Safe Harbor

OCEAN 19, our latest Environmental Newsletter

gordon — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:04:29 +0000

Click on this link to download our most recent Outer Cape Environmental Newsletter. This issue includes a report on the unexpected success of our innovative restoration strategy at Ballston Beach’s Barrier Dune Restoration, an update on last year’s Haiti Water Project and intriguing links between changing world scale weather systems and recent extreme weather events.

Thank you for your support, Gordon Peabody

Habitat Restoration Guide for the Outer Cape

gordon — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:06:47 +0000

HABITAT RESTORATION GUIDE

Click on the above link to download your own free copy of this booklet.

Habitat Restoration Guide for Planting Vegetation on the Outer Cape

Safe Harbor Environmental Services, 2012

Safe Harbor’s Restoration Guide for the Outer Cape links native vegetation with specific habitats, exposures and height. Using site-specific vegetation for habitat restoration contributes to higher survivability. This “cookbook” style booklet makes choosing plants easier, by integrating numerous, earlier versions of planting lists. We are grateful to Howard Irwin for his review of this booklet.

Safe Harbor Environmental works with all forms of environmental permitting. Safe Harbor specializes in sustainable, coastal habitat restoration, using innovative, low cost strategies. Publications on our website that may also be relevant include: “The Dirty Dozen” Identifying and Managing 13 Invasive Plants on Cape Cod; “Steep Slope Stabilization”; and “Salt Spray Events and Coastal Vegetation” documenting the role Tropical Storm events in selecting sustainable coastal vegetation.

Safe Harbor publications may be copied, circulated, and shared for educational purposes only. This work may be cited but in no way should it be altered, transformed, built upon, or used as an endorsement of other work or for commercial purposes. Gordon Peabody, Safe Harbor Environmental, November, 2011

Hurricanes and Coastal Vegetation

gordon — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:42:36 +0000

SALT SPRAY VEGETATION Click on this link to get your copy of an interesting new booklet.

This booklet documents the direction we need to move in when choosing native plantings for coastal habitats. Photographs were taken at direct onshore sites (0-60′ from surf line) and indirect, onshore sites (800′ from surf line), following extended, near hurricane winds, over full tidal cycles.

Coastal salt spray events are unwelcome but play critical roles in confirming sustainable coastal vegetation. Changing storm tracks may create new liabilities for overly diversified coastal habitats.

2 weeks after the salt spray event, recently planted Rugosa roses convinced us they were dead and then began sprouting new leaves.

3 weeks after the salt spray event, recently planted Seaside Goldenrod had new leaves.

3 weeks after the salt spray event, previously established Seaside Goldenrod had produced flower heads.

Haiti Water Project

gordon — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:10:30 +0000

Why spend money shipping water to Haiti when we could be sending water filters so they could have their own clean water? Think sustainability…

Personal statement: Kristyna Smith, Safe Harbor Haiti Water Project Coordinator, March 2011

It is amazing how our Haiti Water Project at Safe Harbor has progressed in just a few short months! When I was first introduced to the innovative new filters I never expected it to be more than just a research project, but before I knew it we had sent for our first order of filters. We were uncertain of the project;s future at this point as we hadn’t any idea whether or not we would receive donations. Uncertainty didn’t last long; generous donations began pouring in to help send these filters to Haiti. It has been so great to be a part of this. I have had the opportunity to communicate and meet with so many generous people who actively participate in the relief efforts and rebuilding of the Haitian community. By spreading knowledge of this sustainable solution I know our efforts will make a difference.

Personal statement: Deborah Peabody, Safe Harbor Haiti Water Project Donations Coordinator, March 2011

I was painfully aware of the suffering in Haiti even before the devastating earthquake. Then the storms and floods began. When I began hearing about the cholera outbreak it was enough to make me want to turn off the news, I felt so helpless and sad. Then my brother called. “Isn’t cholera transmitted by dirty water?” he asked. He told me that he had found some simple, effective, affordable water filters intended for use in rustic areas. He’d already ordered a case to be sent to Haiti and had found a way to get them there. “Seems to be a better investment than medicine,” he said. As we continued discussing the possibilities my hope began to return. Gordon wondered aloud if local churches might be willing to buy more filters to send. I contacted people I knew from each of 3 local churches and the word went out. The first church, the first week, got donations for an entire case of filters. From there the donations continued to grow. It seemed that anyone who heard about the effort wanted to buy at least one filter. I think they felt, as I did, such happiness at being able to do something so helpful for so little. I was particularly moved at the Holiday Craft Fair in Wellfleet when people in the midst of stressful gift shopping stopped at our booth and, excited to hear about the possibility of giving such a significant gift to people they didn’t know, donated generously. I have seldom been involved in a project that did so much to restore my faith in people and gave me so much joy.

