Meeting the Science Needs of the Nation in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy-- A U.S. Geological Survey Science Plan for Support of Restoration and Recovery

Buxton, Herbert T.; Andersen, Matthew E.; Focazio, Michael J.; Haines, John W.; Hainly, Robert A.; Hippe, Daniel J.; Sugarbaker, Larry J.

doi:10.3133/cir1390

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…In nearby New Jersey, home fertilizer use has been restricted, with the goal of improving aquatic ecosystem health (Kennish et al 2016). In response to recent reports documenting continued water quality declines (Suffolk Co. 2014), and major water quality issues associated with impacts of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 (Buxton et al 2013), additional state programs, incentives, and infrastructure developments to improve water quality are proposed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of nutrient pollution in Long Island, New York, estuarine environments

Watson

Powell

Maher

et al. 2018

Marine Environmental Research

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Roughly eight million people live on Long Island, including Brooklyn and Queens, and despite improvements in wastewater treatment, nearly all its coastal waterbodies are impaired by excessive nitrogen. We used nutrient stoichiometry and stable isotope ratios in estuarine biota and soils to identify water pollution hot spots and compare among potential indicators. We found strong gradients in δN values, which were correlated with watershed land cover, population density, and wastewater discharges. Weaker correlations were found for δC values and nutrient stoichiometric ratios. Structural equation modeling identified contrasts between western Long Island, where δN values depended on watershed population density, and eastern Long Island where δN values reflected agriculture and sewage discharges. These results illustrate the use of stable isotopes as water quality indicators, and establish a baseline against which the efficacy of strategies to reduce nutrients can be measured.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of nutrient pollution in Long Island, New York, estuarine environments

Watson

Powell

Maher

et al. 2018

Marine Environmental Research

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“…In response to Hurricane Sandy, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is leading a multi-faceted mapping and research program designed to guide recovery and restoration efforts (Buxton et al, 2013). Components of the program link coastal processes to vulnerability, including how to quantify offshore sand resources suitable for recovery efforts, establish linkages between nearshore geology, ocean processes, and barrier island response; and develop models that predict the coastal response to oceanographic forcing, assess vulnerability, and predict barrier island evolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inner-shelf ocean dynamics and seafloor morphologic changes during Hurricane Sandy

Warner

Schwab

List

et al. 2017

Continental Shelf Research

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A B S T R A C THurricane Sandy was one of the most destructive hurricanes in US history, making landfall on the New Jersey coast on October 30, 2012. Storm impacts included several barrier island breaches, massive coastal erosion, and flooding. While changes to the subaerial landscape are relatively easily observed, storm-induced changes to the adjacent shoreface and inner continental shelf are more difficult to evaluate. These regions provide a framework for the coastal zone, are important for navigation, aggregate resources, marine ecosystems, and coastal evolution. Here we provide unprecedented perspective regarding regional inner continental shelf sediment dynamics based on both observations and numerical modeling over time scales associated with these types of large storm events. Oceanographic conditions and seafloor morphologic changes are evaluated using both a coupled atmospheric-ocean-wave-sediment numerical modeling system that covered spatial scales ranging from the entire US east coast (1000 s of km) to local domains (10 s of km). Additionally, the modeled response for the region offshore of Fire Island, NY was compared to observational analysis from a series of geologic surveys from that location. The geologic investigations conducted in 2011 and 2014 revealed lateral movement of sedimentary structures of distances up to 450 m and in water depths up to 30 m, and vertical changes in sediment thickness greater than 1 m in some locations. The modeling investigations utilize a system with grid refinement designed to simulate oceanographic conditions with progressively increasing resolutions for the entire US East Coast (5-km grid), the New York Bight (700-m grid), and offshore of Fire Island, NY (100-m grid), allowing larger scale dynamics to drive smaller scale coastal changes. Model results in the New York Bight identify maximum storm surge of up to 3 m, surface currents on the order of 2 ms −1 along the New Jersey coast, waves up to 8 m in height, and bottom stresses exceeding 10 Pa. Flow down the Hudson Shelf Valley is shown to result in convergent sediment transport and deposition along its axis. Modeled sediment redistribution along Fire Island showed erosion across the crests of inner shelf sand ridges and sedimentation in adjacent troughs, consistent with the geologic observations.

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“…Water samples were also taken from two flooded residential basements near the Gowanus Canal and produced similar results (US EPA 2012d). The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has implemented a plan for support and recovery from Hurricane Sandy that includes the study of impacts on environmental quality, including exposure to chemical and microbial contaminants (Buxton et al 2013). Although water quality data are available on the USGS Web site (USGS 2013), at the time of writing soil measurements were not available; we are unaware of any reports of contaminant levels in soils in the New York City area following Hurricane Sandy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Chemical contamination of soils in the New York City area following Hurricane Sandy

Mandigo

Discenza

Keimowitz

et al. 2015

Environ Geochem Health

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This paper presents a unique data set of lead, arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in soil samples collected from the metropolitan New York City area in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Initial samples were collected by citizen scientists recruited via social media, a relatively unusual approach for a sample collection project. Participants in the affected areas collected 63 usable samples from basements, gardens, roads, and beaches. Results indicate high levels of arsenic, lead, PCBs, and PAHs in an area approximately 800 feet south of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Superfund site at Newtown Creek. A location adjacent to the Gowanus Canal, another Superfund site, was found to have high PCB concentrations. Areas of high PAH contamination tended to be near high traffic areas or next to sites of known contamination. While contamination as a direct result of Hurricane Sandy cannot be demonstrated conclusively, the presence of high levels of contamination close to known contamination sites, evidence for co-contamination, and decrease in number of samples containing measureable amounts of semi-volatile compounds from samples collected at similar locations 9 months after the storm suggest that contaminated particles may have migrated to residential areas as a result of flooding.

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Meeting the Science Needs of the Nation in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy-- A U.S. Geological Survey Science Plan for Support of Restoration and Recovery

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Indicators of nutrient pollution in Long Island, New York, estuarine environments

Indicators of nutrient pollution in Long Island, New York, estuarine environments

Inner-shelf ocean dynamics and seafloor morphologic changes during Hurricane Sandy

Chemical contamination of soils in the New York City area following Hurricane Sandy

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