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Association to Preserve Cape Cod

    THE SCUTTLEBUTT

    Northeast Winds Bring a Chill to Fishing

    Antiquated septic systems and cesspools affect the bay, not just ponds

    By

    Just when we start enjoying epic weather and think we have a fall bass run commencing, here comes Mother Nature to slap us in the face with reality.

    In the week leading up to the weather that moved in last Thursday, fishing for bass, bluefish, and fluke was pretty good. But since then, we’ve been stuck with quite the protracted pattern, with a low-pressure system sitting just east of the Cape, spinning but not moving and slashing us with stiff northeast winds and heavy rain.

    My guess would be that when this weather finally moves away it will leave some cold ocean and bay water temperatures behind. Unfortunately, at this time of year when the water temperature gets a chill it prompts the departure of the striped bass. They’re likely going to begin their migration south and out of here. Bluefish are typically right behind the bass, looking for warmer waters. It won’t surprise me one bit if these fish are all gone when we can finally get offshore again.

    This seagull has been hanging around the CeeJay for weeks. It has a hook embedded in its chin, and the crew have been feeding it and trying to get close enough to it to throw a towel over it and get the hook out. (Photo by Mike Rathgeber)

    The forecast calls for northeast to east winds the entire week, with the possibility of a tropical system affecting us during the weekend ahead. We would need southerly winds to have a chance of our water temperatures warming up again this fall.

    Fluke fishing closed on Sept. 23, and tuna is closed until Oct. 1, so if we lose bass and blues there really will not be anything to fish for this week. Such is life on the Outer Cape.

    The whales also will be getting ready for their annual migration from their feeding grounds here to the Caribbean where they mate and give birth.

    Regular readers of my column know that I have written many times about what a dead zone the bay has become for fishing. It’s a drastic change from years past. Looking for a reason, I am beginning to believe it’s a water quality issue. I noted that the Association to Preserve Cape Cod’s annual “State of the Waters” report, released in January, says that although our drinking water is clean, 90 percent of the Cape’s coastal bays and more than a third of its freshwater ponds have “unacceptable” water quality.

    The biggest pollutants are nitrogen and phosphorus, and the APCC reports that the source is mainly “from inadequately treated wastewater from septic systems.” And to make things worse, we know we even have cesspools still in the ground around here. Stormwater runoff and fertilizers are the other two sources of nutrients in our waters.

    Together, all these excess nutrients when introduced into the bay help accelerate the growth of invasive weeds and toxic algae that is linked to hypoxia — a lack of oxygen in the water.

    The Cape Cod Commission reports that the Cape has over 500 miles of shoreline. It also has 890 freshwater ponds and 53 saltwater bays. The Cape’s beaches, ponds, and inlets are the mainstay for swimming, boating, and fishing and obviously are the primary reason we have a tourism economy that the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce says is worth $1.3 billion.

    Yet love for this valuable resource isn’t really showing up in the form of improvements in our waters. The really bad news is that the number of bays and ponds ranked “unacceptable” in this year’s report was very close to last year’s count. Our antipollution plans can’t produce tangible results if they remain little more than plans. And getting results will take a decade, the APCC report says.

    Can this be the reason many species of fish have decided to no longer take up residence in our bays and are preferring ocean waters? Sounds plausible to me, but we need someone to study this so we can get beyond conjecture.

    ENVIRONMENT

    Reports Show Steady Deterioration in Coastal Water Quality

    Center for Coastal Studies work points to need to replace septic systems

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Reports in recent years from the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC), which uses data collected by the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) at more than 100 testing stations in Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket Sound, show a steady decline in coastal water quality.

    RADIOACTIVITY

    EPA Threatens Holtec Officials With Fines and Imprisonment

    Association to Preserve Cape Cod is exploring preemptive action

    By

    PLYMOUTH — In a letter sent to Holtec Decommissioning International, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned decision makers at the company they could face fines and even jail time if they proceed with a radioactive wastewater release. That’s because the company’s current permit does not allow it.

    POND SCUM

    Cyanobacteria Blooms Rise With Water Temperatures

    Swimmers are advised to learn to spot and report ephemeral blooms

    By

    TRURO — Kettle ponds, the glittering pools of fresh water that are one of the Outer Cape’s most prized natural features, are facing a growing threat caused not only by excess nutrients but by warming temperatures.

    Snow Pond in Truro was closed in early June because of a cyanobacteria bloom. The bloom dissipated, and the pond reopened a week later. (Photo by Benjamin Siegel)

    Two of these ponds, Snow Pond in Truro and Gull Pond in Wellfleet, were temporarily closed in late June due to what the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC), an environmental nonprofit, expects will become an increasingly common hazard: cyanobacteria blooms. The ponds reopened in mid-July, after the blooms dissipated.

