Cape Cod History

1987: Pollution closes in on Cape Cod's waters

1987: Pollution Closes In on Gulf of Maine
Long-term risk for 4,500-mile coastline from Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy

The area is delineated by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast.

On this day in 1987, the New York Times reported for the first time the impending ecological disaster which was building off our shore and which would have a profound effect on Cape Cod's economy in the future. The story below begins;

Pollution problems that have plagued the Atlantic seaboard this summer are now believed to pose a threat to the rich fishing habitat off the coast of Maine, an area once thought to be untroubled by pollution.

Scientists, concerned by the recent discovery of hazardous substances in the area, are calling for extensive research into the unknown sources of pollutants to save the coast from further destruction.

Recent studies have found PCB's, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and excess nitrogen from sewage on the 4,500-mile coastline from Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy. Long-Term Risks Seen

Scientists say that so far, the pollution has not caused nearly as much harm to the Gulf of Maine as it has in Chesapeake Bay, Boston Harbor or the water off New Jersey, where swimmers were driven from beaches this summer by fecal bacteria.

But Senator George J. Mitchell, Democrat of Maine, said the pollution pointed to ''long-term risks'' that warranted a comprehensive study of the gulf, whose oceanography has never been fully understood.

"If we do nothing, in 50 years it'll look like New York bight."
           - Dr. Charles S. Yentsch

Mr. Mitchell, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on environmental protection, is drafting legislation asking for Federal funds for the research.

''If we do nothing, in 50 years it'll look like New York bight,'' said Dr. Charles S. Yentsch, director of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in West Boothbay Harbor.

Dr. Yentsch is a member of the Association for Research on the Gulf of Maine, or ARGO, a consortium of marine researchers and educators urging more study. Unacceptable Levels of DDT

PCB's, polychlorinated biphenyls, a cancer-causing compound once used in electrical conductivity, were found in all 94 samples taken at 19 sites in a study conducted by Anne Johnson, director of marine programs for the Maine Audubon Society.

The outlawed insecticide DDT and hydrocarbons from oil burning are ''well above acceptable levels,'' according to Charles N. Ehler, director of the Federal Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment.

Sewer discharge is blamed for contributing to the algal bloom that closed 13,000 acres, or 26 percent, of the state's clam flats, and a study this year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration found that fish in Casco Bay had the highest concentration of lead in their fish livers in the country.

Plastic objects in Casco Bay have also emerged as a serious threat to birds and fish. The creatures become entagled in plastic fishing lines, and some have starved to death after plastic bottles or bags lodged in their digestive tracts. Plankton, Turbulence and Sun

The Gulf of Maine's unusual dynamics make it one of the richest marine habitats in the world, scientists say.

''It is actually a shallow sea amazingly rich in planktonic growth,'' said Dr. Yentsch. The plankton feed an abundance of haddock, cod, sole, herring, mackerel, shellfish and lobsters. Last year Maine fishermen took 166 million pounds of fish, worth an estimated $108 million, from gulf waters.

The crashing of tidal waves from the Bay of Fundy, some reaching heights of 40 feet, and the influx of fresh water from the mouths of Maine's major rivers create unusual turbulence that lifts the nutrients to the surface where sunlight allows marine life to flourish, Dr. Yentsch said.

The teeming microorganisms include the algae form believed to cause "red tide," which has spoiled clam flats in the gulf.

But algae and other microorganisms are now thriving, feeding on phosphates and inorganic nitrogen from treated fecal matter in discharged wastewater. Primitive Sewage Treatment

The teeming microorganisms include the algae form believed to cause ''red tide,'' which has spoiled clam flats in the gulf. In excessive numbers, the microorganisms also deplete oxygen from the water, killing some fish and forcing others to flee. A report issued by the Office of Technology Assessment shows a 15 percent increase in areas along the coast that are oxygen-poor.

In Maine, the algae problem stems primarily from increased population, especially in the south, along with farm fertilizer runoff and outmoded sewage systems. Only in June, when legislators noticed a growing trend in licensed systems consisting of only a relatively ineffective ''sand filter,'' many for vacation cottages along lakes and the coast, was a law enacted requiring hook-ups to private or municipal systems.

Bangor and Brunswick, two of the state's larger cities, do not yet have sewage treatment plants capable of removing viruses and bacteria as required by Federal law, though they are planned, said Dean Marriott, Commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

And even treated sewage usually retains some of the inorganic substances that encourage algae growth.

The source of PCB's is not as readily detectable, said Ms. Johnson of the Audubon society. Possibly, she said, they may come from dumps. When burned, PCB's from transformers and other devices are released and carried in the air.

PCB's lodge in sediment on the ocean floor. They pose a danger to hake, cod and bottom-dwelling marine life, as well as to the people who eat them.