Coastal Ocean Pollution Assessment News (COPAS)

Man and the Marine Environment

The purpose of Coastal Ocean Pollution Assessment (COPAS) News is to provide timely dissemination of information on pollution in coastal waters of the United States – its sources and effects, what is being done to eliminate or mitigate it, and what research and monitoring activities are being conducted to develop more effective strategies to manage it. We publish brief articles describing recent’ events and activities, new approaches to resolving chronic pollution problems, and early warnings of potential problems. Also, announcements of cruises, meetings, and investigations will be posted.

The newsletter is not a substitute for publication in professional journals or presses. COPAS is not copyrighted, and any reference to material printed in the newsletter must be approved by the author.

Editors:
M. Grant Gross, National Science Foundation
John B. Pearce, NMFS/Sandy Hook Laboratory
Donald W. Pritchard, Marine Sciences Research Center
J. R. Schubel (Senior Editor), Marine Sciences Research Center
Harold M. Stanford, NOAA/Office of Marine Pollution Assessment

Technical Editor: Jeri Schoof, Marine Sciences Research Center

Assistant Technical Editor: Susan J. Risoli, Marine Sciences Research Center

Graphics: Marine Sciences Research Center Graphic Arts
Published by: Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York Stony Brook, Long Island, NY 11794

 

The Origin of COPAS

In the spring of 1980 the Marine Sciences Research Center (MSRC) was contacted by Dr. John B. Pearce of the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine whether MSRC would be interested in publishing jointly with the Northeast Fisheries Center (NEFC) a quarterly newsletter as a companion to Coastal Oceanography and Climatology News (COCN). The new newsletter would replace the Ocean Pulse newsletter and would be devoted to problems that result from society’s uses of the coastal ocean of the northeast United States. An agreement was reached between MSRC and NEFC to produce such a newsletter with the first issue to appear in the fall of 1980.

Independently, the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) had decided. to support, in conjunction with the Office of Marine Pollution Assessment (OMPA) and the National Marine Pollution Program Office (NMPPO), publication of a newsletter with very similar objectives, but from a national perspective. Discussions among representatives of the several NOAA organizations and the MSRC led to a proposal to publish jointly a single newsletter, rather than two. This is the first issue.

The Newsletter is called Coastal Ocean Pollution Assessment News and goes by the acronym COPAS. It will be produced quarterly. The newsletter concentrates on (l) people’s impacts on the coastal ocean, its quality, living resources, and on public health; (2) programs to assess these impacts through research and monitoring; and (3) efforts to manage and rehabilitate coastal waters. The newsletter is national in scope. It covers all coastal waters of the United States and its territories and includes coverage of the Great Lakes. Articles on pollution in foreign waters or in open ocean waters may be published if the problems could impact U.S. coastal waters, or if the articles provide insight into dealing with similar problems in U.S. coastal waters.

Suitable subject matter for articles in COPAS includes reports of research and monitoring of pollution events and chronic pollution problems; of their effects on aesthetics, environmental quality, living marine resources, public health, and use patterns of affected waters; and on programs to protect and rehabilitate coastal waters. COPAS also publishes articles on potential pollution problems and on efforts to deal with them before they develop. A section of COPAS is reserved for editorials on subjects appropriate to COPAS and for responses to editorials. COPAS publishes a calendar of workshops, courses, symposia, meetings, and other events that deal with subject matter appropriate to COPAS.

Three volumes were available in the Archives have been digitized to PDF format and are available below:

COPAS News Volume 1, Numbers 1 – 4, 1980 – 1982

In This Issue (PDF)

Volume 1, Number 1

  • Coal Waste Artificial Reef Project
  • Conferences on Regional Marine Pollution Problems
  • NOAA/EPA Pollution Monitoring Workshops
  • Mirex-Lake Ontario Sediment Relationships
  • Fish Larvae Used in Shipboard Bioassay for Pesticide Contamination
  • Pollution Effects on Fish Parasites
  • Funding Opportunity for Marine Pollution Research

Volume 1, Number 2

  • Observations of River Plume after Eruption of Mount St. Helens
  • Toxicant Research in Puget Sound
  • Workshop on Marine Pollution Information Management
  • Environmental Assessments of Brine Discharges
  • Deepwater Dumpsite-106
  • NOAA/SUNY Cooperative Research Agreement Signed
  • NOAA’s Long-Range Effects Research Program

Volume 1, Number 3

  • Oil Spill Fishery Interaction Modeling
  • Dredging Impact Mitigation
  • Casco Bay Study
  • Key Largo Coral Reef Marine Sanctuary
  • Identifying Marine Areas of Biological Concern

Volume 1, Number 4

  • Influence of Organic Enrichment on Demersal Fishes
  • Concentrations of Organic Toxicants in Salmon, Cod, and Sole from Puget Sound
  • Presence of Gonyaulax tamarensis in southern New England waters
  • National Assessment of Requirements for Monitoring Marine Pollution
  • Ocean Pollution Data and Information Network Being Developed
  • Research Proposals Funded by NOAA’s Office of Marine Pollution Assessment’s Ocean Dumping Program, Long Range Effects Program, and Financial Support Program in Fiscal Year 1981

COPAS News Volume 2, Numbers 1 – 4, 1982 – 1983

In This Issue (PDF)

Volume 2, Number 1

  • NOAA, EPA Monitor Radioactive Waste Disposal Site in Massachusetts Bay
  • Burial of Dredged Sediment Beneath the Floor of New York Harbor
  • Corps of Engineers Studies Dredging Impacts on Grays Harbor Estuarine Environment
  • Sewer Outfalls and Ocean Dumping Research in Hawaii
  • Oceans ’82
  • Progress in Implementing Ocean Pollution Data and Information Network
  • Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Benthic Organisms of the Great Lakes

Volume 2, Number 2

  • Banning Ocean Dumping: So Near But Yet Sofaer
  • Oil Spill Response Actions· in Long Island’s South Shore Tidal Inlets
  • Decline of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Chesapeake Bay
  • Trace Metal Accumulation and Detoxification in Marine Shellfish
  • Potential Changes in Marine Disposal of Municipal Wastes in Southern CA Bight
  • The Dynamics of Dissolved Hydrocarbon in Seawater
  • Asilomar Workshop on Sublethal Effects of Stress on Marine Organisms

Volume 2, Number 3

  • Implications of Oxygen Depletion on the Continental Shelf of the Northern Gulf of Mexico
  • ICES Tackles the Problem of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Analytical Intercomparability
  • Region-Wide Taxonomic Inter-Calibration Program Underway in California
  • A Two-Species Marine Algal Bioassay to Determine the Toxicity of Chemical Pollutants

Volume 2, Number 4

  • Studies on Long-term Effects of OCS Oil and Gas Development
  • Sources and Fates of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in the Hudson Raritan Estuary
  • Fate of Pentachlorophenol Introduced into the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet
  • A Climate Impact Assessment-Chesapeake Bay Marine Environment
  • Bioavailability of Potentially Toxic Cadmium in Oysters During Trophic Transfer
  • Position Paper on Land, Sea, and Air Options for Waste Disposal

COPAS News Volume 3, Numbers 1, 2, and 4, 1983 – 1987

In This Issue (PDF)

Volume 3, Number 1

  • Coastal Wetlands Loss in Louisiana.
  • Hydrocarbons and Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Measurements in the U.S. Mussel Watch Program.
  • The Chemistry of Marine Acid Rain.
  • Multi-Media Mayhem.
  • Multi-Media Mayhem: A Response.
  • Localized Hypoxia Recurs in the New York Bight.
  • DDT and PCB in a Mussel from the Coast of Baja California, Mexico.
  • NOAA Study Characterizes Contaminant Inputs to the Hudson Raritan Estuary.

Volume 3, Number 2

  • Ecosystem Integration and Environmental Decision-Making.
  • National Research Council’s Study of Drilling Fluids and Cuttings in the Marine Environment.
  • Coastal Information System Development Reaches Milestone.
  • Beyond the Bight – The Broader Issues in the Ocean Dumping Debate.
  • Contamination of the New York Bight and other Populated Coastal and Estuarine Areas.
  • Experimental Studies of Early Infaunal Recovery as a Measure of Marine Sediment Contamination.

Volume 3, Number 3

Volume 3, Number 4

  • Anoxia in the Chesapeake Bay. A Turbidity Hypothesis
  • Impact of the 1985 Phytoplankton Bloom in Long Island’s Coastal Bays
  • Environmental Trends in Puget Sound, Washington
  • Biological Control as Management Strategy for Great Lake Disturbances
  • Elliott Bay and Commencement Bay Contaminant Transport