    Marshall Watnick, a summer visitor from Connecticut, goes to the Wellfleet ponds for quiet swims and to be with his grandchildren. He has noted an alarming trend.

    “When we first started coming 40 years ago, there was never any bacteria,” he said as he looked out over Gull Pond in Wellfleet.

    The green scum found along the shores of Truro’s Ryder Pond in 2021 is an example of a cyanobacteria bloom. (Photo by Sophia Fox, National Park Service)

    Actually, cyanobacteria, a single-celled microorganism, is native to the kettle ponds and survives by converting sunlight to food.

    “As a group, they’re not a bad thing,” said Sophia Fox, an aquatic ecologist for the National Park Service, emphasizing that cyanobacteria have always been a part of the kettle pond ecosystems. It’s the blooms that are new. When conditions allow cyanobacteria to reproduce rapidly, they form a green scum on the water’s surface.

    It is these scum-like blooms that can produce cyanotoxins, which can cause respiratory and neurological problems for humans who encounter them, says Kevin Johnson, an ecologist and the coordinator of the APCC’s cyanobacteria monitoring program.

    The Heat Factor

    The algae’s rapid reproduction and subsequent blooming is made possible by two factors, say Johnson and Fox: warm water and high nutrient levels, including nitrogen and phosphorus. The nutrient buildup that stimulates algal blooms is part of an ecological phenomenon called eutrophication.

    While blooms in ponds on other parts of the Cape have lingered for weeks at a time, National Seashore ecologists discovered this year that many of the blooms on the Outer Cape appear and disappear rapidly, sometimes in a matter of hours. Fox said scientists do not yet know why this is happening.

    They do know that, on the Outer Cape, sparser development and remote pond locations significantly decrease the issue of eutrophication, Fox said.

    Fox believes that on the Outer Cape, an increase in water temperatures — a symptom of global warming—is responsible for the blooms, rather than nutrient loading. For example, in Snow Pond and Ryder Pond in Truro and in Gull Pond and Herring Pond in Wellfleet, blooms have been spotted over the past three years, despite no excess nutrient buildup.

    “Cyanobacteria may be more tolerant of higher temperatures than some of the other phytoplankton, which allows them to dominate more easily,” said Fox. Other plankton that normally compete for resources struggle in warmer temperatures, allowing cyanobacteria to thrive and reproduce quickly.

    Know It When You See It

    The APCC began closely monitoring 22 of the Cape’s 900 ponds for algal blooms in 2017, offering an interactive map with color-coded ratings. But it wasn’t until 2019 that the first blooms were observed on the Outer Cape by aquatic ecologists from the Cape Cod National Seashore. They first spotted the blooms along the shores of Gull Pond in Wellfleet. Since then, the National Seashore, the Outer Cape towns, and the APCC have collaborated to monitor bloom activity in local ponds.

    Responsibility for monitoring the water quality of the ponds depends upon who manages the access point, said Fox. With most of the Outer Cape’s public beaches managed by individual towns, the towns are responsible for testing water quality of these ponds. Five National Seashore ecologists, led by Fox, monitor water quality at Gull Pond and Snow Pond, as they both can be accessed via trails within the Seashore Park.

    National Seashore scientist Sophia Fox says to look out for thin green scum and small green dots floating on the surface of ponds. (Photo by Sophia Feuerhake)

    “Our team is out there at each pond that we monitor every other week, so if we make any observations of cyanobacteria activity, then we work with our partners in the towns and at the APCC to trigger a cyanobacteria protocol,” said Fox. The protocol involves sampling the water and sending it to an APCC laboratory for testing, and then, if needed, temporarily closing the ponds.

    One problem, said Fox, is that “we know we can’t be there every time to notice a bloom, because we now know they’re happening on such short time scales.” That means it’s important that people enjoying the ponds know what to look for, Fox said. The Seashore and town conservation commissions are now creating educational posters and presentations to help pond users recognize blooms.

    Fox said to look out for a jelly-like green scum along shorelines or a collection of green dots floating on the surface of the pond. Some blooms are benign, but it is impossible to tell if a bloom is toxic just by looking. For this reason, visitors to the kettle ponds should report any sightings of blooms to the National Seashore, the APCC, or the town health department.

    Eutrophication Watch

    The Cape Cod Commission, the regional land use planning, economic development, and regulatory agency, is continuing to monitor eutrophication. Tim Pasakarnis, a water resource analyst there, said eutrophication is typically measured by an increase in algae or other types of plant growth on the water surface, or by submerged plant growth.