Haiti Water Project Final Report, May 8, 2011

by Gordon Peabody, Director of Safe Harbor Environmental , May 2011

Because it has always been available to us, we rarely pause to consider how critical water is or what it would be like to live without safe drinking water. I believe drinking water may also become an ever more expensive commodity, as multi national corporations engage in efforts to control our source aquifers. One way to protect resources is through reuse and water is a perfect example. We had been researching nano technology for several months and printed an article in OCEAN Environmental newsletter on nano filters revolutionizing water purification.

When I realized how much bottled water was being shipped to Haiti and how expensive it was to ship the water, I felt that we should explore a more sustainable alternative, such as sending water filters. A gallon of water costs approximately $ 4 to ship to Haiti (in pallets of 1,700 half liter bottles). This does not reflect the costs of bottling, handling, distribution and disposal of plastic bottles or the carbon footprint of bottling, delivery and distribution. Kristyna researched the new technology and discovered a filter, produced by a church organization in Texas, that cost approximately $20.00.

For what it would cost to ship 5 gallons of water to Haiti, we would be able to send a filter that could produce up to 70 gallons a day, for up to a year. Each day of use would save hundreds of dollars in shipping costs. Over the course of a year, the savings could be better spent on other relief supplies. Sending cases of filters could provide enough savings to rebuild schools. We ordered our first case.

We needed to try and get as many filters in use as possible because cholera was beginning to make inroads. My sister Deborah offered to contact local churches and see if they would donate a few filters. The Provincetown Banner wrote an article on what we were trying to accomplish. The results were unexpected. To date we have received donations of just over $4,000.

Getting the filters safely into a chaotic region with no infrastructure and no addresses was another challenge We had a friend, Joe (Bones) Basine, who was working with an international aid organization, building schools and tent homes, in the areas hit by earthquake and hurricane. Basine advised us not to ship anything to Haiti. He was expected to return to the Cape briefly in December and offered to hand deliver filters for us. Basine’s return to Cape Cod was interrupted by riots and passport issues. He reported to us that he was barricaded in a Port au Prince schoolyard. Things were beginning to get complicated, we had cases of water filters outside our office in Wellfleet and our courier was barricaded in a schoolyard in Haiti. I asked my sister Deborah Peabody, of Provincetown to help out by tracking donations. I asked Kristyna Smith, the Safe Harbor researcher who had originally discovered the filters, to step in as project coordinator. Smith is an Orleans resident who was a psychology major at Framingham State. Kristyna suddenly had a lot of work.

Through Pru Sowers, the Provincetown Banner reporter who had written about our project, we were contacted by a pilot who delivered medical supplies across Haiti. The pilot gave us links to some church groups with members who regularly traveled to the Port au Prince area. This information was passed on to Kristyna, We developed some guidelines: the filters needed to go to areas suffering from both the earthquake and the hurricane. we had to locate trusted couriers; and another tricky part, the couriers, who would be mostly members of church groups around the country, had to be willing to smuggle these filters into Haiti in their luggage. This last detail was necessary to avoid a $100 luggage surcharge and avoided “complicated package inspections”. We intended to keep these filters off the black market.

Many of our filters went to schools, directly to teachers or through people building the schools. We know our filters are currently being used in approximately 17 small villages the church groups went to. Joe “Bones” eventually turned out to be our most successful smuggler, delivering 2 cases of filters to the village of Belle Vue Haiti, where his organization SASH (SASHHaiti.org) has been working, Kristyna reports that some of the couriers didn’t respond to us when they first returned to the US because they were so sick and exhausted.

