Unit - 4.

Marine Pollution & EIA

4.1. Marine Pollution:

Marine pollution occurs when harmful, or potentially harmful, effects result from the entry
into the ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise, or
the spread of invasive organisms. Most sources of marine pollution are land based. The pollution
often comes from nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff, wind-blown debris and dust.
Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of
nutrients. It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters, in which excess nutrients,
usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algae growth.

Many potentially toxic chemicals adhere to tiny particles which are then taken up by plankton
and benthos animals, most of which are either deposit or filter feeders. In this way, the toxins
are concentrated upward within ocean food chains. Many particles combine chemically in a
manner highly depletive of oxygen, causing estuaries to become anoxic. When pesticides are
incorporated into the marine ecosystem, they quickly become absorbed into marine food
webs. Once in the food webs, these pesticides can cause mutations, as well as diseases, which
can be harmful to humans as well as the entire food web.

Toxic metals can also be introduced into marine food webs. These can cause a change to tissue
matter, biochemistry, behaviour, reproduction, and suppress growth in marine life. Also, many
animal feeds have a high fish meal or fish hydrolysate content. In this way, marine toxins can be
transferred to land animals, and appear later in meat and dairy products. Pollution is often
classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution occurs when there is
a single, identifiable, and localized source of the pollution. An example is directly discharging
sewage and industrial waste into the ocean. Pollution such as this occurs particularly in
developing nations. Nonpoint source pollution occurs when the pollution comes from ill-defined
and diffuse sources. These can be difficult to regulate. Agricultural runoff and wind-blown debris
are prime examples.

1
Major sources of pollution.

Type Primary Source/Cause Effect

Nutrients Runoff approximately 50% sewage, 50%
from forestry, farming, and other land use.
Also airborne nitrogen oxides from power
plants, cars etc.
Feed algal blooms in coastal waters.
Decomposing algae depletes water of oxygen,
killing other marine life. Can spur algal blooms
(red tides), releasing toxins that can kill fish and
poison people.

Sediments Erosion from mining, forestry, farming, and Cloud water; impede photosynthesis below
other land-use; coastal dredging and surface waters. Clog gills of fish. Smother and
mining bury coastal ecosystems. Carry toxins and excess
nutrients.

Pathogens Sewage, livestock. Contaminate coastal swimming areas and

seafood, spreading cholera, typhoid and other
diseases.

Alien Species Several thousand per day transported in Outcompete native species and reduce biological
ballast water; also spread through canals diversity. Introduce new marine diseases.
linking bodies of water and fishery Associated with increased incidence of red tides
enhancement projects. and other algal blooms. Problem in major ports.

Persistent Toxins Industrial discharge; wastewater discharge Poison or cause disease in coastal marine life,
(PCBs, Heavy from cities; pesticides from farms, forests, especially near major cities or industry.
metals, DDT etc.) home use etc.; seepage from landfills. Contaminate seafood. Fat-soluble toxins that
bio-accumulate in predators can cause disease
and reproductive failure.

Oil 46% from cars, heavy machinery, industry,
other land-based sources; 32% from oil
tanker operations and other shipping; 13%
from accidents at sea; also offshore oil
drilling and natural seepage.
Low level contamination can kill larvae and cause
disease in marine life. Oil slicks kill marine life,
especially in coastal habitats. Tar balls from
coagulated oil litter beaches and coastal habitat.
Oil pollution is down 60% from 1981.

Plastics Fishing nets; cargo and cruise ships; beach Discard fishing gear continues to catch fish.
litter; wastes from plastics industry and Other plastic debris entangles marine life or is
landfills. mistaken for food. Plastics litter beaches and
coasts and may persist for 200 to 400 years.

Radioactive Discarded nuclear submarine and military Hot spots of radio activity. Can enter food chain
substances waste; atmospheric fallout; also industrial and cause disease in marine life. Concentrate in
wastes. top predators and shellfish, which are eaten by
people.

Thermal Cooling water from power plants and Kill off corals and other temperature sensitive
industrial sites sedentary species. Displace other marine life.

Noise Supertankers, other large vessels and Can be heard thousands of kilometers away
machinery under water. May stress and disrupt marine life.