    The shores of Dyer Pond in Wellfleet have remained clear of algae blooms so far this summer, but warmer water temperatures toward the end of summer could result in blooming. (Photo by Benjamin Siegel)

    Even in healthy ecosystems, eutrophication may occur eventually, converting a pond to a marsh, then to a meadow, and eventually to a forest over the course of a thousand years. But human-caused pollutants from fertilizers and septic systems trigger rapid eutrophication.

    Phosphorus input, in particular, is a concern in freshwater ponds, said Pasakarnis. He cited faulty septic systems near ponds, along with runoffs from roadways, stormwater, and fertilizer, as common sources of human contributions to nutrient loading.

    On June 8 the new Cape Cod Pond Network had its first meeting. The network was established by the Cape Cod Commission this summer as a single meeting place for groups across the Cape to join forces and share strategies for improving pond health.

    'STATE OF THE WATERS'

    Water Commissioners Question Wellfleet’s ‘Poor’ Rating

    APCC ranking of town’s water was based on 2020 incident

    By

    WELLFLEET — A report issued in late December by the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) singled out Wellfleet’s municipal water system as the only one among 20 on Cape Cod with “poor” water quality. But that conclusion is inaccurate and unfair, according to town officials, who said Wellfleet’s town water is “outstanding.”

    The “poor” rating, published in what the nonprofit Dennis-based APCC calls its annual “State of the Waters” report, is flawed, according to Wellfleet Water Commissioner Jim Hood, because it is based on one incident of contamination found during routine testing and quickly remedied.

    The rating, said Hood, “is not fair to us and the work we’ve been trying to do to improve the water supply here in Wellfleet.” None of the town’s water commissioners had heard of the report before being contacted by the Independent to comment on it.

    The APCC report states that Wellfleet “received a grade of ‘Poor’ due to violations in 2020 of two drinking water standards, E. coli and total coliform bacteria, as well as several violations which required the town to issue a ‘boil water order’ to protect public health.”

    The APCC’s ratings of Cape Cod’s public water supplies. (Courtesy Association to Preserve Cape Cod)

    The APCC’s drinking water rating, according to Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb, relies entirely on the annual consumer confidence report submitted by the town’s water supply company to the Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection. He said the rating reflects the fact that a problem requiring remediation occurred. “That’s our definition of ‘poor,’ ” Gottlieb said. “We had no reason to expect Wellfleet’s rating. Nothing had been found in two prior years,” he added.

    Nonetheless, Gottlieb said, “I believe the rating is fair.”

    The APCC’s report was issued Dec. 22, according to Gottlieb, and a press release went out on Jan. 3. Asked why it took a year to issue the water system ratings, Gottlieb said that it takes his organization that much time to compile all the data it needs for its report, which extends beyond drinking water to include conclusions on pond and estuary health as well.

    Hood objected to the reference to “several violations” in the APCC report, saying that multiple incidents did not occur.

    “There was one event,” Hood said. That event was widely reported, including in the Oct. 1, 2020 issue of the Independent.

    In September 2020, during routine flushing of lines, done to clear debris, the town’s water system operator, Whitewater Inc. of Charlton, found E. coli at the Coles Neck well field just north of town, Hood said. Measuring for coliform in drinking water is important because one specific form of the bacteria (E. coli O157:H7) can be dangerous, causing diarrhea, dysentery, and hepatitis, according to the CDC.

    While the source of the problem was being investigated, the state issued an order to the occupants of the 290 homes served by the system, requiring tap water be boiled for at least one minute before drinking, washing dishes, or brushing teeth with it. Restaurants were required to boil water for five minutes.

    A cracked wellhead cap found at the Coles Neck well field had allowed bacteria to get into the water there.

    “Unfortunately, the town’s water supply company had not sealed off the water line,” said Hood and, as a result, bacteria traveled from the well field down to Coles Neck Road, he said. Tests indicated two properties near the top of that water line were affected.

    The boil-water order was lifted four days after the bacteria were detected, after the water was treated with chlorine and subsequent samples reported to the state Dept. of Environmental Protection confirmed the system was clear, Hood said.

    “The incident covered a weakness in the system that was addressed promptly,” said Water Commissioner Curt Felix. “The DEP was satisfied. The bottom line is Wellfleet’s water quality is outstanding.”

    Whitewater Inc. General Manager Stephen Donovan would not respond to questions about the APCC’s report, saying that “the town of Wellfleet has asked we forgo responding until after the board of water commissioners has met and had an opportunity to discuss.”

    The water commissioners planned to meet on Tuesday, Jan. 18 to discuss the report. Town Water Clerk Karen Plantier did not respond to multiple voicemail and email messages.

