Acadia National Park
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ACADIA NATIONAL PARK ASSESSMENT OF LONG-TERM AIR QUALITY PROGRAMMATIC, MONITORING AND RESEARCH NEEDS NOVEMBER 2004 Tonnie Maniero Air Quality Ecological Effects Coordinator National Park Service Northeast Region Bob Breen Biologist National Park Service Acadia National Park TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................ iv I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 II. BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................... 3 AREA DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................ 3 ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION ........................................................................... 13 Wet Deposition Monitoring ....................................................................... 13 Dry Deposition Monitoring ....................................................................... .23 Fog/Cloud Deposition Monitoring ............................................................ .26 Deposition Modeling ................................................................................. 26 Deposition Effects ...................................................................................... 27 Terrestrial ....................................................................................... 27 Freshwater ...................................................................................... 29 EstuarinelMarine ............................................................................ 32 Previous Recommendations and Unfunded Proposals .................. 33 Deposition Summary ................................................................................. 34 AIR TOXICS ......................................................................................................... 35 Air Toxics Ambient Monitoring ................................................................ 35 Mercury Deposition Monitoring ............................................................... .36 Air Toxics Deposition Modeling ............................................................... 39 Air Toxics Effects ...................................................................................... 39 Terrestrial ....................................................................................... 39 Freshwater ...................................................................................... 41 EstuarinelMarine ............................................................................ 41 Wildlife .......................................................................................... 42 Previous Recommendations and Unfunded Proposals ................. .47 Air Toxics Summary ................................................................................... 49 OZONE .................................................................................................................. 49 Ozone Ambient Monitoring ...................................................................... .49 Ozone Effects ............................................................................................. 50 Terrestrial ....................................................................................... 51 Previous Recommendations and Unfunded Proposals .................. 55 Ozone Summary ........................................................................................ 55 i III. LONG-TERM NEEDS ASSESSMENT ......................................................... 57 PROCESS ............................................................................................................. 57 RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................... 58 Programmatic Category ............................................................................. 59 High Priority Category ............................................................................... 60 Medium Priority Category ......................................................................... 61 Low Priority Category ............................................................................... 61 IV. LITERATURE CITED ....................................................................................... 63 APPENDIX A. LIST OF ROUND 1 REVIEWERS ........................................... 71 APPENDIX B. LIST OF MEETING PARTICIPANTS ..................................... 73 APPENDIX C. LIST OF ROUND 2 REVIEWERS ..................................... 75 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Acadia NP .............................................................................................. 4 Figure 2. Soil pH at Acadia NP ......................................................................................... 5 Figure 3. Ecological systems of Acadia NP ....................................................................... 7 Figure 4. Named lakes and ponds, Mount Desert Island ................................................... 8 Figure 5. Water resources, Isle au Haut ............................................................................. 9 Figure 6. Water resources, Schoodic Peninsula ............................................................... 10 Figure 7. Location of air quality monitoring sites at Acadia NP ..................................... 12 Figure 8. NADPINTN annual S04 wet deposition at Acadia NP ................................... .14 Figure 9. NADPINTN annual average S04 wet concentration at Acadia NP ................. 14 Figure 10. NADPINTN annual N03 wet deposition at Acadia NP .................................. 15 Figure 11. NADPINTN annual average N03 wet concentration at Acadia NP ................. 15 Figure 12. NADPINTN annual N~ wet deposition at Acadia NP ................................... 16 Figure 13. NADPINTN annual average N~ wet concentration at Acadia NP ................ .16 Figure 14. NADPINTN annual Ca wet deposition at Acadia NP ...................................... 17 Figure 15. NADPINTN annual average Ca wet concentration at Acadia NP .................. .17 Figure 16. NADPINTN annual Mg wet deposition at Acadia NP .................................... .18 Figure 17. NADPINTN annual average Mg wet concentration at Acadia NP .................. 18 Figure 18.2003 nationwide NADPINTN annual S04 wet deposition .............................. .21 Figure 19.2003 nationwide NADPINTN annual average S04 wet concentration ............ 21 Figure 20. Trends in annual average S04 wet concentration at NPS NADPINTN sites .. .22 Figure 21. Trends in annual average N03 wet concentration at NPS NADPINTN sites .. .22 Figure 22. 1999-2001 trends in wet and dry S deposition at Acadia NP .......................... .24 Figure 23. 1999-2001 trends in total S deposition at Acadia NP ...................................... .24 Figure 24. 1999-2001 trends in wet and dry N deposition at Acadia NP ......................... .25 Figure 25. 1999-2001 trends in total N deposition at Acadia NP ..................................... .25 Figure 26. 2003 nationwide MDN annual mercury wet deposition .................................. .38 Figure 27.2003 nationwide MDN annual average mercury wet concentration ............... .38 Figure 28. Trends in I-hour peak ozone concentrations at NPS sites ............................... 51 Figure 29. July 1,2001 8-hour peak ozone concentrations in the Northeast U.S ............. .51 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Ambient monitoring at Acadia NP .................................................................... 11 Table 2. NADPINTN annual wet deposition at Acadia NP ............................................ .19 Table 3. NADPINTN annual average wet concentration at Acadia NP ......................... .20 Table 4. CASTNet annual dry deposition at Acadia NP ................................................ .23 Table 5. Top ten VOC monitored at Acadia NP, 1997-2000 ........................................... 36 Table 6. Wet mercury deposition and average concentration at Acadia NP .................. .37 Table 7. Maximum I-hour and 8-hour ozone concentrations at Acadia NP ................... 50 Table 8. Plant species sensitive to ozone at Acadia NP ................................................... 54 Table 9. Ranking criteria for air quality projects at Acadia NP ...................................... .58 111 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Acadia National Park (NP), as a Class I air quality area, is afforded special air quality protection by the 1977 amendments to the federal Clean Air Act. Since 1979, the park has conducted a comprehensive program that includes 1) ambient air quality monitoring and research; 2) research and monitoring of the effects of air pollutants on visibility, surface water chemistry, soils, sediments and aquatic and terrestrial biota; and 3) public outreach and education regarding air quality. Collected data are used to assess the current and potential effects of air pollution on natural resources in Acad,ia NP. In October 2002, staff of Acadia NP and the National Park Service (NPS) Northeast Regional Office initiated a process to assess long-term programmatic, monitoring and research needs relative to park air quality. The