Final
Report to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Bronx | Queens |
Brooklyn | Manhattan | Conclusion
| Appendix | End
Notes | Back to Smart Coastal Growth
9/1/98 - 8/31/99
Council on the Environment of New York City Training Student Organizers Program
Protecting and Restoring Coastal Areas in New York City
Award #NA 860C0391
This report documents the work done by the Council on the Environment of New
York City's (CENYC) Training Student Organizers (TSO) Program, which trains
high school students to organize environmental improvement projects in their neighborhoods,
schools and homes, completed under a $50,875 grant from NOAA between September
1, 1998 and August 31, 1999.
We will not repeat in detail projects described on our first report (9/1/98-2/28/99)
but will intermittently refer to them as we discuss the 3/1/99-8/31/99 work and
evaluate the overall effect of the entire year's efforts.
BRONX
DeWitt Clinton High School
In the Spring 1999 semester, two new Earth science classes coordinated a second
cleanup of Orchard Beach. Forty-five youth removed 700 pieces of litter (300 pounds)
from the beach for a total of 2,200 items (750 pounds) cleaned from the area during
the Fall and Spring cleanups. The two TSO cleanups were planned to followup the
International Beach Cleanup Day event at Orchard Beach in September 1998. The
two Clinton High School cleanups removed most of the plastic floatables and other
debris that had accumulated since the September event, leaving Orchard Beach in
a relatively clean state.
To followup on their home water conservation and household hazardous waste
reduction projects, the Clinton youth organized a tabling event in their school
to educate classmates about the condition of New York's coastlines, with
a focus on the Long Island Sound/Orchard Beach area. They disseminated 1000 pieces
of literature to 200 people. The literature included fact sheets prepared by the
students describing ways citizens can protect the coast: use environmentally benign
household products which don't contain chemicals that can enter the sewer
system and eventually the open waters around the City after disposal; save water
to reduce the load on sewage treatment plants; don't litter; and organize
anti-litter efforts along streets and beaches.
As part of this public education effort the Clinton youth also wrote to the
"letter to the editor" section of various newspapers to educate readers
about coastal restoration. At least one was published by The Island Current,
based in City Island in the Bronx (see Appendix). The newspaper has a circulation
of 2,000 readers; it is estimated that 50% of a newspaper's readership reviews
the letters to the editor section. In their evaluations of the TSO projects the
Clinton students expressed significant enthusiasm about their participation. As
one student said, "I learned about estuaries, how to recycle, reuse and reduce,
to practice conservation, how to prevent the coastlines from getting polluted
and many more things."
QUEENS
Beach Channel High School
While continuing to test Jamaica Bay water (see Table
I in Appendix), Beach Channel High School teens from two oceanography classes
coordinated a symposium on the condition of Jamaica Bay and its coastline. One
hundred and fifty classmates and students from a nearby junior high school and
a few local residents received packets detailing the TSO students' water
quality monitoring results. Students emphasized actions citizens can take to prevent
coastal pollution.
BROOKLYN
Progress High School
The two Fall semester chemistry classes and one additional chemistry class
continued the Newtown Creek project this Spring. After water testing, students
initiated public information activities. The classes wrote letters to the local
community board and to the New York City Department of Sanitation to report on
buildings in the area around the creek where a significant amount of dumping was
taking place, and to request that the garbage be removed so that elements of it
would not be washed into the creek during periods of rain. The students leafletted
local auto body shops, providing them with tips on how to handle and dispose of
motor oil so that runoff would not harm the creek.
They prepared display projects for a number of science competitions based on
their NOAA-supported Newtown Creek work: two of the students, received a bronze
medal and a $500 cash scholarship in the New York City NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural,
Technological and Scientific Olympics (Act-So); they were also among 60 second
place finalists in the 1999 New York City Science and Technology Exposition; their
project, "Water Quality Monitoring at Newtown Creek" grew out of work
done by the chemistry classes participating in TSO. The students learned lab techniques
for testing a number of water quality indicators including dissolved oxygen, phosphates,
nitrates, salinity, pH, turbidity, and fecal coliforms. Using data collected by
the classes over a four month period (see Table II
- Appendix) the two science and technology student participants assessed the
health of Newtown Creek, investigated various sources of its pollution and compared
their test results to data collected by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection.
Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School advanced placement environmental science classes
conducted water monitoring projects at the Union Street Bridge area of the East
River. They tested for phosphates, nitrates, E-coli, pH, turbidity, salinity and
dissolved oxygen. The data collected over a 6 month period was forwarded to the
Department of Environmental Protection as a class project. The data was consistent
with other data indicating an improving East River still in need of monitoring.
The two environmental science classes (63 students) conducted several tabling
events in the school throughout the academic year, highlighting marine ecology
issues and encouraging classmates to report illegal dumping to appropriate authorities,
to dispose of household toxic waste properly and to use environmentally benign
alternatives. They communicated with hundreds of their fellow students.
In addition twenty class presentations were made by environmental science students
to 400 other Tech students on a host of ecological issues, for example the protection
of estuaries and wetlands and non-point and point source pollution.