    At their Oct. 5, 2021 meeting, the commissioners discussed positive tests for coliform bacteria in the municipal water system in September and again in October. Regular testing of the system’s water supply is required. When coliform bacteria are found, Felix said, the town follows DEP procedures, retesting the water for other contaminants.

    “Coliform bacteria are ubiquitous,” said Felix. “It’s not dangerous. Everything in nature that’s consuming food and digesting it is producing these bacteria. Naturally, they’re more present in the soil.”

    Hood referred to a 2017 nationwide tap water report by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. Wellfleet was reported to have the lowest contaminant levels in Barnstable County, he said.

    “That was the first time we ever had an event like that,” Hood said of the Coles Neck contamination. Even before the detection of E. coli there, the Coles Neck well field was not used regularly. “Right now, the Coles Neck Road well field is all sealed off,” Hood said.

    The town mainly uses two wells at the Boy Scout Camp well field, near the Council on Aging on Old County Road. “That’s our primary water source and it has been since 2010,” Hood said. Two wells at the Coles Neck well field are at least 30 years old, with one redone in 2004 or 2005. “There are repairs that need to happen in conjunction with the installation of the new water main there.”

    The town is installing a new $3.8-million water main at the Coles Neck Road well field that will enter town along Briar Lane,  bringing the system’s secondary water source into compliance with DEP requirements for a redundant water supply. The town received a $2.5-million state grant for the project. Work is expected to start next week.

    Hood said his largest takeaway from the 2020 incident had to do with the fact that, while most Cape Cod towns chlorinate their water routinely, Wellfleet does not. The contamination was an example of why it might have been a better decision to add chlorine to the town’s drinking water to kill parasites, bacteria, and viruses, he said.

    “If it had been chlorinated, Whitewater would never have found this,” said Hood. “That decision was made well before my time,” he added. Hood has been a member of the board of water commissioners for 10 years.

    ENVIRONMENT

    The Eastham Herring Count Returns

    Volunteers are eager to count fish, ‘even in the pouring rain’

    By

    EASTHAM — A scout was spotted by a natural resources dept. officer at the Bridge Pond run on March 12. A herring scout, that is — one of the individual fish that arrive early in the herrings’ seasonal migration into our tidal rivers to spawn.

    Volunteers are preparing for the imminent arrival of the fish at Eastham’s Herring Pond and Bridge Pond runs, with plans for a Covid-safe count. The 2020 count was canceled due to the pandemic.

    A first step involves monitoring water temperatures. “Because the temperature correlates well with the activity of the fish, that’s one of the pieces of information that’s been collected in the past by volunteers,” said Henry Lind, president of the Eastham Conservation Foundation. But, Lind said, “with Covid, that gets complicated, because it’s one more piece of equipment that somebody’s going to have to touch. This is entirely a no-touch kind of operation.”

    Henry Lind, Nicole Paine, and Pam Goddard check the Bridge Pond herring run, preparing for this year’s count. (Photo Nancy Bloom

    The foundation implements the Mass Bays/Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) herring count in Eastham. In spite of last year’s cancelation, Lind did experiment successfully with a submerged temperature recording monitor. Last Sunday, he placed the electronic device in the run.

    “The only trick is making sure somebody doesn’t decide that’s a good souvenir to bring home,” said Lind. “It happens. It’s a public space.”

    Volunteers will conduct random 10-minute counts from April 1 through June 1. The Mass. Div. of Marine Fisheries uses the data to monitor the health and well-being of the fishery, said Lind.

    While some herring runs in the state use automatic counting devices, Lind pointed out the educational benefit of involving volunteers in the count.

    “Having folks come here and get involved with the migration is probably far better than getting a more accurate or statistically correct number of how many fish came up,” said Lind, who retired in 2009 from his position as Eastham’s natural resources director. “Full disclosure,” Lind added: he gave up on electronic counting devices after trying to build some in the 1970s, “all of which failed in this run early on.”

    Most herring runs open into marshes. But the one at Bridge Pond — also known as the Herring Brook run — opens straight into Cape Cod Bay. That’s why the natural resources dept. manages that run carefully throughout the migration, releasing herring from the pond depending on tides and other conditions to make sure the herrings’ access to the bay remains open.

    “It’s very tide dependent,” explained Shellfish Constable Nicole Paine. “It’s not that big of a deal when the fish are migrating upstream to go into the run to spawn, but it becomes a very big problem when they’ve completed their spawning and they want to leave, or when the fry are ready to go out back into the ocean.”

    Screens are placed in the gates to allow the water to flow but prevent the herring from leaving the pond on low tides, when thousands of fish could end up on the flats. Paine said that’s when they work to keep the fish in the pond, allowing them out only around the tides.

