. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Dr. B. J. Copeland Dr. Copeland is director of the University of North Carolina Sea Grant Program. A professor of zool- ogy, botany and marine sciences at North Carolina State University, his research interests have focused on estuarine water quality and ecology. Sea Grant looks at ocean outfall problems The finite land area of the Outer Banks and the increasing popula- tion there are providing great difficulties for waste disposal. Porous sands can support only a few septic tanks but not nearly enough to


. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Dr. B. J. Copeland Dr. Copeland is director of the University of North Carolina Sea Grant Program. A professor of zool- ogy, botany and marine sciences at North Carolina State University, his research interests have focused on estuarine water quality and ecology. Sea Grant looks at ocean outfall problems The finite land area of the Outer Banks and the increasing popula- tion there are providing great difficulties for waste disposal. Porous sands can support only a few septic tanks but not nearly enough to dispose of the volume of wastes produced in some areas. Thus, seepage from septic tanks is imposing water quality problems in nearby sur- face waters. Conventional treatment facilities must still dispose of effluents, usually in nearby productive and aesthetically-important sound waters. Land and underground disposal pose serious threats to precious groundwater resources. To combat these problems, some municipalities are proposing re- gional collection of sewage, treatment and disposal offshore through ocean outfalls. Ocean outfalls impose several obvious problems— , proper design, knowledge of ocean currents and mixing, eco- nomic alternatives, and lack of criteria and policy by state and federal regulatory agencies. The University of North Carolina Sea Grant Program has initiated two studies to focus on the ocean outfall problems. A short-term sur- vey of existing data and information concerning physical character- istics of North Carolina's nearshore continental shelf is almost completed. This study will focus what we already know, which is scant, on the ocean outfall issue as it pertains to North Carolina. A second, more long-term study is underway to provide a model of nearshore currents and mixing, along with collection of pertinent, accurate data. Another study will begin this summer on the septic tank problem. This work has the objective of determining density and


Size: 1444px × 1731px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography