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TmlhImm Stmmm 0m Brook l _ ,, = No.I II The University Community's Feature Paper Vol. XVI, - -October 10,1994 unAI me Inslae CI ,_r -.. .l.- lb.us Di t ....._e--nL^^^^H~i^H^I^^^H^Btei^^^^i -ItTI-H -.. __.-,BH_ by Allen Peda applications of this research always extended into areas assess exactly how much water can be taken from the beyond preservation of endangered plants. Many indus- area without destroying the very characteristics we When you think of Long Island, do you think of the trial sites on the island are closing down leaving behind wish to save. recent Newsday headlines, with characters such as Joey a chemical legacy of their activities. Even local gaso- Increasingly, studies are revealing that not only are Buttafucco, Amy Fisher, and Sal Ingelerie? The view line stations and dry cleaners frequently leak petroleum the familiar industrial pollutants impacting the environ- many of us have of the Island as a sprawling suburban based and chlorinated solvents into the water beneath ment about us, but less visible sources are also of con- wasteland may not be entirely unfounded, but there is the land surface. Researchers at Stony Brook saw clear- cern. These vague non point sources become more sig- more to this suburban pit of land nificant as obvious point sources than that. In fact work is being become more strictly regulated. conducted by researchers at Stony Examples of non point sources Brook on an area of the island include farm fertilizers and pesti- thought to be unique to the United cides, and road salt. These com- states, It not the world, the Pine pounds frequently enter waters Barrens. from large areas, and measuring Dr. Martin Schoonen, Deputy the amount being released is not Director of the Long Island Ground as straight forward, but it is pos- Water Research Institute (LIG- sible. This traditional method, WRI) here at Stony Brook called a mass balance, is used to explained to me that the Pine estimates how much salt, as chlo- Barrens within eastern Long Island ride, should be coming out of are special in many ways. What water such as the Peconic river. was once a long coastal ecosystem When comparing the amount which ranged from Georgia measured, the difference is through Maine is now reduced by deduced to be from man made, or climate changes and human anthropogenic, sources. encroachment to a final 50,000 Schoonen's studies reveal that, acres here on the island, with addi- although these waters are clean, tional acreage in parts of New none of them are pristine, and as Jersey. Schoonen explained that civilization encroaches indicator these forests contain many species compounds such as salt can be of plants which can only exist with- used to reveal how these chemi- in the unique conditions present on cal levels fluctuate. the island. Despite the popular How does this impact island name,, they are far from barren. residents like you and me? There In fact the fragile and unique- may be no direct impact in the nature of these forests, com- short term, but if you value the bined with the proximity of future of your drinking water, suburban communities present- enjoy the greener regions to the ed the component departments east and look forward to finish- of the LIGWRI with a powerful ing in the Sound, you may want incentive to combine their to think again. Organizations in expertise. Five years ago, both the privates and public sec- researchers from the faculties tors are investigating the quality of three departments: Applied of the waters within the island Mathematics and Statistics, and the Long Island Sound with Earth and Space Science, and increasing levels of scrutiny. the Marine Sciences Research Recent reports such as the Long Center began to coordinate Island Sound Study, indicate that efforts to better understand the many pollutants from areas sur- flow of water above ground and rounding the sound are adverse- below in the western regions of ly impacting the water, and the Long Island. Initially efforts fish within it. Although organi- were focused on simply collect- zations such as The Nature ing more data on coastal water Conservancy are setting aside above and below the ground areas with money donated by surface. As the amount of concerned individuals, it is only information grew, efforts natu- by the cooperative efforts of rally evolved toward under- each and every citizen that we standing what was occurring on can remain aware of the impact a increasing detailed scale. Schoonen explained ly that their studies could only increase in significance. of each of our actions. that the nature of this information required contin- As Martin pointed out, practically all of the drinking We see that the island is more than an assortment of 7- ued close collaboration with several departments. water on Long Island is pumped from aquifers beneath 1 Is and suburban sprawl beyond the noise buffer wall The result was a joint effort that eventually the ground. Some of it only days old, falling at a along the LIE. In fact it is special in many ways which we became formalized as the LIGWRI this last May. recent rainstorm, some of it placed here during the last can only begin to appreciate. When I asked Dr. Schoonen Work began to focus on the Pine Barrens because the ice age. It is therefore clear that studying the pine bar- what each person could do to help preserve areas such as systems being studied here include many endangered rens as a penultimate example of remaining clean the pine barrens, he replied that we should all keep in species at the edge of an area just beginning to be water is important beyond popular concerns about the mind the potentially fragile nature of species within these affected by suburban sprawl. The coastal parts of these environment. In fact the pine barrens region hinges protected areas. When enjoying a walk along a trail, we areas involve the interaction of fresh water and salt upon the allocation of these lands as ground water must remember that a flower or fern along our path may water, both above and below the land surface. Sea recharge areas. be a relic of the last ice age. something better appreciated water even manages to become deposited here from the Schoonen explained that the research of the LIGWRI as a photograph than as a dried pressing. What may be air as a salty mist blown from the suriounding ocean. ironically suggests that saving pine barrens as a source one of the last plants from a field which had ranged along The complex nature of this microclimate dictated this of drinking water could easily destroy many of the pro- the entire east coast. managing to survive generation after interdisciplinary approach not uncommon in the envi- tected species within it. This is because many of these generation for thousands off years could easily be ronmental sciences. As work continued, and researchers plants live at the edge of shallow ponds and lakes. destroyed, poisoned by alien chemicals, dried out due to would see their work became increasingly relevant to Increased consumption of ground water would lower irrigation off a nearby golf course, or simply trampled contemporary issues reported in the popular press. water tables to such an extent that these native semi underfoot with the word "Timberland" permanently Independently, controversy began to erupt over the pos- aquaticI -plants would be destroyed.- ResearchersI at the etched upon theI remains. ' I- The Stony Brook Press page 2 JIMM4Y CflRTER:THE RIME OF THE PEANUT FFRM1ER by David M. Ewalt stunned by the ex-president's intensity: "All of us sit- Carter managed a diplomatic break-through. ting around the table looked at each other as if to say, In light of his Korean achievements, the White "My esteem in this country hascgone up substantially. 'This guy doesn't realize he's a former president. This House realized Carter might be the man to fix some of It is very nice now that when people wave at me, they wont work'."" their other problems. During the final days of the Haiti use all their fingers.". Despite the nay-sayers, Carter did manage to build showdown, Clinton asked Carter to lead a diplomatic -Jimmy Carter, 1987 his Center, a Georgia office building with lots of audi- mission to convince Haitian president Raoul Cedras to toriums and round conference tables. His next task, back down. Since he left office in 1988,. the only thing of note however, was more daunting than erecting a building- Accompanied by a diplomatic team which included Ronald Reagan has done is fall off a horse. In the eigh- Jimmy had to find some conflicts for his conflict cen- former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin teen years since he left office, Gerald Ford hasn't done ter! Faced with an unfriendly Republican administra- Powell and Senate armed forces committee chairman anything but write his memoirs. In the Clinton years, tion, this task grew more and more difficult. Sam Nunn, Carter arrived in Port-au-Prince a mere Barbara Bush has written two books- but George has To fill his time, Carter began to work with Habitat thirty hours before Clinton planned to begin bombing. only... well, he hasn't done anything. Jimmy Carter, for Humanity, a non-profit organization which builds He met almost immediately with Cedras to begin nego- though, has arguably accomplished more after his pres- homes for the impoverished. Again proving himself tiations, but got nowhere. idency than he did during it.

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