    Signs at Bridge Pond instruct visitors not to tamper with the gates, as the release of fish at low tide can result in fish kills and predation. (The signs also warn that it is illegal to harvest, possess, or sell river herring in the commonwealth.)

    “We do have a problem, every now and then, with people who want to be helpful,” said Paine. “They see the fish in the pond trying to get out, or they see fish trying to get in with the screen there, and they tamper with the gates. We’ll show up and the gate’s been lifted.”

    The tide isn’t the only factor considered before the release of herring from Bridge Pond. Conditions at the bay end of the run are also evaluated. For example, on a hot day, Paine explained, when children are playing in the tidal pool at the end of the run, the gate is kept closed. That’s because the kids will scare the fish back upstream, after which the herring will try to get out at low tide.

    According to a summary of volunteer herring counts on Cape Cod available on the APCC website, Eastham’s annual counts from 2014 to 2019 show a wide range. At Bridge Pond (a.k.a. Herring Brook) the lowest count during those six years was in 2016, when only 153 herring were spotted. The high was 1,068 in 2018. The low and high counts at Herring Pond tallied over a four-year period from 2016 to 2019 ranged from 15 in 2017 to 249 in 2018.

    The Div. of Marine Fisheries uses the counts to calculate estimated sizes of the actual runs. The smallest and largest runs at Bridge Pond range from 1,932 to 12,716. At Herring Pond, the total run estimates range from 344 to 3,310.

    The volunteer work getting underway now is appreciated, said Lind. “We’re very grateful for any help.”

    Paine noted the volunteers seem to really enjoy their work. “They’re here in all kinds of weather,” she said. “In the pouring rain, they’re here counting fish.”

    Anyone interested in volunteering for this year’s count should email the conservation foundation at [email protected].

    ENVIRONMENT

    Outer Cape Gets First Taste of Septic ‘Layer Cake’

    Experimental leach field could reduce nitrogen in Nauset estuary

    By

     

    layer
    The “layer cake” leach field being installed at 999 State Highway in Eastham. (Photo courtesy Brundage Site Work)

    EASTHAM — The town and a volunteer property owner, Peter Dobyns, are participating in a wastewater treatment experiment that could alter the finances of controlling nitrogen contamination.

    The experimental Eastham site is the 15th “layer cake” leach field system to be permitted in a Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) pilot program, and the first of its kind on the Outer Cape.

    The layer cake design involves layering sand and wood chips in a septic leaching area. The carbon found in wood chips is a vital component of the denitrification process. Across all the layered systems installed thus far in the pilot program, there has been a 72-percent nitrogen removal average, with some systems removing more than 90 percent.

    The Cape Cod Area-Wide Water Quality Management Plan, known as the 208 Plan Update, requires all Cape Cod towns to document their actions to improve water quality and reduce pollution. In Eastham, all wastewater treatment takes place onsite in septic systems — there is no centralized town sewer system. As reported by the Independent last April, the layer-cake design is one of many projects Eastham has under way to reduce contaminants in the Nauset estuaries.

    The fragile coastal ecosystems of the Outer Cape depend on clean water and nutrients. In excess, however, beneficial nutrients can pollute the area’s interconnected groundwater, ponds, and estuaries.

    The Massachusetts Estuaries Project found that septic systems are responsible for 80 percent of the controllable nitrogen load on Cape Cod. The authors of a 2012 Barnstable County Dept. of Health and Environment report noted, “Cape Cod’s designation as a sole source aquifer means that all drinking water sources are part of a contiguous groundwater supply that hydraulically connects wastewater discharge sites to drinking water sources.”

    The Association to Preserve Cape Cod’s 2020 State of the Waters project found that “most of the Cape’s coastal embayments and many freshwater ponds and lakes are suffering from water pollution.” Excess nitrogen in coastal waters and phosphorus in fresh water cause eutrophication, a process that depletes oxygen from water and leads to microscopic algae blooms. Eutrophication can harm or kill aquatic life.

    The layered leach field was designed for the multi-unit Dobyns property at 999 State Highway Route 6 by J.C. Ellis Design and is being installed by Brundage Site Work. Both are Eastham-based companies.

    “We are excited to be chosen for this,” said Corey Brundage. “This opportunity is huge. It could open options to allow this design to be accepted into the wastewater management DEP code and be able to be used routinely outside the pilot program.”

    The town of Eastham is kicking in about $5,000 for monitoring and testing at the site. Dobyns, the property owner, is responsible for the cost of installation, estimated at $20,000 to $41,000. The layer cake is more cost-effective than other denitrification systems, said Dobyns, who lives in Duxbury. He was in the mountains of Colorado during the installation.

    The town chose the site, said Jane Crowley, director of health and environment, in hopes of benefiting the Nauset estuary by reducing nitrogen. If it is successful, she said, they will try to use the model on a wider scale.

