When Friends of Casco Bay released the report, A Changing Casco Bay, on April 28, we heard from the Environmental Protection Agency—and that was a good thing!
Melville P. Coté, Jr., Acting Chief, Surface Water Branch, EPA, Region 1, commented, “EPA is proud to count Friends of Casco Bay among its key partners in the fight for clean water. We rely on organizations like this to educate the public about how they can be better stewards of the environment and to engage citizen scientists to collect data that help inform better management of our coastal waters.”
Matthew Liebman, also with EPA’s New England Branch, said, “This report highlights several important issues that EPA has worked on with Friends of Casco Bay since its founding in 1989, especially nutrient pollution and coastal acidification. Staff scientists and our old friend Joe Payne have rigorously documented that nutrients, especially nitrogen, is enriched in certain small estuaries within Casco Bay.
“We are especially appreciative of the leadership that Friends of Casco Bay has taken on establishing the connection of coastal acidification to effects on shellfish populations in Casco Bay. Its work is also important nationally, since Casco Bay and the Gulf of Maine have been recognized by both NOAA and EPA as a ‘hot spot’ for effects of coastal acidification.”
Going forward, EPA plans to use the report for future collaboration. Coté said, “The findings of A Changing Casco Bay are particularly timely, as they will help inform efforts by the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership to update the 2006 Casco Bay Plan.” Liebmann added, “We are pleased that the Friends are partners in helping EPA and the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership install sensors in South Portland to help monitor coastal acidification in Casco Bay.”
You can read A Changing Casco Bay on our website at cascobay.org/a-changing-casco-bay.
If you would like to receive a print copy, email us at keeper@cascobay.org and include your mailing address and phone number.