One student received help on his oral presentation from an unlikely source,
a 1946 Brooklyn Technical High School alumni, Joel Miele, Sr., the New York City
Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, who received a letter from
the youth requesting information. Commissioner Miele replied personally to the
student about the role of wetlands as natural filtration systems in protecting
our coastal waters.
John Dewey High School
A class of environmental science youth performed water quality tests for dissolved
oxygen, nitrates, phosphates, pH, turbidity and salinity in Coney Island Creek.
Given time limitations and the inconclusive nature of the results it was decided
to discontinue the testing and focus the class' energies on helping to organize
the spring symposium on the Creek. The symposium, highlighting issues such as
runoff, dumping and the need for citizens to understand how their behavior affects
the Creek, was attended by 50 classmates, community residents and government officials.
All agreed to continue the effort to revitalize the Creek and its environs.
James Madison High School
Two classes of Madison High School youth organized a cleanup of Gerritsen Beach
in Marine Park, Brooklyn. Seventy-five students and a small number of community
residents cleared hundreds of pounds of litter from the beach and recorded their
findings, which were sent to the Center for Marine Conservation. The students
conducted water quality tests (DO, nitrates, phosphates, pH, turbidity and salinity)
of Gerritsen Creek and demonstrated their techniques to citizens participating
in the cleanup. The classes performed monitoring tests on Gerritsen Creek water
for two weeks (see Table III).
MANHATTAN
Manhattan Center for Math & Science High School
Students in an environmental science class and an Earth science class learned
about environmentally safe ways to use and dispose of hazardous household products.
They learned about alternatives to cleaners and popular commercial products that
contain hazardous materials. They designed flyers that informed and educated community
residents about marine floatables, coastal restoration and the hazards of water
pollution. Biology and environmental science students conducted water quality
tests of the East River. The water quality indicators examined were pH, salinity,
turbidity and dissolved oxygen. Although the indicators were within the EPA standards,
students found the illegal dumping in the river disheartening.
Two tabling events were held in school and the surrounding community. Students
distributed fact sheets to 150 citizens and students highlighting the importance
of protecting our coastal waters. They urged residents to abstain from illegal
dumping and to report offenders to the Department of Environmental Conservation.
High School for Environmental Studies
Two Introduction to the Urban Environment classes (60 youth) tested Hudson
River water. The results are in Table IV in the Appendix.
The results were within acceptable parameters. Salinity, pH, phosphate and nitrate
data were consistent and at acceptable levels. The dissolved oxygen readings were
well above the minimum acceptable level of 5ppm. This indicates a high capacity
for aquatic organism survival. Turbidity, however was very low. This is typical
of the Hudson River which harbors a high amount of plankton. However, even in
these conditions the average turbidity levels should be above two feet. The low
turbidity levels may be due to runoff and dumping from the nearby construction
of an extension of Riverside Park- it will be expanded from 72nd street where
`the water testing took place, to 57th street.
The class conducted a public education day in June 1999. The students created
educational pamphlets and posters on different problems facing the Hudson and
possible solutions. They held a highly successful tabling event at Robert Wagner
Park adjacent to the Hudson River. They spoke with more than 200 citizens, handing
out their pamphlets and displaying their posters. Three students stated in their
evaluations that it was one of the best experiences they ever had.
CONCLUSION
In total, 530 student organizers from 15 classes organized 14 projects which
involved and/or outreached to approximately 4500 other students and adult citizens.
Many students stated that they both enjoyed and grew from their participation
in the projects. The cleanups, as direct service efforts were effective in removing
floatables and other litter from the coastline. The public information work educated
a significant number of New Yorkers about simple activities they can undertake
to help protect the coastline. Students created momentum for government action
to improve Coney Island Creek. One government official indicated a willingness
to advocate for the classification of the Creek as a State Superfund site or a
Brownfield site. The water testing introduced hundreds of youth to water quality
monitoring and the science/math concepts connected to water testing. Results at
times were provocative; inconsistencies cropped up due to student inexperience
and the limitations of the equipment. The constraints of the school schedule on
a weekly basis and between semesters and holidays sometimes made it difficult
to collect data in as efficient manner as possible, or to collect it at all.
We would like to continue to involve youth in citywide coastal restoration
efforts. We will continue litter removal from beaches and other coastal areas;
water testing will be part of the program, but more as an academic exercise than
as an effort to establish a relevant student/citizen citywide database on coastal
water quality or to disseminate the results to citizens. We will focus on students
galvanizing government and citizen attention on small bodies of water such as
Gerritsen, Newtown and Coney Island Creeks, which do not receive the kind of monitoring,
enforcement and rehabilitation that larger water bodies in the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary
benefit from. We will try to motivate youth to organize more of the symposium/public
discussion events that enable youth and staff, local business persons and government
officials to communicate about the best ways to improve local water bodies. We
will encourage youth at these gatherings, and through direct information dissemination,
to communicate with local businesses about the importance of controlling runoff
from commercial operations into local waterways. The potential for youth to become
an effective force for coastal restoration in New York City is great.
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