WRMI 2004 Annual Report
Assisting Long Island and New York
The Institute’s programs and activities are geographically focused on Long Island and New York State. Much of WRMI’s research is directly relevant to problems confronting the Island and the State.
WRMI’s cooperative program with the NYS Department of Transportation should provide some excellent reuse opportunities for MSW combustion residue. Reuse will result in extended life of Long Island’s permitted ashfills.
This year, WRMI compiled the Long Island Garbage Index, as part of the Long Island Index distributed by the Rauch Foundation. The Long Island Garbage Index examines local trends in the generation and cost for removal of residential municipal solid waste (MSW) and recyclables for seven major towns on Long Island. The study looked exclusively at residential waste generation rates on Long Island and did not include commercial waste or construction and demolition debris. From 2002 to 2004, Long Island residents increased their daily per capita residential waste generation by 2.3%, while the amount they recycled curbside decreased by 27.1%. The annual residential curbside recycling rate in 2004 (not including yard waste) was 13.7%, compared to 18.8% in 2002. However, the amount of yard waste during this same period decreased 14%, representing a source reduction and possibly more on-site composting. Understanding and properly managing our region’s waste stream is especially important given the rising population and limited open space in the New York metropolitan area. More recycling means less waste in our disposal facilities, and less exporting of our waste stream off-island. Reducing waste generation can also help decrease the amount of pollution entering Long Island Sound from groundwater and coastal runoff.
Several WRMI faculty have initiated studies to examine potential causes of American lobster mortalities in Long Island Sound. These include waste loading issues from New York City sewage treatment plants, physical oceanographic processes in Long Island Sound, and the consequences of mosquito spraying.
WRMI faculty conducted research funded by New York Sea Grant on the effects of mosquito control pesticides on larval and juvenile lobsters. Their work included laboratory-based studies of acute and sublethal toxic effects of the mosquito adulticides Resmethrin and Malathion and on the juvenile hormone mimic Methoprene. Each of these pesticides has been used in New York to control mosquitos acting as a vector for the West Nile virus. They also conducted field measurements of the same pesticides along with Sumithrin (another pyrethroid adulticide) of surface water samples collected soon after spraying events. Field samples came from a variety of pond, lake, marsh, and coastal waters. In order to be able to measure environmental realistic and toxicologically significant pesticide levels, a new method of analysis using HPLC-MS detection was developed. These new methods are ten to a thousand times more sensitive than other monitoring methods that had been previously reported or used.
WRMI faculty, staff, and students helped to organize and raise funds for the MSRC’s third annual New York State Regional Ocean Sciences Bowl, part of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) which was held in February at the University. The program encourages students in grades 9-12 and their teachers to broaden their understanding of the ocean sciences and the impact of the oceans on global climate, weather, economic structure, history and culture. The NOSB provides a forum for students and teachers to establish connections with others who share similar interests and to build a network of support for continued exploration in the ocean sciences. Sixteen teams from counties throughout New York State gathered for the daylong event.
Page last modified on Friday, July 21, 2006 by George E. Carroll