This story wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging hundreds of Cape Cod residents, donating by mail or anonymously, in churches or at the Wellfleet Preservation Hall Holiday Festival. Cape Codders, donating water filters to strangers they may never meet. Thanks to the Churches of Provincetown and Truro for their generous support of children and families in need, in a world so very different from ours. Thank you to the others, like the family from Utah, who sent us a check at Christmas: “we have everything we need, our family wants to contribute to your Haiti Water project”. As if that weren’t enough: A girl Scout Troop from Eastham donated their 50 cents dues for a month towards sending water filters to Haiti.

We are printing up thank you post cards for as many addresses as we have but the whole story won’t end there, it continues with the Haitian people, being a little less dependent on imported water and a little healthier. We are planning to transfer the Haiti Water Project to a local non-profit group, to continue this sustainable idea, in Haiti or elsewhere.

Link below to local newspaper article

http://www.wickedlocal.com/wellfleet/features/x1651493005/Water-filters-make-their-way-to-Haiti-as-part-of-Outer-Cape-fundraising-effort

Barrier Dune Community Restoration

gordon — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:09:40 +0000

Ballston Beach Barrier Dune Restoration, Truro, Cape Cod

A unique Community Restoration Partnership has been created in Truro on Cape Cod: Truro Beach Commission; Truro Department of Public Works; National Parks Service, Cape Cod National Seashore; Truro Conservation Commission;Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore; Truro Non Resident Taxpayers Association and Safe Harbor Environmental.

If you are willing to make a small donation for beach grass plugs, to support sustainable restoration of this resource area, your tax deductable donation should be made out to FCCNS with Ballston in the memo line. They should be sent to FCCNS at PO Box 550, Wellfleet, MA 02667. Bundles of 300 stems cost $39.00. Any size donation contributes to this project.

If you are interested in volunteering to plant beach grass plugs or assist in setting up sand collection fence, please email goronpeabody@gmail.com

The following is the first article that I have written about this project. There were a lot of components that were brought together for this restoration. It has been published in a Cape Cod magazine this summer. Click on the link below to read it.

CHA_Summer11_BallstonBeachArticle

I watched in fascination as the only pair of nesting ducks, living in what used to be a fresh water marsh, walked out to a beach parking lot to drink rainwater from a puddle. I remember thinking, “We can do better than this.” ”We need to make better choices because children are going to inherit our decisions.”.

Barrier dunes are among the most fragile and easily damaged coastal resource in Massachusetts. The barrier dune on the ocean side at Truro’s Ballston Beach protects the freshwater marsh at the headwaters of Truro’s Pamet River. The river flows from the marsh across the thin wrist of the Cape and into Pamet Harbor on Cape Cod Bay. The Pamet River estuary provides legendary oyster and shellfish habitat. When we view natural resources as systems, we begin to understand that everything is connected. The health of the marsh behind the barrier dune is linked to the health of the estuary and harbor.

There was no way for visitors to have understood that crossing this barrier dune to get to the beach would destroy the freshwater marsh behind it.

Vegetation stabilizes dunes by collecting and holding sand. Dune grass can withstand 80 mph winds but dies when it is walked on. Without vegetation, storm winds quickly strip off sand and lowering pathway elevations six or eight feet. This allows ocean storm over wash to degrade the fresh water marsh with salt water. Storm energy is a natural component of coastal resource systems and storm over wash is part of these processes. But this marsh system was being impacted every few years breaking down the stability of the area before it could repair itself.

What makes an entire Cape Community come together in an environmental intervention? As if attempting to restore a barrier beach dune was not enough of a challenge, there were multiple jurisdictional and political entities that needed to be involved and in cooperation with each other. These included: the Federal Government (the Cape Cod National Seashore); Town of Truro Conservation Commission; Town of Truro Beach Commission; Town of Truro Department of Public Works; and Safe Harbor Environmental Services. We used common ground to create a unique restoration partnership. “The barrier dune was a critical component of our coastal resources and the dune was eroded to the point that ocean over wash was now degrading the fresh water marsh the dune was supposed to protect.”

We wanted to minimize our intrusion by redirecting natural energy. Traditionally, dune restoration projects meant the delivery of truckloads of sand and heavy equipment. We decided to use a passive strategy, utilizing the same storm energy that had almost destroyed the dune to restore it.

