Mid-Atlantic Region

Delaware Sea Grant
Green streets help to preserve water quality in developments

• Smart growth, with an emphasis on water quality through more efficient stormwater management practices, was the main goal of a three-day Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Smart Growth office site visit hosted by the Delaware Sea Grant Program in Lewes.
• Managing stormwater with the use of green streets technology is a model county planners and developers should consider as growth continues to spiral in many counties, according to Jim Falk, director of Delaware Sea Grant's Marine Advisory Service.
• The end result of the three-day session will be a set of stormwater management designs county officials could consider as they implement the new comprehensive plan for growth.
• "These options could be applied elsewhere in the state as well," according to Falk.
• The state is in the process of updating its stormwater regulations.
• In addition, he hopes to be able to coordinate a stormwater management demonstration project to give people a firsthand look at the green streets concept. "We want people to realize there are other alternatives out there," says Falk.

Maryland Sea Grant
Pfiesteria ten years after

• It's been ten years since a strange organism called Pfiesteria roared into the news, bringing images of dying fish and sick people.
• Exactly what happened ten years ago? And whatever happened to Pfiesteria?
• To help answer these questions, and in recognition of this ten-year anniversary, Maryland Sea Grant produced a 20-page magazine on the enigmatic microbe.
• The program also released its hour-long award-winning film, The Pfiesteria Files, on DVD.
• Co-produced with Maryland Public Television, The Pfiesteria Files details the appearance of fish with ugly lesions in the Pocomoke River in 1997. The documentary pursues the trail followed by reporters that led to scientific discoveries, medical mysteries and political fallout. It also probes into the media war that ultimately fanned the flames of public alarm, plummeting seafood sales, and an unprecedented fear of the water itself.
• For more information, visit: www.mdsg.umd.edu/store/videos/pfiesteria_files

North Carolina Sea Grant
North Carolina General Assembly establishes waterfront fund, tax breaks

• In response to recommendations from the state's Waterfront Access Study Committee, the N.C. General Assembly established a $20 million Waterfront Access and Marine Industry Fund "to acquire waterfront properties or develop facilities for the purposes of providing public and commercial waterfront access and improving and developing the same."
• A Sea Grant-funded study-which received extensive media coverage-reports the number of fish houses in the state declined 33 by percent between 2000 and 2006. The committee and legislators also heard first-hand stories of public docks, ramps and fishing piers that have closed to make way for private developments.
• Legislators also approved a tax break for working waterfronts and fee-entry fishing piers, an increase in boating registration fees to pay for access projects, and regular reporting from the N.C. Department of Transportation regarding increased access at rights of way.
• Sea Grant Executive Director Michael Voiland, who chaired the study committee, has been tapped to serve on two new panels, one to develop a plan for the waterfronts fund, and a second to look at other aspects of waterfront access. More information is available at: www.ncseagrant.org/waterfronts.

New Jersey Sea Grant
New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium/Sea Grant begin building facelift

• The Consortium, which houses the New Jersey Sea Grant Program, broke ground in August for a $1.8 million renovation project to its Sandy Hook headquarters.
• Several state and federal officials attended the ceremony.
• With funding provided, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust, the project will restore the building's integrity and appearance to its original splendor when it was constructed in 1898, with a new roof and front porch.
• Inside, the building will be outfitted with a sprinkler system and central air conditioning.

Virginia Sea Grant
Sea Grant specialist initiates Virginia Clean Marina Program

• Virginia Sea Grant has hired a Marina Technical Advisory Specialist named Wendy Larimer as part of the Virginia Sea Grant Program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS).
• This full-time position became available after the General Assembly allocated funding for Virginia's expanding Clean Marina program.
• The purpose of this position is to oversee Virginia's Clean Marina program, addressing the social, economic and environmental needs of the marina industry, while providing education as to the importance, sustainability, and management of our marine environment and resources.
• Larimer started North Carolina's Clean Marina program, wrote the state's BMP manual for marinas, co-edited the monthly publication Tradewinds, and coordinated the annual NC Marine Expo.