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 Surveys tell us that when told that our ocean heritage is in trouble most Americans feel impotent to effect change. Yet there is no difference to changing how we affect the ocean than years ago when we learned that we had to stop littering and recycle our trash on land. As a society, if we can work together to reduce our impact on the ocean its health will improve and the ecosystem we rely on will become more stable and healthy.
Some issues which currently affect our ocean health:
• Sewage treatment plants are often overwhelmed during heavy rains and discharge sewage mixed with storm drain water directly into the nearest waterway, without treatment. These sewer overflows make waterways and ocean beaches unsafe for swimming.
• Runoff from urban neighborhoods can polllute water hundreds of miles downstream. Pollutants can include fertilizers, pesticides, street litter, sediment, automotive fluids, and pet waste. The drainage watershed of the Chesapeake Bay, for example, covers 64,000 miles, and pollutants may travel to the Bay from as far away as Cooperstown, New York, or from farms in rural Pennsylvania.
• A single quart of oil can contaminate two million gallons of drinking water, or create an oil slick that covers eight acres.
• About 22,000 bodies of water in the United States are considered "impaired" by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to pollution.
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