(OYSTER POND STUDY...Continued from Page Two)samples will be accompanied by local weather information from a recognized recording station, as well as tide gauge measurements taken a three docks (Treetops, Ransom Road and Spohr Gardens) and at the weir. Preliminary work for the study has begun. - little orange buoys mark 12 separate sampling points in the north end of the pond, and 3 flag buoys mark the additional sampling points that coincide with those of the Falmouth Pond Watchers. [The Pond Watchers sample of four Sundays in mid-to-late summer every year.] This study is only the beginning of a series of studies needed to clarify the micro-ecology of Oyster Pond. The Board will continute to pursue its own studies, but hopes as well to encourage work by noted scientists like Dr. Ivan Valiela and Dr. Brian Hosse, as well as anyone else (including high school students!) who can bring energy and interest to bear. (BUESSELER-- Continued from Page 1)League of Women Voters of Falmouth, board member of FACES (Falmouth Associations Concerned with Estuaries and Salt Ponds), the Fertilizer Committee, the Eco-Landscaping Committee, and is a Town Meeting member. Wendi brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the many conservation issues OPET is involved with now and an appreciation of what is needed to plan for the future. With her help and support, we look forward to the continuting success and dedicated service in conservation and environmental leadership OPET brings to our beautiful community. Susan Gagosian |
Visit the OPET WebsiteWe would like to recommend our readers to visit our online website www.opet.org. Here you will find everything from a history of our organization to a variety of maps, a discussion of projects, and archived newsletters dating back to 1995 (plus a predecessor from 1991). Our photo gallery features Oyster Pond beautifully documented in all four seasons, thanks especially to Birgit Rose, long-time Board member. We also provide a list of useful links to related websites of interest, and annual meeting highlights of the past five years. We welcome feedback on the website, so have a look! (SEPTIC SYSTEM - Continued from Page 1)nitrogen loading (both sources and paths through a watershed), as well as conducting outreach to Cape towns and organizations about ways to reduce nitrogen loading. In several of the past 4 years, OPET has sponsored research by Ivan Valiela's Boston University Marine Program (BUMP) students in and around Oyster Pond (web link to latest reports). Theses studies have demonstrated that Oyster Pond is already showing the effects of excessive nitrogen loading. We were, therefore, relieved to discover that the Cape Cod Conservation Commission has understood the importance of this issue. In issuing a permit for construction of the new home, Conservation has required the installation of a de-nitrifying septic system. The system is referred to as the Fixed Actived Sludge Treatment process. It is thoroughly described in this web page from the Barnstable County Health Department: http://www.barnstablecountyhealth.org/AlternativeWebpage/Fast/Fast.htm. In a nutshell, the system requires an extra tank, in which waste nitrogen is converted to a form that is not biologically active. The County Health Department (and the State Department of Environmental Protection) believes that the system "is capable of producing finished effluent with total nitrgoen content of 19 mg N/L." To put this in perspective, it is often assumed that wastewater exiting the house has about 40 mg Nitrogen/Liter. The Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center has found that "At the [septic system] base, this system was estimated to remove 60 percent of nitrogen inputs compared to 22 percent for a Title 5 system during the same period." This is not perfect, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. |
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