Center had functioned as consensus builder and told the group to expect that the full working of he process could take several years to complete.
Many interesting facts where shared by speakers.
Average annual expenditure for all garden related goods is $1,000 per household and total expenditure is $40 billion . Source: National Gardening Association
Only 25% of homeowners thought lawn fertilizers and chemicals were safe. Source: Scotts Company
Only 10% households use a professional lawn care company, 40% use store bought materials and 50% do nothing. Source: Tru Green/ Chemlawn
Americans spend $2 billion/year on insect control and $4 billion/year on fertilizer. Source: National Gardening Association
Some cogent general observations by Bruce Butterfield of the National Gardening Association were; most people mow their lawn too close, they rely too much on fertilizers and pesticides to fix problems generated by soil or cultural conditions, what is needed most is a regionally oriented yard owners manual.
The work of the conference focused on a 28 page draft document entitled, “Environmental Guidelines for Responsible Lawn Care and Landscaping” and a one page document entitled, “Ten Tips to Save Money and Protect the Environment While Enjoying a Healthy Yard”. While consensus on the two working documents featured at the conference was not reached it was agreed to expand the steering committee, develop a strategic plan, refine both documents after a 3 month comment period, develop 3-5 demonstrations projects around the country for a 1 year test and get convene another conference in 2 years with an expanded interest group.
You can view the draft document “Environmental Guidelines for Responsible Lawn Care and Landscaping” at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/grants/lei/draft_guidelines.pdf. The membership of the project steering committee is at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/grants/lei.
Here are the “Ten Tips to Save Money and. Protect the Environment While Enjoying a Healthy Yard”.
1- KNOW YOUR YARD -Learn about the soils, plants, climate, and wildlife around your home.
2. CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLANT FOR THE RIGHT SPOT -Avoid invasive plant species. Know the requirements and ultimate size of the plant. Select species that require less water, fertilizers, pruning, and pesticides.
3. BE WATER WISE -Water lawn only when needed but to the depth of the root zone, cover bare soil with mulch, use drip irrigation for trees and shrubs, consider reducing irrigated turf with drought tolerant ground covers.
4. KNOW YOUR PEST -Make sure the pest is correctly identified and use the most appropriate method to control the problem; contact your local cooperative extension service for help.
5. PREVENT POLLUTION POSSIBILITIES -Prevent fertilizer, pesticides, yard debris, and pet waste from entering they water sources or waste water systems. Use pesticides only when and where they are needed.
6. READ THE LABLE FOLLOW THE LABEL -Before using pesticides or fertilizers, know the do's and don'ts. The label is the law. Keep children and pets away from pesticides; Store and dispose of pesticides properly.
7 .GO NATURAL -Create wildlife habitat at home. Consider using native plant species and remove invasive exotic plants.
8. PILE IT ON -Build a compost pile with grass clippings, leaves, and other organic material. Use compost as mulch or natural fertilizer to improve soil health.
9 .TAKE IT TO THE MAX -Cut your lawn at the highest recommended mower setting and leave the clippings in place.
10. RESPECT YOUR NEIGHBORS -Regardless of whether you have a traditional lawn or a more indigenous landscape keep your yard safe, clean, and well-maintained to add beauty to your neighborhood. Add borders around "natural areas" if necessary. -B. Barbour
New Jersey leads by setting permissible arsenic levels at half the federal standard
When toxicologists and environmental scientists have to set cancer risk standards for contact with hazardous substances, you will often see the exposure set so that the resultant risk is expected to be one in a million. It’s a nice round number. After all, how often have you been told that your chances were one in a million, implying you had no chance at all? There is a psychological comfort zone when a risk is a million to one.
Now, imagine that you have just been told that your approximate total cancer risk is 1 in 500. How about 1 in 1000? How do these numbers affect your comfort zone? Well the truth is that 1 in 500 represents the risk level when arsenic in tap water is at the federally approved level of 10 parts per billion and you consume 2 liters per day, according to the 1999 Risk Estimate of the National Academy of Sciences (http://books.nap.edu/books/0309063337/html/index.html ). This standard, which was adopted in January 2001, was a decrease from the previous acceptable level of 50 ppb (1 in 100 risk level). New Jersey’s 5 ppb standard, as proposed by Governor McGreevy, lowers the estimated cancer risk to 1 in 1,000. The simple fact is that arsenic, unlike many other substances seems not to have any a level at which it becomes harmless. The National Academy of Sciences data suggest a linear relationship between risk and arsenic level. The lower the concentration, the lower the risk. But even at the current technological limits of detection there is a risk.
Arsenic in drinking water was the subject of a symposium held on April 7, 2004 at Rutgers EcoComplex in Burlington County. Scientists, regulators, water purveyors and lawyers gathered to discuss the sources of arsenic, the existing and proposed standards, and technology for removal. Steven Spayd, Research Hydrogeologist with the NJ Geological Survey discussed the natural sources of arsenic which include pyrite and certain black shale which commonly occurs in New Jersey’s piedmont geological region. Arsenic also persists in certain agricultural soils throughout the state where lead and calcium arsenate were used as pesticides. Man-made arsenic is thought to be of higher concern on the lighter soils of Southern New Jersey, which natural sources are more likely to account for the presence of arsenic in ground water in northern New Jersey. John Schoeder, President of Hydroglobe, a maker of arsenic removal technology, told the audience that the United States has the second largest population affected by arsenic, the first is Bangladesh. He said, that in the U.S. it is estimated that 10% of the population drinks water that exceeds the 10 ppb threshold.
