AN ANALYSIS of the 20-year use of a deep Broward County lime-rock pit as a natural advanced wastewater treatment and groundwater recycling facility, with a recommendation that: with the large number of similar lime-rock pits in Southeast Florida, the opportunity for expanding the benefits of such inland wastewater retention should be given serious consideration instead of wastefully discharging the water into the ocean.

The benefits of the inland retention of freshwaters in South Florida are indisputable. During periods of prolonged drought, the maintenance of a higher groundwater table, which benefits terrestrial vegetation and retards saltwater intrusion, is clearly preferable to the alternative of discharging up to 400,000 gallons of freshwater per day into the ocean. Therefore, the only objections to the retention of treated sewage effluent in an inland lime-rock pit, with the physical, chemical and biologic characteristics of our pits, would have to do with possible detrimental effects to public health or the environment. The major public health concern involves the possible discharge of human pathogens. This can be prevented by high-level chlorination of well-treated effluent such as that of the Ferncrest Utilities. With the cooperation and help of the Nova University Oceanographic Center, the Florida Agricultural Research and Education Station, the Broward County Environmental Quality Control Board and the landowners, the Tindall Hammock Irrigation and Soil Conservation District and the Ferncrest Utilities respectfully submit that retention of the excellent tertiary-treated Ferncrest Utilities effluent in such a lime-rock pit accomplishes the following: • Provides an inexpensive, safe, practical, alternative, non-structural, natural, and environmentally sound drainage and wastewater pollutant treatment and inactivation facility that uses no energy except sunlight. • Conserves, stores and recycles stormwater and wastewater instead of wasteful discharge into canals or the ocean. • Helps to maintain a higher groundwater elevation, thereby reducing the volume of irrigation water needed for area lawns and shrubbery, and the energy and expense thereof. • Retards the rate of saltwater intrusion into the aquifer. • Enhances the U.S. EPA\u27s goal of fishable, swimmable public waters by complexing and precipitating runoff and wastewater pollutants, thereby keeping them out of the North New River Canal, the New River and the ocean. With the large number of similar lime-rock pits in Southeast Florida, the opportunity for expanding the benefits of such inland wastewater retention should be given serious consideration

Caribbean Corals in Crisis: Record Thermal Stress, Bleaching, and Mortality in 2005

BACKGROUND The rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Satellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers' field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior efforts in detail and extent, and provided a new standard for documenting the effects of bleaching and for testing nowcast and forecast products. Collaborators from 22 countries undertook the most comprehensive documentation of basin-scale bleaching to date and found that over 80% of corals bleached and over 40% died at many sites. The most severe bleaching coincided with waters nearest a western Atlantic warm pool that was centered off the northern end of the Lesser Antilles. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Thermal stress during the 2005 event exceeded any observed from the Caribbean in the prior 20 years, and regionally-averaged temperatures were the warmest in over 150 years. Comparison of satellite data against field surveys demonstrated a significant predictive relationship between accumulated heat stress (measured using NOAA Coral Reef Watch's Degree Heating Weeks) and bleaching intensity. This severe, widespread bleaching and mortality will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for reef ecosystems and suggests a troubled future for tropical marine ecosystems under a warming climate.This work was partially supported by salaries from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program to the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program authors. NOAA provided funding to Caribbean ReefCheck investigators to undertake surveys of bleaching and mortality. Otherwise, no funding from outside authors' institutions was necessary for the undertaking of this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

The Effects of Crude Oil and Dispersed Crude Oil On Tropical Ecosystems: Long-Term Seagrass, Mangrove, and Coral Studies

Tropical ecosystems typically contain three sensitive and important habitats: seagrass beds, mangrove forests, and coral reefs. The effects of oil on these systems have been studied individually in the laboratory with few long-term studies on the ecosystem as a whole. Described in this report is an experiment carried out on the Caribbean coast of Panama (Bocas del Toro). Prudhoe Bay crude oil and dispersed crude oil were released on separate sites, each containing seagrass (Thalassia testudinum), mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), and coral habitats representative of ecosystems in Caribbean waters. The short-term (two-year) results of the study are presented along with those from the long-term (+10 year) re-assessment. The study was a simulation of the “worst case” exposure level for dispersed oiland a high exposure level for crude oil. The application of oil and dispersed oil was monitored regularly over a 23 hour period, the sites being monitored periodically over two years, and re-examined 10 years after the experiment. Assessments were made over time of the distribution and extent of contamination by hydrocarbons and the short- and long-term effects on survival, abundance, and growth of the dominant flora and fauna in each habitat. In the short term, chemically dispersed oil caused declines in the abundance of invertebrates, including corals, but the effects had essentially disappeared over the long term. Fresh, untreated oil had severe, long-term effects on survival of mangroves and associated fauna, but relatively minor effects on seagrasses, corals, and associated organisms. The results of this study provide definitive data through which decisions may be made about the use and non-use of chemical dispersants, while adding to the knowledge of hydrocarbon effects and fate in the ecosystems. The methods and results of this controlled field experiment also have implications for the effective design of microcosm and mesocosm toxicity studies

