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Newport Bay is a popular destination for wildlife, boaters, fishers, swimmers and hikers alike. Now that Coastkeeper has conducted research on metals pollution present in the Bay through the Rhine Channel and Copper/Metals Projects, the next step is to better understand other sources of metals to the Bay. Coastkeeper aims to answer that question through the Lower Newport Bay Metals Stormdrain Study. The City of Newport Beach has contracted O.C. Coastkeeper to run this project with funding from the Regional Water Quality Control Board. This project will investigate the metal loading to Lower Newport Bay from stormwater and dry weather runoff.
How do metals get into the stormdrains?
You might be wondering how we contribute to metals pollution in the Back Bay in our everyday activites. Sources of metals in stormwater runoff include copper from automobile brake pads as well as other metals such as lead, copper, arsenic, zinc, mercury, nickel, lead, chromium, and tin. These metals have many functions in auto operation, maintenance, and repair as well as during uncontrolled pressure washing, painting, antifouling or fueling activities. Residential activities including lawn watering can result in metals being input to the street in lawn runoff. Metals then enter waterways, and ultimately the Bay, via an intricate system of over 200 stormdrains.
So what’s the problem with metals?
High levels of metals have an adverse effect on fish and wildlife.
What are the Project Goals?
The goals of this project are to measure the concentrations of metals in stormdrain runoff to the Lower Newport Bay during wet and dry seasons and to determine their loading capacity to the Bay.
How will Coastkeeper achieve these goals?
For this project Coastkeeper staff will collect samples from twenty stormdrains throughout Lower Newport Bay selected to be representative of all stormdrain flow into the bay. The samples will be collected during four storm events and two dry weather sessions in 2007. A commercial lab will analyze the samples and the data results will be analyzed by O.C.Coastkeeper and reported to the city of Newport Beach. This project started in September of 2006 and will be completed in March of 2008.
Please contact Ray Hiemstra at the Coastkeeper office to learn more about this project and how you can get involved.
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