Coastal restoration can be compared to baking bread. You need to understand the relationship of ingredients being combined and then put them in the oven. Then get out of the way…except our oven was the North Atlantic Coast of Cape Cod.

We knew there would be risks. Gale force winds, blowing along the coast at speeds over 35 miles an hour, begin to pick up sand. Storm force winds, over 48 miles an hour, blow enough sand to obscure the first few feet of beach. This winter, the sand was already in motion but we had no way of capturing it. Two years earlier, we had developed an innovative restoration model using storm winds to restore eroded coastal habitat. This low-tech system was based on short, 24” sand fencing set in patterns to duplicate the wind resistant qualities of beach grass. As sand collects, new layers of fencing can be placed to match adjacent dune profiles. Once sand elevations are restored, American Beachgrass is planted. The beachgrass stems usually double each year and the grass has no problem growing up through collected sand. Within four years, the grass will begin performing on its own. Pedestrian access is also reconfigured, into a zigzag pathway to prevent a repetition of “shotgun blow outs”.

“The fences are gone, it didn’t work”. The Town of Truro DPW had donated the fencing we needed and we donated the labor for installation. Ten days later, following a big ocean storm, several phone calls came into our office informing us that nearly all of our sand collection fences were gone. It took a few days before I finally mustered up the courage to go out to the beach and see for myself. It was mid afternoon on Christmas Eve. The fences were gone all right, buried beneath two feet of collected sand!

The success of our volunteer efforts was going to bankrupt us! We were collecting so much sand that a second set of fencing was needed to meet the demand. Then two weeks later, the site was ready for a third set. Bob Byrnes, a Truro resident and teacher at Harwich High School, stepped up with his Environmental Studies class to provide volunteer labor for installation of the third set of sand collection fences. The enthusiasm of these students caught the attention of the whole community.

We were ready to begin planting beachgrass but there was a problem. The Restoration Partnership did not have any money! How could we collect donations for beachgrass from an entire community? Before things became complicated, another group joined our Restoration Partnership, Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore. This non-profit group agreed to help us collect and hold donations. We were now able to share our story with local newspapers and ask for donations. As of April 2011, approximately $5,500.00 in donations has been collected for this restoration project.

Why were people from Colorado donating money for beachgrass? The answer comes from a group called the Truro Non-Resident Taxpayers Association. This well-informed, very large association represents second homeowners in Truro. They joined us to make the finishing touches of this project a reality.

A community beach grass planting party on May 14 will celebrate the restoration efforts. The overall restoration process will take four years and can be tracked on our web site at SafeHarborEnv.com

Gordon Peabody is Director of Safe Harbor Environmental Services, in Wellfleet, MA. Safe Harbor designs sustainable coastal habitat restoration systems and provides permitting services for projects in sensitive environmental resource areas.

A few words about the challenge of restoring the barrier dune system at Ballston Beach in Truro:

Barrier beaches and barrier dunes are among the most fragile and most highly protected resource systems in Massachusetts. These systems are fragile because they change location in response to storm events, which discourages establishment of stabilizing vegetation. These systems are valuable because they offer protection to important inland resource areas. The Barrier dune system at Ballston Beach protects the freshwater marsh at the head of Truro’s Pamet River.

For thousands of appreciative visitors crossing these dunes each year, Ballston Beach is a second home. Being visitors, there was no way for them to understand, that barrier dunes are only held together by vegetation, which keeps sand in place and collects new sand during storms. That same vegetation that withstands 80 mph storm winds, cannot survive being directly walked on. Without the vegetation layer, storm winds quickly strip off sand, lowering the walkway elevations by as much as six or eight feet.

Storm overwash events are a fact of life for barrier dunes and a part of the overall coastal process on the Outer Cape. However, Ballston Beach’s barrier dune system has had uncomfortably frequent overwash events. Each event begins with storm waves gaining access to the freshwater marsh through the lowered elevations of the pathways. Storm waves, surging through the center profile of the dunes, transport sand and saltwater deep into the freshwater marsh. At this point, North Truro and Provincetown are islands and connecting public roads face the possibility of flooding.