Tropical Oil Pollution Investigations in Coastal Systems (TROPICS)

Research Planning Institute, Inc. (RPI) and Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc. (BBS) have implemented a long-term program of research on the fate and effects of oil spills and dispersants on coastal tropical areas. Tropical Oil Pollution Investigations in Coastal Systems (TROPICS) is an integrated study to allow examination of possible tradeoffs of impacts between intertidal and subtidal tropical ecosystems and to establish whether the application of dispersants to spilled oil in nearshore tropical areas is an ecologically safe means of minimizing damages to these habitats. Baseline studies have been conducted at selected field sites to characterize and measure biological, chemical, and physical parameters prior to experimental spills. The fate and effects of dispersed and undispersed oil in the nearshore tropical ecosystem are being monitored for one year after the experimental treatments. Detailed measurements are being made of the mangroves and sea grasses to determine effects on primary productivity, growth, general condition, and survival. Infauna and epifauna are being monitored to estimate changes in density and diversity, and motile macrofauna are being observed to determine changes in distribution and behavior. Corals are being measured to determine changes in growth, abundance, and coverage; and the infauna, epifauna, and resident fish communities are being monitored as well. The water column, sediments, and biota are being monitored chemically using discrete and flowthrough pumping techniques, largevolume extraction techniques, replicate sediment cores, and tissue samples of dominant biota. Samples are being analyzed using ultraviolet fluorometry (UV), gas chromatography (GC), and GC/mass spectrometry

Substituted Mo-V(Ti)-Te(Ce)-oxide M2 Catalysts for Propene Ammoxidation

One of the most effective propane to acrylonitrile ammoxidation catalyst is comprised of the two phases M1 (orthorhombic) Mo7.5V1.5NbTeO29 and M2 (pseudo-hexagonal) Mo4V2Te2O20. Under reaction conditions, the two phases work in symbiosis with each other where M1 is the paraffin activating component and M2 is the olefin activating component. Since the catalytic improvement of either phase should result in an enhancement of the overall acrylonitrile yield, controlled substitution of certain elements in either or both phases might result in the desired improvement. Our current study concentrates on the partial substitutions of V with Ti and Te with Ce in the M2 phase. Ti substitution results in a considerable propene activity improvement, whereas the selectivity to acrylonitrile is unaffected. Substitution with Ce, on the contrary, substantially improves the selectivity to acrylonitrile. Also, a minor improvement of the activity is notable. The acrylonitrile selectivity improvement is a result of better NH3 utilization and comes at the expense of reduced acrolein make. XRD reveals that all of the substituted compositions retain the M2 structure and essentially are monophasic. XANES recordings show for the bulk that the Mo is 6+, the V is 4+, or 4+ and 5+ when Ce is present, the Ti is 4+, the Ce is 3+, and the Te 4+ with some 6+ also present. According to the ESR data, in the M2 with Ce (7Te/3Ce) only 21% of the V is 4+, the remainder being 5+, which tentatively can be explained by the existence of some cation vacancies in the hexagonal channels. HRTEM imaging reveals little if any differences between the materials, all have the typical pseudo-hexagonal habit of the M2 phase and expose a 1-2 nm thick surface layer without any apparent long-range ordering. XPS data show that all catalysts, including the base, are highly enriched at the surface with Te at the expense of other metals. The 7Te/3Ce composition exhibits also substantial Ce surface enrichment. Moreover, the valences of the cations at the surface differ from the bulk in that for all fresh catalysts V is 5+ and Te is 6+ on the surface. Characterization by XPS of catalysts used in propene ammoxidation, reveals reduction of Te and, except when Ce is present, also Mo. Therefore, it might be inferred that the surfaces of the catalysts studied here are comprised essentially of one or a few monolayers of TeMoO or TeCeMoO on an interacting M2 crystalline base