    The layer-cake system, considered “innovative/alternative” (I/A) by the DEP, is not yet permitted for general use. Before any I/A system is approved, it must complete pilot and provisional phases.

    Funded by a DEP grant, the Mass. Alternative Septic System Testing Center (MASSTC), a division of the Barnstable County Dept. of Health and Environment (DHE), began experimenting with layer-cake leach fields in 2014.

    According to the Barnstable County Septic Management Program, there are 421 innovative and alternative septic systems installed on the Outer Cape. Besides being a research facility, MASSTC is also a third-party testing site for such systems.

    State regulations for the installation, use, and maintenance of onsite septic systems under Title 5 do not address nitrogen removal. Many I/A systems designed to reduce nitrogen output are at various phases of DEP approval, but most are proprietary and come with a hefty price tag.

    NitROE is one example of a patented I/A technology that, like the layer cake, uses wood chips to remove nitrogen. The NitROE tank supplements existing septic tanks and can cost anywhere from $18,750 to $55,000 for installation. NitROE is currently under provisional DEP permit status, which means it has completed the initial pilot stage of permitting but has not yet been granted a general-use permit.

    If they work, layer cakes are a simple amendment to a standard septic system, said George Heufelder, project specialist at MASSTC and former director of DHE. Compared to other alternative systems, layer cakes are simple to install and have lower operating costs, he said. Because the layer-cake concept is not proprietary, you don’t have to go through a specific company for materials and installation. Unlike most I/A technologies, there are few mechanical parts. You can buy wood chips anywhere, you can get the parts at any hardware store, and you can get any installer, said Heufelder. He estimated the added cost of the layer cake at “about $1,500 beyond a standard Title 5.”

    Loans are available through the county for home owners to replace failed septic systems with nitrogen reducing I/A systems.

    ENVIRONMENT

    Scientists Pick Up Effort to Study Ponds

    Seashore looks at role of warming; APCC urges county action

    By

    WELLFLEET — With a growing number of cyanobacteria blooms occurring in ponds across Cape Cod, researchers are expanding their efforts in hopes of better understanding toxic algal blooms and how best to prevent them.

    On the Outer Cape, the National Park Service (NPS) has secured funding for a two-year study of phytoplankton and zooplankton, marking the first time in 40 years that these plankton communities, of which cyanobacteria are a part, will be monitored by Park scientists.

    Starting next summer, the study will be conducted alongside the National Seashore’s annual long-term water quality monitoring program, allowing researchers to compare cyanobacteria populations with detailed water quality data.

    “We now have the instrumentation to measure the cyanobacteria biomass in the ponds while we are sampling water qualities, so that is a huge added data set that we have never had before,” said Sophia E. Fox, an NPS aquatic ecologist.

    A cyanobacteria bloom visible on Upper Mill Pond in Brewster. (Photo courtesy APCC)

    Cape-wide, but especially on the Outer Cape, cyanobacteria blooms are a relatively recent phenomenon. Gull Pond in Wellfleet was closed during the summer of 2019 for five days; Schoolhouse Pond and Minister’s Pond in Eastham were also closed for weeks that summer because of cyanobacteria.

    Though a natural organism, cyanobacteria form toxic blooms when certain conditions — primarily high nutrient loading and warm temperatures — cause them to multiply. The toxins are especially dangerous to children and pets, and can cause a range of symptoms, from skin irritation to neurological disorders.

    With global temperatures rising and excess nutrient loading from poorly managed septic systems, fertilizers, and stormwater runoff, cyanobacteria blooms are creating a new public health concern in the freshwater kettle ponds that residents and visitors treasure.

    When it comes to septic systems, Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC), said, “We are basically using the same approach that the Pilgrims adopted when they first came to Cape Cod, which is to dig a hole in the ground and put our waste in it.

    “We didn’t invest in the infrastructure necessary to treat wastewater with modern standards,” Gottlieb added, “so we are now experiencing the legacy of that series of neglectful acts.”

    Unlike most other ponds on Cape Cod, the 20 named kettle ponds within the National Seashore do not have large amounts of human-derived nutrients entering their waters.

    “Here in the Seashore we don’t really have the nutrient problem so much,” said Fox. As reported in the Independent last year, this has led the NPS to hypothesize that warming waters are a significant factor in the blooms. Now, Fox said, Seashore scientists “are watching whether or not we start to see these cyanobacteria blooms more frequently, because, if we do, then that is an indicator that they are really being driven by the warming and not so much by the nutrients.”

    According to Fox, the surface water of Gull Pond has grown approximately 5 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in just the last few decades. The warmer temperatures mean ponds are more stratified — warm water on top of cooler, denser water beneath.