2
Sewage: Domestic, Industrial, agricultural and aquaculture discharges, their composition and
fate in the marine environment:

Sewage is a water-carried waste, in solution or suspension that is intended to be removed from

a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by
volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical and toxic constituents, and the
bacteriological organisms that it contains. It consists mostly of greywater (from sinks, tubs,
showers, dish and clothes washers, and toilets) and the human waste that the toilets flush away;
soaps and detergents; and toilet paper (less so in regions where bidets are widely used instead
of paper). Whether it also contains surface runoff depends on the design of its route back to the
environment.

Classes of sewage include sanitary, commercial, industrial, agricultural and surface runoff. The
wastewater from residences and institutions, carrying body wastes (primarily feces and urine),
washing water, food preparation wastes, laundry wastes, and other waste products of normal
living, are classed as domestic or sanitary sewage. Liquid-carried wastes from stores and service
establishments serving the immediate community, termed commercial wastes, are included in
the sanitary or domestic sewage category if their characteristics are similar to household flows.
Wastes that result from an industrial processes such as the production or manufacture of goods
are classed as industrial wastewater. Their flows and strengths are usually more varied, intense,
and concentrated than those of sanitary sewage. Surface runoff, also known as storm flow or
overland flow, is that portion of precipitation that runs rapidly over the ground surface to a
defined channel. Precipitation absorbs gases and particulates from the atmosphere, dissolves
and leaches materials from vegetation and soil, suspends matter from the land, washes spills and
debris from urban streets and highways, and carries all these pollutants as wastes in its flow to a
collection point.

Surface runoff from farming, as well as urban runoff and runoff from the construction of roads,
buildings, ports, channels, and harbours, can carry soil and particles laden with carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorus, and minerals. This nutrient-rich water can cause fleshy algae and phytoplankton to
thrive in coastal areas; known as algal blooms, which have the potential to create hypoxic
conditions by using all available oxygen. Polluted runoff from roads and highways can be a
significant source of water pollution in coastal areas. About 75 percent of the toxic chemicals
that flow into Puget Sound are carried by stormwater that runs off paved roads and driveways,
rooftops, yards and other developed land

Toxicity and treatment methods, sewage disposal system.

Sewage treatment is the process of removing the contaminants from sewage to produce liquid
and solid (sludge) suitable for discharge to the environment or for reuse. It is a form of waste
management. A septic tank or other on-site wastewater treatment system such as biofilters can
be used to treat sewage close to where it is created. Sewage water is a complex mixture of
chemicals, with many distinctive chemical characteristics. These include high concentrations of

3
ammonium, nitrate, phosphorus, high conductivity (due to high dissolved solids), high alkalinity,
with pH typically ranging between 7 and 8. Trihalomethanes are also likely to be present as a
result of past disinfection. In developed countries sewage collection and treatment is typically
subject to local, state and federal regulations and standards.

Sewage sludge can be collected through a sludge processing plant that automatically heats the
matter and converts it into fertilizer pellets (thereby removing possible contamination by
chemical detergents, ...)[7] This approach eliminates seawater pollution caused when the water
is discharged directly to the sea without treatment (a practice which is still common in developing
countries, despite environmental regulation). Sludge plants are useful in areas that have already
set-up a sewage-system, but not in areas without such a system, as composting toilets are more
efficient and do not require sewage pipes (which break over time).

4.2. Environmental Impact Assessment Methods of coastal activities.

4
How Are Coasts Affected By Developments?
 Developments can affect the way a coast functions. The type of development and the scale
of the development will impact on the coastal area. All the benefits related to the functions
mentioned above will be impacted on and could either be reduced or lost.
 Although coastal ecosystems are resilient, they are finite and vulnerable to over-exploitation,
pollution from both marine and land-based sources and damage from improper and
unplanned land use and development.
 Inappropriate decisions can result in degraded coastal resources and lost development
opportunities. For instance, a bridge built across an estuary can disrupt the natural ecosystem
functioning. Degraded coastal ecosystems that are no longer functioning properly can result
in the exposure of human life and property to high risk, for example, through flooding or
storm damage.

How to Consider Coasts in the EIA process?