Safe Harbor has developed an innovative restoration model, which uses storm winds to restore eroded coastal habitat. This low-tech system uses specific patterns of 24” sand fencing, to duplicate the wind resisting performance of beach grass.

This passive strategy stabilizes eroded areas while collecting new sand, often raising elevations up to two feet a year.

The fencing system can be quickly installed, using a rubber mallet to tap each slat into the sand. No excavation or posts are required. New layers of fencing can be placed to create a form compatible with adjacent dune profiles. American beach grass is planted throughout the area, with 3 stems per planting, set six inches deep on 8-inch random centers. The beach grass stems usually double each year and the grass has no problem growing up through collected sand. Within four years, the grass will begin performing on its own. Pedestrian access is reconfigured into a zigzag pathway to prevent a repetition of “shotgun blow outs”. Pathway elevations increase from direct collection and indirect spill down.

Each partner plays a contributing role in this challenging restoration effort. Safe Harbor is coordinating restoration efforts, without financial consideration. The Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore are coordinating donations for American Beach Grass, which needs to be winter planted. This grass will provide sustainability to the restoration efforts. Safe Harbor is also coordinating volunteers for this project: Contact gordonpeabody@gmail.com

http://www.wickedlocal.com/truro/news/enviroment/x1349633641/New-group-readies-plan-to-mitigate-Truro-beach-erosion#axzz1SknZpTE1http://www.wickedlocal.com/truro/news/enviroment/x1705409392/Ballston-Beach-restoration-wins-support-of-selectmen#axzz1SknZpTE1t

http://www.wickedlocal.com/wellfleet/features/x2132690887/Ballston-Beach-dune-rescue-continues-in-Truro#axzz1SknZpTE1

http://m.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20110307/NEWS/103070305/-1/WAP&template=wapart&m_section=

http://tnrta.org/2011/05/tnrta-co-sponsors-ballston-beach-restoration-project/

OCEAN 18, Our Latest e-newsletter

gordon — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 22:21:22 +0000

OCEAN 18

Click on this link to have your easy to read copy. This 18th edition of our e-newsletter represents our commitment to environmental education. We have included brief summaries of some unprecedented world scale weather events and a few of the consequences. This 18th edition also includes links for more information. We have also covered some innovative concepts in water quality, energy and one of our low impact/high performance erosion control systems.

Please feel free to share this newsletter, we have made it public domain. Thank you for supporting environmental education.

Good Neighbor Storm Water booklet now available

gordon — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:32:06 +0000

In the spring of 2010, Cape Cod experienced such record levels of ground water, that areas which would normally be dry became flooded as the underground water table rose up in low areas, such as this location between sand dunes. With climate change producing extra precipitation in New England, we have published this booklet to keep our ground water safe by offering suggestions to get roof and driveway runoff into the water table, instead of sending it down our streets.

GOOD NEIGHBOR storm water ideas Click here to get your own copy of some inexpensive ideas for managing your own rainwater and being a better neighbor.

Cape Cod Invasive Vegetation booklet now available

gordon — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:03:51 +0000

DIRTY-DOZEN-Invasive-Plants

Click on this pdf publication to get your own copy of the “Dirty Dozen”.

It describes the identity, ecology and various management techniques for taking on invasive vegetation.

These are 13 plants that we have tagged as “the bad guys”. Invasive vegetation behaves aggressively, claiming native plant space, nutrients, light and moisture as it’s own. Native vegetation can support up to 50 times more organisms as invasive vegetation.Invasive vegetation never co-evolved with native insects and animals that transferred plant biomass to protein biomass. Invasive vegetation habitats are effectively neutered by this inability to complete trophic level transfer of energy.

Check out our “green techniques” for invasive removal.

For questions or comments contact us

gordonpeabody@gmail.com

OCEAN 17 e-newsletter

gordon — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:32:10 +0000

OCEAN_17 go to this link to check out our latest issue, including Gulf Oil Leak interactions and possible correlations between more intense storms, maple syrup problems and increased ground water with climate change.

OCEAN-16 e-newsletter

gordon — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:01:34 +0000

OCEAN_16

click on the link to read this issue of OCEAN