Written by SMITH, KELLY
Tue, Aug 26 03
"By KELLY SMITH
Hours after a
million fish died in
And it did.
Yesterday morning another batch of menhaden fish washed up on the same shores.
Though the number wasn’t as great as it was last week, some argue that seems
obvious – there are less fish to kill than last week.
The cause of the
second fish kill is the same as the first. Rotting algae bloom sucked up all
the oxygen in the waters and the fish suffocated. The algae bloom
were created in the first place because of a high number of nutrients in
the water brought in by heavy rainfalls. These nutrients come from a number of
sources including pet and bird waste, waste leaking from faulty septic systems
and lawn fertilizer. Though all the ingredients for the fish kill were present,
as Torgen said last week, he said yesterday that he
wanted the public to be aware that this was not a natural phenomenon – at least
not on this scale.
"These fish
kills are a result of pollution from human sources on land," said Torgen. "If we take some steps now, we can see a
dramatic and immeasurable improvement of the water in the bay. There will
always be some fish kills, but this was a pollution event as much as it was a
natural event."
Some of these
steps, as outlined in a pamphlet distributed recently by the Department of
Environmental Management, are learn about your local water, don’t feed the
ducks, pick up after your pets, inspect septic systems, avoid over-fertilizing,
minimize the use of hazardous products and recycle as much as possible, get
involved by volunteering with clean-up efforts, conserve water and pump holding
tanks on boats instead of dumping them.
However, according
to officials, including Governor Don Carcieri, one of
the biggest things that need to be done is
Carcieri met with DEM and STB
officials yesterday to understand precisely what is happening in the bay and
what can be done to resolve it.
"Unfortunately,
this is not going to be resolved quickly," said Carcieri.
"We are working on a more comprehensive approach to
Saying that he is
"very concerned" the governor went on to say that he loves the bay
not just on a personal level but from a professional level as well, though, he
doesn’t want to overstate it, "This was a bad event."
According to Jody
King, vice president of the
Early said there
are three things he has noticed about the bay this year. The number of beach
closings is the greatest it has ever been, there have been two great fish kills
in just a few day’s time and the color of the water has turned into a very
light lime green color.
"Everybody I’ve
ever talked to said they’ve never seen a color like that before," said Early. "What I want to know is why this is only
happening in
Torgen said that though the waters
everywhere are being affected, it is true
"This is a
land problem, not a boat problem," said Torgen.
"This is about too much nitrogen getting in from the land, not the
water."
"It is a
natural occurrence that this has happened," said King, "but not to
this extent. This tells me something needs to happen. There needs to be
mandatory tie-ins because now we see what happens due to the influx of
rain."
This summer’s
increased amounts of rain also had a hand in forcing copious amounts of sea
lettuce onto the surface of the bay near Conimicut
Point over the weekend.
"Between the
rainwater and the increased amounts of algae in the bay this summer, this sea
lettuce has made its way to the surface of the bay," said DEM spokesman
Chris Turner. "In this case, the amount of sea lettuce on the surface
covers between 1.5 and two miles of coastline." Turner said the increased
water temperature in the bay also had a hand in the seaweed accumulation.
"On the
downside, this will attract a pretty good population of flies, and it smells
pretty bad," Turner said. He did say, however, that the lettuce makes an
excellent fertilizer for local gardeners. "If I lived near Conimicut, that’s what I’d be using it for," he said.
City Council
President Joseph Solomon (D-Ward 4), a Conimicut
resident, worried that the summer-long problems on the bay could carry over to
next year.
"In terms of
our local coastline, 2003 was the summer that wasn’t," Solomon said
yesterday. "The summer-long closings of our local beaches, coupled with
these recent developments, have impacted local businesses in a negative way. We
can’t have a repeat of this summer; these beaches are the beauty of our
community.""