The EPA’s final rule on Arsenic in 2001 stated that, “higher levels of arsenic tend to be found more in ground water sources than in surface water sources (i.e., lakes and rivers) of drinking water. Compared to the rest of the United States, the Western states have more systems with arsenic levels greater than 10 µg/L. Parts of the Midwest and New England have some systems whose current arsenic levels are greater than 10 µg/L, but more systems with arsenic levels that range from 2-10 µg/L of arsenic. … there may be geographic "hot spots" with systems that may have higher levels of arsenic than the predicted occurrence for that area.” (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ars/ars_rule_techfactsheet.html )
For a good discussion of the current state of knowledge about arsenic distribution in New Jersey along with full color maps see the paper “Distribution of Arsenic in the Environment in New Jersey” at http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/Arsenic/FinalAbsPDF/vowinkel.pdf. -B. Barbour
EPA offers free "Power of
Change" recycling kit
which provides adults with important information about waste
management and recycling. The kit will contain brochures on
moving; disposal tips for home health care products; safe management
recommendations for household hazardous waste; a guide to
environmental community service; fact sheets on e-cycling and
setting up a home office; "green" shopping, and "green" leisure
activities, and a CD with more than 400 resources about waste. To
order, call 1-800-490-9198 or see
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/publications.htm.
Pesticide
Container Recycling
The public will have the opportunity to recycle empty plastic
pesticide containers and nursery pots from 9 a.m. to noon on June
10th at the Cumberland County Solid Waste Complex in Deerfield; on
June 11th at the Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex in
Mansfield, and on June 14th
at the Warren County Fairgrounds in Harmony Township.
Non-refillable, high-density polyethylene #2 (HDPE #2) containers
used by agricultural, professional and commercial applicators, as
well as HDPE #2 nursery pots, will be accepted under this free
program.
For additional information on this program, visit the Department of
Agriculture website at
http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/recyclingpestcons.htm
or contact Karen Kritz of the Department of Agriculture at (609)
984-2506 or karen.kritz@ag.state.nj.us
Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve holds "Impacts to Coastal Systems” Symposium
Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences (IMCS), the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve (JCNERR), and the Barnegat Bay National Estuary Program (BBNEP) held an “Impacts to Coastal Systems” symposium on April 7th- 8th. The best scientists and coastal resource managers from the eastern seaboard have been invited to discuss the most up-to-date scientific information about the impacts that are affecting our coastal systems, as well as best management practices and case studies of successful mitigations of other impacted coastal systems throughout the country. These impacts include non-point source pollutants such as nutrients and pathogens, as well as groundwater inputs to rivers, lakes, streams, estuaries and coastal bays.
Unlike “typical” scientific symposiums, these experts were brought to New Jersey not just to present their own findings and accomplishments, but instead, to share their thoughts and recommendations on ways of better managing impacts to the coastal systems in New Jersey. The objectives of the symposium were three-fold :
1)To identify new action items to improve nutrient management of the Barnegat Bay/Little Egg Harbor and Mullica River Great Bay systems for incorporation into the BBEP Comprehensive and Conservation Management Pal and the JCNERR Management Plan.
2) To determine how new information can be used to implement existing action items in the above plans
3) To identify best management measures to help communities implement the Phase II Stormwater Regulations.
Following the symposium a proceedings document which will be available on the website at www.jcnerr.org
Questions about the symposium may be directed to Lisa Weiss (Watershed Coordinator, JCNERR) at weiss@imcs.rutgers.edu or 609-812-0649.
New Publications from Cooperative Extension
Now available on the web @ www.rce.rutgers.edu are
the following info sheet
updates:
IS004 - "Blueberry Integrated Pest Management Program, 2004",
authored by
Dr. George Hamilton, Extension Specialist in Pest Management and Dr.
Dean
Polk, Extension Fruit IPM Agent.
IS005 - "Vegetable Integrated Pest Management Delivery Program,
2004",
authored by Dr. George Hamilton, Extension Specialist in Pest
Management,
Joseph Ingerson-Mahar, Extension Vegetable IPM Coordinator, and
Kristian
Holmstrom, Extension IPM Program Associate.
IS006 - "Tree Fruit Integrated Pest Management Program, 2004",
authored by
Dr. George Hamilton, Extension Specialist in Pest Management.
E036 - "Pest Control Recommendations for Shade Trees
and Commercial Nursery
Crops, 2004", authored by Dr. Ann B. Gould, Extension Specialist in
Plant
Pathology, Dr. Stephen Hart, Extension Specialist in Weed Science,
and Dr.
James Lashomb, Extension Specialist in Entomology. This is a 59 page
document.
FS174 - "Plant Nutrient Recommendations for Field
Corn", authored by Dr.
Joseph Heckman, Extension Specialist in Soil Fertility. Please
discard any
former version and download this one from the web.
FS433 - "Drinking Water Standards", authored by Dr. Christopher C.
Obropta,
Extension Specialist in Water Resources, and Lisa Galloway Evrard,
Program
Associate in Water Resources.
FS434 - "Drinking Water: What Tests Do I Need?", authored by Dr.
Christopher
C. Obropta, Extension Specialist in Water Resources, and Lisa
Galloway
Evrard, Program Associate in Water Resources.
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Rutgers Enviro-Notes is a publication of Rutgers Cooperative Extension.
Bruce Barbour, Editor. Contact: Barbour@rce.rutgers.edu.
Use of items from this newsletter is freely permitted but attribution to Rutgers Cooperative Extension is requested.