    “When water cools and the algae dies,” Fox explained, “that algae settles to the bottom of the pond and partially degrades, and in that process — much like creating compost — it provides a rich source of nutrients on the pond bottom that can become resuspended in the next growing season to produce growth of a new crop of algae.”

    It’s a feedback loop that is hard to break. “Finding some way to interrupt that nutrient flow cycle is what we need to do,” said Gottlieb.

    Thomas Moses kayaks on Eastham’s Minister’s Pond on Saturday. The pond was closed last year because of cyanobacteria, and aeration is being tried as a remedy. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Eastham has recently begun using a mitigation technique called aeration, which pushes oxygen into the water through diffusers. And the Orleans Pond Coalition has started a pilot project using microbubbles to oxygenate Sarah’s Pond, which has had cyanobacteria blooms.

    “A lot of these techniques are intended to keep the pond from stratifying,” said Gottlieb. But addressing excess nutrient load is the APCC’s near-term focus.

    “We have to implement better land-use practices by home owners and businesses and upgrade the quality of wastewater treatments,” Gottlieb said.

    The APCC conducted a study of 93 ponds this year and found that 39 of them, or 42 percent, had unacceptable water quality — up from 39 percent the year before.

    That’s a small sample size, Gottlieb said, but the study showed a fairly wide distribution of blooms in very different types of ponds. That’s why, he argued, the problem “warrants a much bigger effort than what is currently being applied.”

    Following these findings, the APCC is pushing for a county-wide “208” water quality study — pursuant to Section 208 of the Clean Water Act.

    Gottlieb is hopeful that newly elected county leadership will make a difference in the Cape’s water cleanup efforts.

    “We are really looking forward to Barnstable County reversing a multi-year trend of divestment from looking at water quality to going back to their history of being one of the leaders in funding and supporting it,” he said.

    HOUSING RELIEF

    There’s Financial Help for Tenants and Landlords Hurt by Covid

    But a hot real estate market threatens year-round rentals

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — First, the good news: checks of up to $5,000 are available to help vulnerable Cape Cod tenants with up to three months of rent payments.

    The Housing Assistance Corp. (HAC), a nonprofit that disburses local, state, and federal housing money, has a unified application for assistance that can be used for several different sources of money. The underlying programs are complex, but the upshot is that any renter or home owner who makes less than Barnstable County’s median income ($67,700 for a one-person household; $87,000 for a three-person household) can apply for help, and HAC will try to find a source of funds that matches their situation.

    Housing
    Alisa Magnotta of the Housing Assistance Corporation and Larry Marsland of the Lower Cape Outreach Council at the council’s walk-in office in Orleans, where people can go for help. (Photo courtesy HAC)

    Now, the bad news. Advocates are not just worried about tenants losing their homes: they’re worried about a broader loss of inventory if landlords leave the market. Cape Cod is uniquely dependent on small landlords — “individuals who had the capacity at some point to buy one or two or three houses and rent them out,” said Alisa Magnotta, CEO of HAC. If these landlords aren’t receiving rent payments and choose to sell their properties in the current very hot real estate market, then the already limited supply of year-round rentals could shrink further. Rental assistance programs are designed to help both tenants and landlords stay in place.

    A Raft of Programs

    The Workforce Housing Relief Fund was organized early in the pandemic, and it has raised $875,000 in private contributions. There is state money and a federal grant to Barnstable County. The towns of Brewster, Barnstable, and Yarmouth have allocated some of their Community Preservation Act money for emergency rental assistance. HAC uses a unified relief application for all of these programs, to make it easier for people who need help.

    HAC also just announced a collaboration with the Lower Cape Outreach Council, which has a staffed office in Orleans. People in need of help can call (508-240-0694) or go to the office at 19 Brewster Cross Road, where the council offers food, clothing, and cash assistance, and HAC can help with money for housing.

    Getting the word out is important, though, and landlords need to know about programs as much as tenants do. Rental assistance checks are cut directly to the landlord. (For home owners in distress who are eligible, checks go directly to the mortgage lender.) Many tenants in need aren’t comfortable asking for help, however. In particular, people who aren’t citizens — even permanent residents with green cards — can be very leery, even of nonprofit agencies.

    “Some people have obstacles with technology, and aren’t comfortable over the phone,” said Magnotta. “So, we’re excited to be sending a staffer to the Orleans office every Monday morning to offer face-to-face help.”

    Protecting the Inventory

    If landlords who aren’t getting paid wind up selling into the hot real estate market, the current high prices pretty well ensure that the property won’t be a year-round rental again. It might become a short-term rental, or it might be reserved for an owner’s use, but, either way, year-round rentals, which are already hard to find on Cape Cod, could get even more scarce.