 Coastal areas are diverse in terms of physical, social, economic, political and institutional
characteristics. Different management responses are therefore required at provincial,
regional and local levels according to the context.
 The impacts of developments or activities in the coastal area should typically be investigated
in a holistic, integrated and coordinated way by specialists. A coordinated approach to
coastal management acknowledges that the coast is a system and that different human uses
of coastal resources are interdependent.
 A multiplicity of policy and legislation is applicable in the coastal area. In addition a range
of other national legislation, provincial laws and ordinances as well as local authority by-laws
are relevant to the coast for example, legislation relating to local government restructuring,
development planning, heritage, disaster management, natural resource management,
water, biodiversity, mining, transport, energy and pollution control.
 The regulations to control potentially harmful activities to the coastal environment, such as
earthworks, dune stabilization and dredging, within demarcated sensitive coastal areas
(SCAs).
 Local authorities administer the regulations if private landowners are applying for permits,
but local authorities themselves have to apply to the relevant provincial department for a
permit if they wish to undertake activities covered by SCA regulations.

4.3. Oil pollution: Sources and fate of oil, composition and toxicity of oil, biological effects
treatment procedures. Enzymatic removal of hazardous organic substances from aqueous
effluents.

An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially
marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually applied to
marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur
on land. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling
rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their

5
by-products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse
or waste oil. Spilt oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of
mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature
fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult
and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water
(affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved.[1]
Spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up.

 Oceans are polluted by oil on a daily basis from oil spills, routine shipping, run-offs and
dumping.
 Oil spills make up about 12% of the oil that enters the ocean. The rest come from shipping
travel, drains and dumping.
 An oil spill from a tanker is a severe problem because there is such a huge quantity of oil being
spilt into one place.
 Oil spills cause a much localized problem but can be catastrophic to local marine wildlife such
as fish, birds and sea otters.
 Oil cannot dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge in the water. This suffocates fish, gets
caught in the feathers of marine birds stopping them from flying and blocks light from
photosynthetic aquatic plants.

An oil spill represents an immediate fire hazard. The Kuwaiti oil fires produced air pollution that
caused respiratory distress. The Deepwater Horizon explosion killed eleven oil rig workers.
Contamination can have an economic impact on tourism and marine resource extraction
industries. For example, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted beach tourism and fishing along
the Gulf Coast, and the responsible parties were required to compensate economic victims.

Oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its
insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much
less buoyant in the water. Animals who rely on scent to find their babies or mothers cannot due
to the strong scent of the oil. This causes a baby to be rejected and abandoned, leaving the babies
to starve and eventually die. Oil can impair a bird's ability to fly, preventing it from foraging or
escaping from predators. As they preen, birds may ingest the oil coating their feathers,
irritating the digestive tract, altering liver function, and causing kidney damage. Together with
their diminished foraging capacity, this can rapidly result in dehydration and metabolic
imbalance. Some birds exposed to petroleum also experience changes in their hormonal balance,
including changes in their luteinizing protein. The majority of birds affected by oil spills die from
complications without human intervention. Some studies have suggested that less than one
percent of oil-soaked birds survive, even after cleaning, although the survival rate can also exceed
ninety percent, as in the case of the Treasure oil spill.

Heavily furred marine mammals exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways. Oil coats the
fur of sea otters and seals, reducing its insulating effect, and leading to fluctuations in body
temperature and hypothermia. Oil can also blind an animal, leaving it defenseless. The ingestion

6
of oil causes dehydration and impairs the digestive process. Animals can be poisoned, and may
die from oil entering the lungs or liver.

Treatment procedures. Enzymatic removal of hazardous organic substances from aqueous

effluents.

Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the
type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and
the types of shorelines and beaches involved.

There are three kinds of oil-consuming bacteria. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and acid-
producing bacteria are anaerobic, while general aerobic bacteria (GAB) are aerobic. These
bacteria occur naturally and will act to remove oil from an ecosystem, and their biomass will tend
to replace other populations in the food chain.

