Coastal Bays Partners Establish New Atmospheric Monitoring Station

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), with the assistance of Coastal Bay Program partners, has established a local atmospheric monitoring station to measure the impact of airborne pollution on the Coastal Bays. The station, located at Assateague Island State Park and designated MD 18, is part of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program National Trend Network, and will measure the amounts of sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, phosphorus, sodium, calcium, magnesium and pH in rainfall.

"The Coastal Bays Program is committed to identifying and reducing nutrient pollution in the Coastal Bays," said DNR Secretary Sarah Taylor-Rogers. "In the past we ‘ve had to estimate the impact of air pollution on the health of the Coastal Bays. This tool will enable us to more clearly identify those impacts, track them over time, and begin to plan how to mitigate the damage."

Burning fossil fuels releases oxides of nitrogen into the atmosphere which are later deposited on the land and water as nitrate through rain and settling. Ammonia is also a nutrient of growing concern. These nutrients entering the coastal bays from the atmosphere may originate from vehicles, power plants, industrial chemicals and animal agriculture from both local sources and other sources many hundreds of miles away.

"We have reasonably good data on nutrients coming off the land, both from point sources and non-point sources, what we don't know is how much is coming from air pollution," said Maryland Coastal Bays director Dave Blazer. "The information we get from this monitoring station will help answer that question."

"Worcester County supports these efforts. We need to get a better handle on where those nutrients are coming from and break out our local contribution. Then we can begin to mitigate the impacts," Worcester County Commissioner Jeanne Lynch said.

Partners in the Coastal Bays Program that are participating in this project include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which provided the majority of the funding, as well as Worcester County, the National Park Service, DNR and the Maryland Department of Environment. Results of the first samples taken this fall will be available in about six months, and will be posted on the Internet at: http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/

Posted: 1-18-2001