    “Adding inventory, building units, is the number one strategy every town should be focused on, but we know we can’t build fast enough,” said Magnotta. “We don’t have the large apartment complexes that define this part of the market in cities. We are really dependent on the independent mom-and-pop investors. This rental assistance helps solve two problems. We want to avoid the extreme trauma of an eviction, and we want these land owners to keep their mortgages.”

    HAC started a program called Rent365 in 2018 to encourage land owners to rent properties year-round. It worked to identify homes that were lightly used — some had been in a family for generations, but the current generation was rarely able to use them — and facilitate a transition to renting them year-round. HAC offers help with tenant selection procedures, local permitting rules, and even access to an attorney to help owners become landlords.

    “We flipped 25 units into year-round rentals,” said Magnotta. “There’s a desperate need to build housing, but I think we also need to ask how to incentivize people to use their own assets in this way that benefits the larger community. One huge opportunity is to allow people to build accessory units on their property, by right. You also need to make investments in wastewater, because that’s how you keep construction costs low.”

    HAC is part of the Future Cape Cod Coalition, along with the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, and the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors. The coalition was formed in 2019 to advocate for the future use of room occupancy taxes, now that short-term rentals are taxed the same as other hotel rooms and revenue is increasing. The coalition developed a model bylaw that would direct 50 percent of the room tax in each town to special infrastructure and community investment funds. The funds could be used for housing, wastewater, broadband, transportation, and town marketing projects.

    “We don’t have this bylaw on any town warrants this year, because of Covid and what it’s done to town budgets,” said Magnotta. “We will pick it back up, though.”

    ENVIRONMENT

    Blue-green Algae Blooms Again, but Only Up Cape So Far

    Warming and nutrients bring on toxic bacteria in kettle ponds

    By

    With summer well underway, higher temperatures coupled with nutrient overload in kettle ponds and lakes brings the dangerous return of cyanobacteria blooms, also known as blue-green algae. As of Tuesday, Aug. 4, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) reported 10 of the ponds it monitors as having “high” levels of cyanobacteria and two water sources with “moderate” levels. None of those were on the Outer Cape.

    The high readings were in Barnstable, Brewster, Falmouth, and Mashpee. The two cases of moderate readings were in Dennis and Barnstable.

    Cyanobacteria are an essential part of aquatic ecosystems. Found in phytoplankton, they’re part of the food web of freshwater ponds and streams on the Cape. It is the overgrowth of the bacteria, resulting in blooms, that damages the ecosystem and can harm those who come into contact with it — especially dogs and children, who may ingest contaminated water.

    When blue-green algae blooms, it looks like a slick of green paint on a pond’s surface. (Photo courtesy Association to Preserve Cape Cod)

    The main toxin of concern is microcystin, which can cause liver damage. Cyanobacteria can also cause neurological damage and skin irritation. High levels pose a high risk for adults, children, and pets, while moderate levels can be dangerous for children and pets, as their smaller body masses make them more susceptible to harm at lower concentrations, according to the APCC.

    The APCC began monitoring water sources this year — mostly ponds — for cyanobacteria on June 1. Along with the town of Barnstable’s monitoring efforts, the program collects data on fewer than 10 percent of the 996 ponds and lakes on Cape Cod. Of the 69 water sources currently being monitored, six are on the Outer Cape, all of them in Wellfleet: Duck, Dyer, Long, Gull, Higgins, and Great ponds all logged “low” cyano readings as of July 21.

    While none of the Wellfleet ponds has yielded a high bacteria reading yet this summer, it was only a year ago that Gull Pond was closed for five days due to a bloom.

    The two main factors that contribute to blooms are warm temperatures and nutrients. As global climate change continues to worsen, conditions for more frequent blooms are established. People can do their part to not exacerbate the problem by properly maintaining septic systems, using phosphate-free detergents, picking up pet waste, and planting native vegetation around the water’s edge, according to the APCC.

    A blue-green algae bloom can look like pea soup or green paint in the water. Sightings should be reported to your local board of health and to the APCC directly. Children and dogs should be kept away from the water if there is any indication there may be a bloom. Check the APCC’s website of monitored ponds before visiting one of them.

    ENVIRONMENT

    Science Research Is Cut to the Essentials

    Outer Cape naturalists’ fieldwork is postponed, leaving holes in data sets

    By

    With the ongoing pandemic, scientific research has been interrupted across Cape Cod.

    Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary has placed five staff members on partial furlough due to funding freezes, according to director Melissa Lowe. Visiting researchers have postponed or canceled fieldwork, and the sanctuary has suspended all volunteer efforts. With fewer staff and volunteers, data collection has been disrupted.

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