Methods for cleaning up

Bioremediation: use of microorganisms or biological agents to break down or remove oil; such
as the bacteria Alcanivorax or Methylocella Silvestris.
Bioremediation Accelerator: Oleophilic, hydrophobic chemical, containing no bacteria, which
chemically and physically bonds to both soluble and insoluble hydrocarbons. The
bioremediation accelerator acts as a herding agent in water and on the surface, floating
molecules to the surface of the water, including solubles such as phenols and BTEX, forming
gel-like agglomerations. Undetectable levels of hydrocarbons can be obtained in produced water
and manageable water columns. By overspraying sheen with bioremediation accelerator, sheen
is eliminated within minutes. Whether applied on land or on water, the nutrient-rich emulsion
creates a bloom of local, indigenous, pre-existing, hydrocarbon-consuming bacteria. Those
specific bacteria break down the hydrocarbons into water and carbon dioxide, with EPA tests
showing 98% of alkanes biodegraded in 28 days; and aromatics being biodegraded 200 times
faster than in nature they also sometimes use the hydrofireboom to clean the oil up by taking it
away from most of the oil and burning it. Controlled burning can effectively reduce the amount
of oil in water, if done properly. But it can only be done in low wind and can cause air pollution.

Dispersants can be used to dissipate oil slicks. A dispersant is either a non-surface active polymer
or a surface-active substance added to a suspension, usually a colloid, to improve the separation
of particles and to prevent settling or clumping. They may rapidly disperse large amounts of
certain oil types from the sea surface by transferring it into the water column. They will cause
the oil slick to break up and form water-soluble micelles that are rapidly diluted. The oil is then
effectively spread throughout a larger volume of water than the surface from where the oil was
dispersed. They can also delay the formation of persistent oil-in-water emulsions. However,
laboratory experiments showed that dispersants increased toxic hydrocarbon levels in fish by a
factor of up to 100 and may kill fish eggs. Dispersed oil droplets infiltrate into deeper water and
can lethally contaminate coral. Research indicates that some dispersants are toxic to corals.

7
Watch and wait: in some cases, natural attenuation of oil may be most appropriate, due to the
invasive nature of facilitated methods of remediation, particularly in ecologically sensitive areas
such as wetlands.

Dredging: for oils dispersed with detergents and other oils denser than water.
Skimming: Requires calm waters at all times during the process.
Solidifying: Solidifiers are composed of dry hydrophobic polymers that both adsorb and absorb.
They clean up oil spills by changing the physical state of spilled oil from liquid to a semi-solid
or a rubber-like material that floats on water. Solidifiers are insoluble in water, therefore the
removal of the solidified oil is easy and the oil will not leach out. Solidifiers have been proven to
be relatively non-toxic to aquatic and wild life and have been proven to suppress harmful
vapors commonly associated with hydrocarbons such as Benzene, Xylene, Methyl Ethyl,
Acetone and Naphtha. The reaction time for solidification of oil is controlled by the surf area or
size of the polymer as well as the viscosity of the oil. Some solidifier product manufactures claim
the solidified oil can be disposed of in landfills, recycled as an additive in asphalt or rubber
products, or burned as a low ash fuel.
Vacuum and centrifuge: oil can be sucked up along with the water, and then a centrifuge can
be used to separate the oil from the water - allowing a tanker to be filled with near pure oil.
Usually, the water is returned to the sea, making the process more efficient, but allowing small
amounts of oil to go back as well. This issue has hampered the use of centrifuges due to a United
States regulation limiting the amount of oil in water returned to the sea.

4.4. Thermal and radioactive pollutants: Source and characteristics, strategies for disposal of
RNA and Heated effluents, biological effects and alternative uses of waste dumping, mining
and dredging operations, their effects on the organisms and marine environment.

Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient
water temperature. A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by
power plants and industrial manufacturers. When water used as a coolant is returned to the
natural environment at a higher temperature, the change in temperature decreases oxygen
supply and affects ecosystem composition. Urban runoff–stormwater discharged to surface
waters from roads and parking lots–can also be a source of elevated water temperatures.vWhen
a power plant first opens or shuts down for repair or other causes, fish and other organisms
adapted to particular temperature range can be killed by the abrupt change in water temperature
known as "thermal shock."

Control of thermal pollution

Industrial wastewater

In the United States, about 75 to 82 percent of thermal pollution is generated by power plants.
The remainder is from industrial sources such as petroleum refineries, pulp and paper mills,

8
chemical plants, steel mills and smelters. Heated water from these sources may be controlled
with:
 cooling ponds, man-made bodies of water designed for cooling by evaporation,
convection, and radiation
 cooling towers, which transfer waste heat to the atmosphere through evaporation and/or
heat transfer
 Cogeneration, a process where waste heat is recycled for domestic and/or industrial
heating purposes.

Some facilities use once-through cooling (OTC) systems which do not reduce temperature as
effectively as the above systems. For example, the Potrero Generating Station in San Francisco
(closed in 2011), used OTC and discharged water to San Francisco Bay approximately 10°C (20°F)
above the ambient bay temperature.

Urban runoff

During warm weather, urban runoff can have significant thermal impacts on small streams, as
stormwater passes over hot parking lots, roads and sidewalks. Stormwater management facilities
that absorb runoff or direct it into groundwater, such as bioretention systems and infiltration
basins, can reduce these thermal effects. Retention basins (ponds) tend to be less effective at
reducing temperature, as the water may be heated by the sun before being discharged to a
receiving stream.

Radioactive wastes and substances:

The radiation pollution effects vary depending on the amount of radiation to which we are
exposed and on the sensitivity of each exposed individual. Thus, while exposure to high amounts
of radiation almost always generate serious diseases (cancer is the most common radiation-
induced disease) or immediate death, serious life-threatening diseases may develop even from
exposure to small amounts of radiation but, in general, over long periods of time, especially in
sensitive individuals (the genetic inheritance plays an important role in how sensitive an
individual may be to radiation pollution).

Exposure to High Amounts of Radiation - Radiation Pollution and Cancer

Cancer generation is the most typical health effect of radiation exposure, especially when high
or moderate amounts of radiation are involved (in general regardless of the exposure period).
Lung cancer is a typical example of the effect of exposure to radon, which is the second leading
cause of lung cancer in the U.S. Thyroid tumors / cancer may also develop due to the effect of
radioactive iodine that accumulates in the thyroid. This is why, when radiation accident occurs,
the intake of non-radioactive dose of iodine is taken as precaution in order to leave no space for
the radioactive iodine to bind and accumulate.

9
Skin cancer may also develop as a result to prolonged UV exposure at tanning saloons and/or
beaches, especially since the ozone layer gets weaker in protecting us. The many years of
monitoring of radiation effects from detonation of nuclear bombs in Japan in 1940’s, showed
that cancers may develop immediately following the exposure to radiation or after shorter or
longer periods (up to 30 years from the exposure) of time since the exposure occurred.

Sources

Defense weapon production – may also release radioactivity from the handled radioactive
materials (usually of high health risks). However, unless accident occurs, the current standards
will not allow the release of any significant amount of radiation.

Nuclear waste handling and disposal – may generate low to medium radiation over long period
of times. The radioactivity may contaminate and propagate through air, water, and soil as well.
Thus, their effects may not be easily distinguishable and are hard to predict. Additional, some
nuclear waste location may not be identified.

Mining of radioactive ores (such as uranium ores) – involve the crushing and processing of
radioactive ores and generate radioactive by-products. Mining of other ores may also generate
radioactive wastes (such as mining of phosphate ores).

Nuclear accidents – an already classic example of such accident is the nuclear explosion at a
former Soviet nuclear power plant from Chernobyl that occurred in the mid-1986. Its effects are
still seen today. Another example is the 1979 explosion at Three Mile Island nuclear-power
generating plant near Harrisburg, PA. The general problems at nuclear weapons reactors are
other examples of this type of sources of radiation pollution. Even accidents from handling
medical nuclear materials/wastes could have radiation health effects on workers.

How to Stop Radiation Pollution and Prevent Exposure

The main issue with the radiation waste is the fact that it cannot be degraded or treated
chemically or biologically. Thus, the only options are to contain the waste by storing it in tightly
closed containers shielded with radiation-protective materials (such as Pb) or, if containing is
not possible, to dilute it. Additionally, many radioactive materials have very long half-times (time
necessary for half of the material to degrade or transform into non-radioactive materials) and
thus radiation waste may pose a risk for many years after it was produced. Basically, there are
only few options for radiation waste treatment involving:
 Containment of the waste in radiation-shielded containers usually buried under ground
 Isolation of radiation waste in remote locations such as remote caves or abandoned mines
- which may also involve the use of some kind of barriers (shields),
 When the first two alternatives are not possible, the waste may be diluted till background
values are achieved.

10